STEVEN SPIELBERG PRESENTS KURT RUSSELL SELLING 'USED CARS'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEioJAazgP-oglcOqdGN5sWwPhSE1wN6MuvRFI-NxU5N59d3IhxB_eLfNW6Xp12U8SINWe_D8tRIAnUSLyfIv5lB5fyL1fA6S1O8CT38PRFkS3bq3HUYmdkbTxcRxwkzQtWdC7g6YGx40ujikbeV4woIKljzVXzsVIZZaUtbGXiYfRxtjnjG-c0jhcPLeQ=s744" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="512" data-original-width="744" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEioJAazgP-oglcOqdGN5sWwPhSE1wN6MuvRFI-NxU5N59d3IhxB_eLfNW6Xp12U8SINWe_D8tRIAnUSLyfIv5lB5fyL1fA6S1O8CT38PRFkS3bq3HUYmdkbTxcRxwkzQtWdC7g6YGx40ujikbeV4woIKljzVXzsVIZZaUtbGXiYfRxtjnjG-c0jhcPLeQ=s16000"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: USED CARS Producer: Steven Spielberg Director: Bob Zemeckis Year: 1980 Rates: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Around the time that <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2021/11/1941.html">Steven Spielberg's WWII comedy</a> started vanishing from the collective moviegoer memories, the entire <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2021/11/1941.html">1941</a> team, also including producer John Milius co-writing with Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale, had a new movie out that bombed in theaters, unlike 1941 that, despite its maligned reputation, <i>did</i> turn a profit...<br></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>The irony is the Robert Zemickis directed USED CARS, co-written by Gale and produced by Milius and Spielberg, was getting the kind of "sleeper" attention within its predecessor's ebbing wake... <br></p><span></span>

bob gale, comedy, deborah harmon, eighties, exploitation, frank mcrea, gerrit graham, harry northup, jack warden, kurt russell, robert zemeckis

STEVEN SPIELBERG PRESENTS KURT RUSSELL SELLING 'USED CARS'

Title: USED CARS Producer: Steven Spielberg Director: Bob Zemeckis Year: 1980 Rates: ***1/2 Around the time that Steven Spielberg's WWII...

CAPTURING THE PANDEMONIUM OF STEVEN SPIELBERG'S '1941'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgGinS_HfpeTPx08JO9REvy7MCyt8nCvO1wXCPH7rW_S3I_tke8oyF-2xqcs0d8H4hTEqT_yEkXHZYOVOcnv1wPlaOVyE4lPn-j_HdwOkJoD1Oov49XdOhG1D2FHjkVt5tgDSxQy2qOhDAM5OtbcTe_McWiCfLnomt7LOy75BgsuWYDrIwllxQ9KJ45jQ=s1130" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="707" data-original-width="1130" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgGinS_HfpeTPx08JO9REvy7MCyt8nCvO1wXCPH7rW_S3I_tke8oyF-2xqcs0d8H4hTEqT_yEkXHZYOVOcnv1wPlaOVyE4lPn-j_HdwOkJoD1Oov49XdOhG1D2FHjkVt5tgDSxQy2qOhDAM5OtbcTe_McWiCfLnomt7LOy75BgsuWYDrIwllxQ9KJ45jQ=s16000"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Japanese Poster of Steven Spielberg's laurels for Steven Spielberg's 1941 from 1979 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>While considered by many to be Steven Spielberg's worst film... especially compared to DUEL, JAWS and CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND... the 1979 blockbuster 1941 is actually his most important motion picture... </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>For a director whose camera-flowing style REMAINS the prototype for other big budget (mostly comic book adapted) extravaganzas, 1941... from the warplane dogfight to the climactic rolling Ferris Wheel... moved him from action-BACKED thrillers to action-PACKED thrills...</p><p><span></span></p>

bobby di cici, comedy, dan aykroyd, dianne kay, ensemble, john belushi, john candy, mickey rourke, murray hamilton, nancy allen, ned beatty, seventies, steven spielberg, world war II

CAPTURING THE PANDEMONIUM OF STEVEN SPIELBERG'S '1941'

Japanese Poster of Steven Spielberg's laurels for Steven Spielberg's 1941 from 1979 Rating: ***1/2 While considered by many to be St...

SUZAN FARMER ENLIGHTENS 'DRACULA: PRINCE OF DARKNESS'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhGmLHlIu5IgOyJMskcsbqewIf84vKlBZnYgVePVYLZsLmy1acPIgkYma8DIC1e_CRbPmRyUGPjtpStwaelgQypOm68RmT7vxD5IapYoV07eMXGo_xadVjQBuoctV8fNeI6KsovzYazROwOqlrxU-YDYcQg5bsvCm-AxIG3ovaM3mcrPgqB6Cmv05OO_g=s1712" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="836" data-original-width="1712" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhGmLHlIu5IgOyJMskcsbqewIf84vKlBZnYgVePVYLZsLmy1acPIgkYma8DIC1e_CRbPmRyUGPjtpStwaelgQypOm68RmT7vxD5IapYoV07eMXGo_xadVjQBuoctV8fNeI6KsovzYazROwOqlrxU-YDYcQg5bsvCm-AxIG3ovaM3mcrPgqB6Cmv05OO_g=s16000"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Suzan Farmer & Barbara Shelley in DRACULA: PRINCE OF DARKNESS Year: 1966 Rates: ***</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Another suitable name for DRACULA PRINCE OF DARKNESS would be HAMMER HOTEL since the basic premise is the luring of two couples into Dracula's castle and featuring two gorgeous women, one in her experienced-hot thirties the other her lithe-naive-twenties... </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>But the <i>luring</i> isn't really a temptation but rather, like most Hammer Films, tons of expository dialogue (mostly uttered by intensely bearded Andrew Kier) that, halfway through, finally gets this lost stranded foursome into the murky manor where of course, DRACULA will inevitably rise in the form of the iconic Christopher Lee...</p><p><span></span></p>

barbara shelley, body count, christopher lee, dracula, hammer, horror, philip latham, sixties, suzan farmer

SUZAN FARMER ENLIGHTENS 'DRACULA: PRINCE OF DARKNESS'

Suzan Farmer & Barbara Shelley in DRACULA: PRINCE OF DARKNESS Year: 1966 Rates: *** Another suitable name for DRACULA PRINCE OF DARKNESS...

HAMMER'S 'STOP ME BEFORE I KILL' AKA 'THE FULL TREATMENT'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgo7ZuzJwwtQWo9V1CvjRWVhbmY9hCRGGSg_EaDBx7ORSOF3_B_Fgrjp17ZHs34Dty-3C4HT0fU7blVxbtxnIJQzPlFwNMXHJKdpmH98b8xQR5Bhw3JNw_JA7zSvbN9j9B7fhyX1j_LlLPYi9nzPI-BlSago96MKQuVWRmf8tFkctYXm6YcucSZfF48Jw=s1006" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="593" data-original-width="1006" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgo7ZuzJwwtQWo9V1CvjRWVhbmY9hCRGGSg_EaDBx7ORSOF3_B_Fgrjp17ZHs34Dty-3C4HT0fU7blVxbtxnIJQzPlFwNMXHJKdpmH98b8xQR5Bhw3JNw_JA7zSvbN9j9B7fhyX1j_LlLPYi9nzPI-BlSago96MKQuVWRmf8tFkctYXm6YcucSZfF48Jw=s16000"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Claude Dauphin and Ronald Lewis in THE FULL TREATMENT Year: 1960 Rates: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>For a lovely, talented Australian actress (who worked mostly in England), Diane Cilento made a horribly annoying French girl in an otherwise edgy, deliberately nervewracking film by director Val Guest working again for Hammer...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>And THE FULL TREATMENT was retitled STOP ME BEFORE I KILL probably because it didn't sound... Hammery enough... but like Guest's HELL IS A CITY, it's not horror but neo noir... </p><p><span></span></p>

bernard braden, claude dauphin, diane cilento, hammer films, neo noir, race car, ronald lewis, sixties, thriller, val guest

HAMMER'S 'STOP ME BEFORE I KILL' AKA 'THE FULL TREATMENT'

Claude Dauphin and Ronald Lewis in THE FULL TREATMENT Year: 1960 Rates: ***1/2 For a lovely, talented Australian actress (who worked mostly ...

MICKEY ROONEY CAUGHT IN 'QUICKSAND' WITH JEANNE CAGNEY

<p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg_PiOvnpXYL2_iRPGNu_xmACAHUDcwbZXLOm7QqM_0lq6IEQ49e3BdB6gd-c1sEHKeuMA0L-RGwVgXsdwvFB5Qpy-YMAkWUfch9Tbs9ohI6OCJ95Qlnk0NSefrKE9Dd6RjG5kjg1tZFa1N7OK8ij-1ckhW-loHzZ1jstq7A04lGJwI3cCywLyXVYh6Ng=s1732" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1124" data-original-width="1732" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg_PiOvnpXYL2_iRPGNu_xmACAHUDcwbZXLOm7QqM_0lq6IEQ49e3BdB6gd-c1sEHKeuMA0L-RGwVgXsdwvFB5Qpy-YMAkWUfch9Tbs9ohI6OCJ95Qlnk0NSefrKE9Dd6RjG5kjg1tZFa1N7OK8ij-1ckhW-loHzZ1jstq7A04lGJwI3cCywLyXVYh6Ng=s16000"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: QUICKSAND Cast: Mickey Rooney, Jeanne Cagney, Peter Lorre Year: 1950 Rates: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>An epitomizing trait of film noir is... if you take a short cut you'll get in lots more trouble than you started out with, and for that QUICKSAND completely epitomizes noir cinema when a young and cocky, girl-loving mechanic played Mickey Rooney finds the girl of his... immediate dreams...<br></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>And quickly winds up landing a date with this sexy blonde waitress Jeanne Cagney as Vera... but back at the garage he realizes two things: not only does he have no money, but his cohorts... including both workmates and those on the phone who owe him... are all equally broke...</p><p><span></span></p>

action, barbara bates, fifties, film noir or melodrama, jack elam, jeanne cagney, mickey rooney, peter lorre

MICKEY ROONEY CAUGHT IN 'QUICKSAND' WITH JEANNE CAGNEY

Title: QUICKSAND Cast: Mickey Rooney, Jeanne Cagney, Peter Lorre Year: 1950 Rates: **** An epitomizing trait of film noir is... if you take ...

SMOKING THROUGH A YEAR OF 'FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjawPupuFvHtCseZCRXeGXWbuj2TGUqHm0i7p8HmZYitXIvhAGvvYA3kwjkBN1mN2bwDPfb37viyxJYYMCzSVQzsCGzSP0EFpH2bGNWfV8MsFsioTdSRaNjwBIcOcXywycSqqJl0i_9fd3GfgxI1TKVM3A7gb7f2UNBCkWCflFqqQ-AFcb-1nHoO1Gmcg=s1118" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="582" data-original-width="1118" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjawPupuFvHtCseZCRXeGXWbuj2TGUqHm0i7p8HmZYitXIvhAGvvYA3kwjkBN1mN2bwDPfb37viyxJYYMCzSVQzsCGzSP0EFpH2bGNWfV8MsFsioTdSRaNjwBIcOcXywycSqqJl0i_9fd3GfgxI1TKVM3A7gb7f2UNBCkWCflFqqQ-AFcb-1nHoO1Gmcg=s16000"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Sean Penn flanked by cameos Anthony Edwards & Eric Stoltz Year: 1982 Rating: ****1/2</u><br></td></tr></tbody></table><p>In one of the biggest cases of <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2013/01/movie-icons.html">Mistaken Main Character Syndrome</a>, the 1982 Cult Classic FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH actually hardly features first-billed, poster-laden Sean Penn as surfer/stoner Jeff Spicoli since Amy Heckerling's year-at-school movie based on Cameron Crowe's year-at-school novel's mostly about Jennifer Jason Leigh as freshman Stacy Hamilton and her cool older brother, dude-next-door Brad Hamilton... </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>On almost equal footing are two thankless roles by young unknown character-actors <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2010/03/robert-romanus-fast-times-at-ridgemont.html">Robert Romanus</a> as cocky and manipulative ticket-scalper Mike Damone and his geeky sidekick Brian Backer's Mark "Rat" Ratner...</p><p><span></span></p>

brian backer, eighties, high school, jennifer jason leigh, judge reinhold, phoebe cates, robert romanus, scott thomson, sean penn, sex comedy, tom petty

SMOKING THROUGH A YEAR OF 'FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH'

Sean Penn flanked by cameos Anthony Edwards & Eric Stoltz Year: 1982 Rating: ****1/2 In one of the biggest cases of Mistaken Main Charac...

ELIZABETH TAYLOR IN AN ARTHOUSE RIDE FOR 'THE DRIVER'S SEAT'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi_SCnYcip5Lz2hcUlLFy2ac2SaXfmW-C6Y_HvtkjVxvlpX4OzbvgjwrGtcNdtXQIizY6ZyYOK6xbWqRsxLI85KfjXtpmzGV3ET6Gh8FJpktHngru3cwBCGcAgt_U7LE94WlDrPt40vJ5-WjnAY2FaqkTUWud44aO0hKPqctO6E6WY5lT4r37Q9EF04Aw=s1918" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="909" data-original-width="1918" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi_SCnYcip5Lz2hcUlLFy2ac2SaXfmW-C6Y_HvtkjVxvlpX4OzbvgjwrGtcNdtXQIizY6ZyYOK6xbWqRsxLI85KfjXtpmzGV3ET6Gh8FJpktHngru3cwBCGcAgt_U7LE94WlDrPt40vJ5-WjnAY2FaqkTUWud44aO0hKPqctO6E6WY5lT4r37Q9EF04Aw=s16000"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: THE DRIVER'S SEAT aka IDENTIKIT Year: 1974 Rating: ***1/2 </u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Since this Italian-shot art film... looking science-fiction futuristic with hypnotic phosphorescent interiors from an ominous airport to a vibrant shopping mall... stars screen legend Elizabeth Taylor, it's considered an utter travesty...<br></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Yet THE DRIVER'S SEAT is actually a unique, sparse yet hallucinatory neo noir in which the central plot's completely spoiled from the online description all the way back to the back of the VHS tapes: <i>A woman travels through Italy to find someone to kill her</i>... But are we really supposed to know that?</p><p><span></span></p>

arthouse, dino mele, elizabeth taylor, ian bannen, import, italian, mona washburn, neo noir, seventies

ELIZABETH TAYLOR IN AN ARTHOUSE RIDE FOR 'THE DRIVER'S SEAT'

Title: THE DRIVER'S SEAT aka IDENTIKIT Year: 1974 Rating: ***1/2 Since this Italian-shot art film... looking science-fiction futuristic ...

ROB LOWE W/ ANDREW MCCARTHY & JACQUELINE BISSET IN 'CLASS'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgnZZ3kbDWm3bibFWNj-8OPHrr6vln0AiHFl2o38dvUpEmTuS37-ZiWp4FDQqBqxwT_J94PJiOxSOpmH6_5BStpXLUg_9WhltETel_NXUbXG9ohC7m04gIGMBzsm5fFPLi6RIISXC-3xLvWLu9t5VPg69uyWTkadvX2SHq4AuxU0P0V-mPPSS28Q2EhPw=s2350" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="749" data-original-width="2350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgnZZ3kbDWm3bibFWNj-8OPHrr6vln0AiHFl2o38dvUpEmTuS37-ZiWp4FDQqBqxwT_J94PJiOxSOpmH6_5BStpXLUg_9WhltETel_NXUbXG9ohC7m04gIGMBzsm5fFPLi6RIISXC-3xLvWLu9t5VPg69uyWTkadvX2SHq4AuxU0P0V-mPPSS28Q2EhPw=s16000"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Opening credit for CLASS from 1983 Rating: ***</u><br></td></tr></tbody></table><p>While CLASS stars future <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/search/label/brat%20pack">Brat Packers</a> Rob Lowe and Andrew McCarthy before <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2014/05/rob-lowe-films.html">ST. ELMO'S FIRE</a> made them both 11th hour qualifiers after SIXTEEN CANDLES and THE BREAKFAST CLUB (then cemented with ABOUT LAST NIGHT and PRETTY IN PINK), it relies on the two previous decades while epitomizing the eighties Sex Comedy template including a hapless virgin, a partying rich kid and a sexy older woman straight out of THE GRADUATE...<br></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Leading to the inevitable (and at the time heavily promoted) May/December romance between McCarthy and Jacqueline Bissit is a sort of devil-may-care prep school ANIMAL HOUSE with students smoking and drinking, and where Lowe's cocky practical joker character recalls Tim Matheson's HOUSE chief Otter Stratton... </p><p><span></span></p>

alan ruck, andrew mccarthy, brat pack, eighties, jacqueline bisset, john cusack, rob lowe, romantic comedy, sex comedy, stuart margolin

ROB LOWE W/ ANDREW MCCARTHY & JACQUELINE BISSET IN 'CLASS'

Opening credit for CLASS from 1983 Rating: *** While CLASS stars future Brat Packers Rob Lowe and Andrew McCarthy before ST. ELMO'S FIR...

RICHARD HARRIS IN LINDSAY ANDERSON'S 'THIS SPORTING LIFE'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh9XCYgU3LB1h-Ov9U8XJpHnqHk3zpVdSm6rtBkLTUvSIM-Pjln_Hy4p2A7GCxFdpfLj0I6WCslATofhgblIBh4gxLOhwW8NA_1VmgH5xNjbcaTbiS9tY6muypParC-WTUQ0_83c7HMQlPjwge50yaY5QtvV4zPg5bDbs5ZU0BNXVCgiwTM8VoTID2haA=s1920" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="932" data-original-width="1920" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh9XCYgU3LB1h-Ov9U8XJpHnqHk3zpVdSm6rtBkLTUvSIM-Pjln_Hy4p2A7GCxFdpfLj0I6WCslATofhgblIBh4gxLOhwW8NA_1VmgH5xNjbcaTbiS9tY6muypParC-WTUQ0_83c7HMQlPjwge50yaY5QtvV4zPg5bDbs5ZU0BNXVCgiwTM8VoTID2haA=s16000"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: THIS SPORTING LIFE Year: 1963 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>In the British New Wave/Kitchen Sink Drama THE SPORTING LIFE, non-famous extra Glenda Jackson can be seen singing at a crowded party... funny since, years before her macho co-stars Oliver Reed and Alan Bates wrestled naked in WOMEN IN LOVE, so did coal mining rugby player Richard Harris and teammate Colin Blakely... </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Not for very long, and they're not fighting but celebrating a victory; yet the title sport's not seen enough given that everything centers on Harris, as Frank Machin, gifted with a prowess on the field that piques the interest of bigwig Alan Badel and his flirtatious wife Vanda Godsell, who can change the poor lug's life overnight...<br></p><p><span></span></p>

alan badel, anne cunningham, british new wave, colin blakely, lindsay anderson, rachel roberts, richard harris, sixties, sport, vanda godsell

RICHARD HARRIS IN LINDSAY ANDERSON'S 'THIS SPORTING LIFE'

Title: THIS SPORTING LIFE Year: 1963 Rating: ***1/2 In the British New Wave/Kitchen Sink Drama THE SPORTING LIFE, non-famous extra Glenda Ja...

GLORIA SWANSON DECOMPRESSES SUNSET IN '3 FOR BEDROOM C'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiVZA2CDZBpJmeJ4oipfa2OUEXhHwvwy35C17CH3qbs1aXym6gSBUJeEVtdfn3OL9-E3KyuUpbKwtLvZcfn5MT-qtN5I_t0ykp8ZsKmfVlUTXe5eSjdIiJGY9SDt086xqJMClx_eJxVX8og8sBsCDkzLl0a61K2YpAzsMnomMalJWhwGMLYlvIP_1Kxog=s1159" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="779" data-original-width="1159" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiVZA2CDZBpJmeJ4oipfa2OUEXhHwvwy35C17CH3qbs1aXym6gSBUJeEVtdfn3OL9-E3KyuUpbKwtLvZcfn5MT-qtN5I_t0ykp8ZsKmfVlUTXe5eSjdIiJGY9SDt086xqJMClx_eJxVX8og8sBsCDkzLl0a61K2YpAzsMnomMalJWhwGMLYlvIP_1Kxog=s16000"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>James Warren and Gloria Swanson in 3 FOR BEDROOM C Year: 1952 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>One of the most bizarre career choices perhaps in the history of cinema was when the once has-been silent film star Gloria Swanson, after playing has-been silent film star Norma Desmond in the beloved smash hit SUNSET BOULEVARD, turned down script after script attempting to turn her into what she easily could have become... </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Something like, say, a female Vincent Price since, while deemed a Film Noir/Drama, SUNSET is nothing short of a terrifying claustrophobic Horror that inspired the likes of PLAY MISTY FOR ME that inspired FATAL ATTRACTION, both involving obsessive women desperately clinging to a man by slitting their wrists, and even MISERY... </p><p><span></span></p>

fifties, fred clark, gloria swanson, hans conried, import, james warren, janine perreau, romantic comedy, steve brodie, train

GLORIA SWANSON DECOMPRESSES SUNSET IN '3 FOR BEDROOM C'

James Warren and Gloria Swanson in 3 FOR BEDROOM C Year: 1952 Rating: ***1/2 One of the most bizarre career choices perhaps in the history o...

JEAN GABIN IN 'PORT OF SHADOWS' AKA 'LE QUAI DES BRUMES'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjKaepC0KaGQRJfTM7ZF8JNYf_1yi-1ASefdCaEH0s_DAI79dU8OBhJ9FYyLCU9YCUThjiqUUMUU1xvugYRu1W4ZO_-jkkMvXEZVC-M8OLP9jBlHqnOJE6mP_iX-yMF_PXGa--lgKX99QVLmg2dDQrZd9BEJ8k2m-1uoVG8nn47fNEgcnxnOQ332G6XvQ=s1484" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="872" data-original-width="1484" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjKaepC0KaGQRJfTM7ZF8JNYf_1yi-1ASefdCaEH0s_DAI79dU8OBhJ9FYyLCU9YCUThjiqUUMUU1xvugYRu1W4ZO_-jkkMvXEZVC-M8OLP9jBlHqnOJE6mP_iX-yMF_PXGa--lgKX99QVLmg2dDQrZd9BEJ8k2m-1uoVG8nn47fNEgcnxnOQ332G6XvQ=s16000"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Michèle Morgan and Jean Gabin in PORT OF SHADOWS Year: 1938 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Jean Gabin stars in a <i>French Old Wave</i> late-1930's crime thriller with one of those plots you still see where a group of desperate people wind up in the same small interior locale while danger lurks outside: in this case a fog-shrouded shack in a fog-shrouded town where a big ship's on the verge of leaving... soon...<br></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Perfect for our enigmatic hero, a soldier played by Gabin who, for whatever reasons beyond strength and temper neither we nor his far-too-easily-matched love interest Michèle Morgan has any idea of (like <i>her own</i> wild past is clouded to him)... And then Gabin's Jean quickly gets a new identity, and in most features the story would be just beginning....</p><p><span></span></p>

crime, film noir or melodrama, french, gangster, jean gabin, michel simon, michèle morgan, pierre brasseur, romance, thirties

JEAN GABIN IN 'PORT OF SHADOWS' AKA 'LE QUAI DES BRUMES'

Michèle Morgan and Jean Gabin in PORT OF SHADOWS Year: 1938 Rating: ***1/2 Jean Gabin stars in a French Old Wave late-1930's crime thri...

EISENHOWER ON ACID: BLUE BOY VS JOE FRIDAY ON 'DRAGNET 1967'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEinJJzOalxyoGMx7xsB0yQsfnVQufX-V2pza4NoPM6gPhLdcXi33E0Slh6qYwb9BzLcCruRa1AheGerEoRUjkE0oHQdhXkDQ7SgCc--M7O45h3_zbQH0Y7l4Z67i4Snf6_6ry8JCDpQTNssaBZ_nWXde1cYwpyHzldpPxVpg6PVcn2CeG_QSciwi-FCjw=s2014" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1386" data-original-width="2014" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEinJJzOalxyoGMx7xsB0yQsfnVQufX-V2pza4NoPM6gPhLdcXi33E0Slh6qYwb9BzLcCruRa1AheGerEoRUjkE0oHQdhXkDQ7SgCc--M7O45h3_zbQH0Y7l4Z67i4Snf6_6ry8JCDpQTNssaBZ_nWXde1cYwpyHzldpPxVpg6PVcn2CeG_QSciwi-FCjw=s16000"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Jack Webb as Sgt. Joe Friday on DRAGNET 1967: The LSD Story Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>The 1950's crime-series DRAGNET epitomized the 1950's more in the 1960's revival than it did originally. The title alone represents the Eisenhower-era B&W  noir aesthetic with deadpan narration when bad guys were bad and good guys were usually cops: Thus making <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2016/06/daFACTS.html">DRAGNET</a> 1967-1970 (each season titled after the year) that much more of a bizarre and entertaining time-capsule treat... </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>It's basically two 1950's cops suddenly thrust into the psychedelic 1960's, no longer dealing with the simple days of edgy armed robbers but pampered young drug dealers, drug takers... or in the case of THE LSD STORY, both in one person, the first villain in the first episode, and his nickname is Blue Boy...</p><p><span></span></p>

cop, counter-culture, cult, harry morgan, heather menzies, jack webb, jerry douglas, michael burns, psychedellic, sixties, tv series

EISENHOWER ON ACID: BLUE BOY VS JOE FRIDAY ON 'DRAGNET 1967'

Jack Webb as Sgt. Joe Friday on DRAGNET 1967: The LSD Story Rating: **** The 1950's crime-series DRAGNET epitomized the 1950's more ...

CHARLTON HESTON & NICOLE MAUREY IN 'SECRET OF THE INCAS'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhaXnZhmlvK4jWqs3DeajjCltVwRC40yeSeU_M-79C47dcQiTyuddaSIFKAsUsNMWdhFweyUITVWUC2TLLi4L8Rgi9OCUHB-Y4N97yZ1LTelKaE6McQspiaUR5rrxstJC5XC50SR2qJYp68KwublmZUSP9q8G0X0THCluQwwIR9_MthoPUOPfhvSQMI-w=s1111" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="688" data-original-width="1111" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhaXnZhmlvK4jWqs3DeajjCltVwRC40yeSeU_M-79C47dcQiTyuddaSIFKAsUsNMWdhFweyUITVWUC2TLLi4L8Rgi9OCUHB-Y4N97yZ1LTelKaE6McQspiaUR5rrxstJC5XC50SR2qJYp68KwublmZUSP9q8G0X0THCluQwwIR9_MthoPUOPfhvSQMI-w=s16000"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Year: 1953 Rates: **1/2</u><br></td></tr></tbody></table>Jerry Hopper's cult film <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2012/06/secret-of-incas_17.html">SECRET OF THE INCAS</a> is already established to have inspired not only the iconic Harrison Ford as <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2018/05/raiders-of-lost-ark.html">Indiana Jones</a> outfit including leather jacket and fedora, but both get reminded how attractive they are... girl student eyelids there and smitten lady tourists Marion Ross and Glenda Farrell here... </p><p></p><p></p><p>More importantly, each adventurous hero... paired with an equally rogue dame... piece together an incomplete curio to find out exactly where the archeological treasure is, and <i>that's</i> the SECRET...</p><p><span></span></p>

action, adventure, charlton heston, glenda farrell, jerry hopper, nicole maurey, thomas mitchell, treasure, yma sumec

CHARLTON HESTON & NICOLE MAUREY IN 'SECRET OF THE INCAS'

Year: 1953 Rates: **1/2 Jerry Hopper's cult film SECRET OF THE INCAS is already established to have inspired not only the iconic Harris...

DEAN STOCKWELL & BRADFORD DILLMAN KILL FOR 'COMPULSION'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj1DNVl5jkkkNZkn3CZfg0D2znoMPeo0RasbYPq0um11oGN7JhUuXBfcJmw5O63zEuEk8pn42REK_Zn4uCS2TC40OoiHn4wIBhu7ldHekZgSI5YDUVJcIW7pU4ziG4DM5gRZpWmnbhJMvgOFmCQFLASj5UQTAw3WWNPR5XmUFnMAdd87HkSnxkysEJhiA=s1754" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="894" data-original-width="1754" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj1DNVl5jkkkNZkn3CZfg0D2znoMPeo0RasbYPq0um11oGN7JhUuXBfcJmw5O63zEuEk8pn42REK_Zn4uCS2TC40OoiHn4wIBhu7ldHekZgSI5YDUVJcIW7pU4ziG4DM5gRZpWmnbhJMvgOFmCQFLASj5UQTAw3WWNPR5XmUFnMAdd87HkSnxkysEJhiA=s16000"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Poster for Dean Stockwell and Bradford Dillman in COMPULSION Year: 1959 Rating: ****1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p>In-between the late Dean Stockwell's "green-haired" child actor days and the likeable chubby fella leaping through time TV-era, he was a handsome young man but always with a gritty edge... </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Befitting perfectly alongside a more jovially crooked Bradford Dillman in COMPULSION directed by Richard Fleischer, who had trouble with the first-billed/third-act star Orson Welles (for tax issues more than attitude), providing a walloping anti-death penalty speech lasting ten minutes... yet by that time the best scenes had long passed...<br></p><p><span></span></p>

adaptation, bio, bradford dillman, crime, dean stockwell, e.g. marshall, fifties, gavin macleod, melodrama, orson welles, richard fleischer, robert f. simon

DEAN STOCKWELL & BRADFORD DILLMAN KILL FOR 'COMPULSION'

Poster for Dean Stockwell and Bradford Dillman in COMPULSION Year: 1959 Rating: ****1/2 In-between the late Dean Stockwell's "green...

CATHY LEE CROSBY AS THE FIRST/ORIGINAL 'WONDER WOMAN'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><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://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhoaKP950bDWjis9zDA-gGSQWrrxLPk2Um_Y5lJAcK8U2NsQCdC3zz2y8hDF_c3mtPFdtFZcC3NQyGtmgF3EDLjeTjMlDWcywqk7KyBdBerykLBWPOcRFSF2IxllPmhsL1_7TbKwebgAcBIXZQvjVwBy0vejDlLF0CtKovaUcJlth0NUDW1na-kqZrEeQ=s988" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="723" data-original-width="988" height="293" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhoaKP950bDWjis9zDA-gGSQWrrxLPk2Um_Y5lJAcK8U2NsQCdC3zz2y8hDF_c3mtPFdtFZcC3NQyGtmgF3EDLjeTjMlDWcywqk7KyBdBerykLBWPOcRFSF2IxllPmhsL1_7TbKwebgAcBIXZQvjVwBy0vejDlLF0CtKovaUcJlth0NUDW1na-kqZrEeQ=w400-h293" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Year: 1973 Rating: ***</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Young Gal Gadot fans don't want to know anyone else played WONDER WOMAN and older Lynda Carter fans are no different...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Even Google, if you type "the very first Wonder Woman" will provide Carter's name... but it's Cathy Lee Crosby, an athletic BLONDE, who was the first Diana "Supposed to be Dark-Haired" Prince and donned the outfit albeit resembling patriotic Olympics garb instead of the DC Comics suit Carter wore in the following years' series... </p><p></p><p>A shame because this TV-movie isn't too shabby; but it's no Superhero story... Instead, during the Spy Genre/James Bond era, this WONDER WOMAN seems as if a resilient Bond girl took over the 007 mantle. And instead of powers she has karate skills and can catch a high flying spear... thrown by one of her former island dames played by Anitra Ford, a leggy model who, gorgeous and BRUNETTE, while killing it as an underused nemesis (exceeding a slow-speaking money-stealing Ricardo Montalbán or a flirtatiously lethal Andrew Prine) would've aesthetically made a better WONDER WOMAN. But Crosby does a pretty decent job for a decent-enough time-filling/action-packed curio: So she alone deserves credit for initially laying out the iconic character's groundwork... even if what ended up working went completely against her portrayal. <br></p><p><span></span></p>

action, andrew prine, anitra ford, cathy lee crosby, espionage, pilot, ricardo montalban, robert porter, seventies, spy, superhero, tv movie

CATHY LEE CROSBY AS THE FIRST/ORIGINAL 'WONDER WOMAN'

Year: 1973 Rating: *** Young Gal Gadot fans don't want to know anyone else played WONDER WOMAN and older Lynda Carter fans are no differ...

PATRICK WAYNE AND LEIGH CHRISTIAN REACH 'BEYOND ATLANTIS'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgqszcaqdY3RP8-GeUAOyGNrqdkXGzwZqZfA5AozJx_g_bhATpVyvX83aWV_9ubAqUL08Eiy679zWmkAt0daRpmKpkPzy2X1caFMVEd3oT-c6b9ro6ctTNo55e94GqZlz_L41SitJfVHVxJZElszsTuYvzcFl9dxaqExHvIN9ZNcX25VwkaJ-p82Zor7w=s1082" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="598" data-original-width="1082" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgqszcaqdY3RP8-GeUAOyGNrqdkXGzwZqZfA5AozJx_g_bhATpVyvX83aWV_9ubAqUL08Eiy679zWmkAt0daRpmKpkPzy2X1caFMVEd3oT-c6b9ro6ctTNo55e94GqZlz_L41SitJfVHVxJZElszsTuYvzcFl9dxaqExHvIN9ZNcX25VwkaJ-p82Zor7w=s16000"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title BEYOND ATLANTIS Year: 1973 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table>About the only thing remembered about BEYOND ATLANTIS by fans of Philippines-shot exploitation flicks of the early/mid 1970's is that the PG-rating doomed it from succeeding grindhouse-style like THE BIG DOLL HOUSE, WOMEN IN CAGES and THE BIG BIRD CAGE... </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>And that star Patrick Wayne, son of John Wayne, wanted this to be a "family-oriented" feature instead of the usual ultra-violent chicks-with-guns R-rated stuff...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg6prO8387kweR80wFA9T4pWeux5G4ldrd3hSZQ0tL4qBb5ezficWxbPb07HRUS0RKgFSBgxQ6NFfiLxVT0Fod0MQQ4kh_G0ojZ2FBcxkSWrN22kVGmk_QgJgSBAiOek_LieIiFth3ZDE18CQgsc2y1HGVwTgAv3fAa8ndxq80SpDbChsBxZRjVs5eRpg=s2340" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="2340" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg6prO8387kweR80wFA9T4pWeux5G4ldrd3hSZQ0tL4qBb5ezficWxbPb07HRUS0RKgFSBgxQ6NFfiLxVT0Fod0MQQ4kh_G0ojZ2FBcxkSWrN22kVGmk_QgJgSBAiOek_LieIiFth3ZDE18CQgsc2y1HGVwTgAv3fAa8ndxq80SpDbChsBxZRjVs5eRpg=s16000"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Leigh Christian swimming sexy in BEYOND ATLANTIS</u><br></td></tr></tbody></table><p>That said, ATLANTIS is one of the most bizarre of the lot, and features a prolonged scene of bikini girls swimming underwater led by island queen Leigh Christian, whose sublime blonde beauty is its very own exploitation... </p><p></p><p>Meanwhile her native followers wear cheaply-placed bulging bug eyes since they were in-bred from having distant relatives from Atlantis, or something...</p><p><span></span></p>

exploitation, john ashley, leigh christian, lenore stevens, patrick wayne, seventies, sid haig, treasure, vic diaz

PATRICK WAYNE AND LEIGH CHRISTIAN REACH 'BEYOND ATLANTIS'

Title BEYOND ATLANTIS Year: 1973 Rating: ***1/2 About the only thing remembered about BEYOND ATLANTIS by fans of Philippines-shot exploitati...

ARCHIVE REVIEW OF THE CLASSIC JAPANESE MONSTER 'GAMERA'

<p><u></u></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi0J9hSLZxo5a69Q6qtjfGYghnc2e7RgDQIvr3N5Wml_3gHSql1XPCmw4Sml5pDlG9vdRLdqPjxV7n0iY1PIPR0tzQ9e0Gl1x8PzH2vrbpWTeDq4P0aL-udjNVWRQs-dasAdcoVulfEQHBL5JcPa2IhH9XazPiEk5exjzqhknVbmFFPt8l4t4Z9IHdFEw=s1822" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1206" data-original-width="1822" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi0J9hSLZxo5a69Q6qtjfGYghnc2e7RgDQIvr3N5Wml_3gHSql1XPCmw4Sml5pDlG9vdRLdqPjxV7n0iY1PIPR0tzQ9e0Gl1x8PzH2vrbpWTeDq4P0aL-udjNVWRQs-dasAdcoVulfEQHBL5JcPa2IhH9XazPiEk5exjzqhknVbmFFPt8l4t4Z9IHdFEw=s16000" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Year: 1965 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>There are so many versions of this giant turtle epic that it's hard to find the actual source: the real thing is obviously the version without the Americans thrown in, but what's patch-worked together is an intensely terrific man-in-monster-costume ride... </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>A side-story involving a kid who loves turtles provides more color than the rambling dialog of the scientists figuring a way to destroy a beast: who ferociously thrives on whatever weapon's thrown its way. But it's the savory battles, and the last ten minutes providing the much-mentioned "Plan" to finally rid of "Gammera" (the actual spelling) that makes the whole romp worthwhile. </p>

creature feature, japanese, monster, sixties

ARCHIVE REVIEW OF THE CLASSIC JAPANESE MONSTER 'GAMERA'

Year: 1965 Rating: ***1/2 There are so many versions of this giant turtle epic that it's hard to find the actual source: the real thi...

VERA DAY & JOY WEBSTER IN 'WOMANEATER' AKA 'THE WOMAN EATER'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><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://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhWedOwqBQ-2pnuEL3lVdv9p5LoiXlv_fxrmCgQAK4I8k78gZCnwIeyI2exRNVBRg4lMUDpW8YfsUVcr3zpbl8uL9pYrLdMYlxNS-3EXFeIaFnFpxNryIvwxFXaF5zwF4buBzKyaIbwBRTUZBePslDraC2qcAHJVW-H16uiASPoETqYjZSNorLn3xiTEw=s723" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="531" data-original-width="723" height="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhWedOwqBQ-2pnuEL3lVdv9p5LoiXlv_fxrmCgQAK4I8k78gZCnwIeyI2exRNVBRg4lMUDpW8YfsUVcr3zpbl8uL9pYrLdMYlxNS-3EXFeIaFnFpxNryIvwxFXaF5zwF4buBzKyaIbwBRTUZBePslDraC2qcAHJVW-H16uiASPoETqYjZSNorLn3xiTEw=w400-h294" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>WOMANEATER poster Year: 1958 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>The makers of <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2020/09/jungle.html">JUNGLE STREET</a> producer Guido Coen and director Charles Saunders had already created WOMANEATER about a killer African plant that mad scientist George Coulouris takes back to England for a serum to revive the dead: A plot harboring two suspenseful kills as <i>only beautiful women</i> can be eaten by this lethally hugging tree while an imported native plays bongos, making British scream queen Vera Day the anticipated target while her romance with a mechanic coincides with the scientist's experiments <i>and</i> conflict with his middle-aged secretary's envy about hiring Day, whose spooked innocence the entire story's based around... <br></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Also featuring another cute British starlet Joy Webster, a shunned lush both here and in <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2020/09/jungle.html">JUNGLE STREET</a> (as well as Hammer's <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2021/07/2F.html">THE TWO FACES OF DR. JEKYLL</a>); her and Coulouris's subtle hunter/hunting sequence along the actual London Streets' Piccadilly Circus (like something from a modernized Jack the Ripper tale) contrasts neatly with the gloomy/creepy mansion exteriors, all befitting a maligned, mostly forgotten yet completely entertaining science-fiction/horror curio. </p><p><span></span></p>

body count, charles saunders, exploitation, fifties, george coulouris, guido coen, horror, joy webster, joyce gregg, science-fiction, vera day

VERA DAY & JOY WEBSTER IN 'WOMANEATER' AKA 'THE WOMAN EATER'

WOMANEATER poster Year: 1958 Rating: **** The makers of JUNGLE STREET producer Guido Coen and director Charles Saunders had already created...

GENE NELSON AND PHYLLIS KIRK CAUGHT IN THE 'CRIME WAVE'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgUvkBBXiFzgTBPF__g9yEMos8R0YSpd-P-kvej_x45IZYPkHgJk1v0G9izBtjCt1NkAg2X9ctVNKLbJe78H09q8CVb6Qu9XUs18fiSmrAj3RRdLhmodNb_wPk5PkPmf9KLh2-ckv6oaZotuCzPC28JC4pmfThesGqZ4Oi8PFElu6zF73xkI1QV_mQeYg=s1545" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="535" data-original-width="1545" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgUvkBBXiFzgTBPF__g9yEMos8R0YSpd-P-kvej_x45IZYPkHgJk1v0G9izBtjCt1NkAg2X9ctVNKLbJe78H09q8CVb6Qu9XUs18fiSmrAj3RRdLhmodNb_wPk5PkPmf9KLh2-ckv6oaZotuCzPC28JC4pmfThesGqZ4Oi8PFElu6zF73xkI1QV_mQeYg=s16000"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Poster half for The City Is Dark aka CRIME WAVE Year: 1953 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>The steady and stalwart yet vulnerable and manipulated buried lead in CRIME WAVE aka THE CITY IS DARK... overshadowed by rigid cop Sterling Hayden, a young Charles Bronson, lead thug Ted de Corsia and a thoroughly demented Timothy Carey... is played by Gene Nelson... </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Prhaps <i>the most </i>incredible dancer before and after, he remains cool and tough in his first ultra-serious role as Steve Lacey, an ex-convict paid a surprise visit by three of his old friends...</p><p><span></span></p>

andre de toth, andré de toth, charles bronson, crime, dub taylor, fifties, film noir or melodrama, gene nelson, phyllis kirk, sterling hayden, ted decorsia, thriller, timothy carey

GENE NELSON AND PHYLLIS KIRK CAUGHT IN THE 'CRIME WAVE'

Poster half for The City Is Dark aka CRIME WAVE Year: 1953 Rating: **** The steady and stalwart yet vulnerable and manipulated buried lead i...

SUSAN HOGAN & LISA LANGLOIS SUFFER JOHN HUSTON'S 'PHOBIA'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><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://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjuDLpXx117oUJH0rMXm29I9Fq9odXphgBaViDtL3qr-pFRZ0z4sKhCxKxjbMK19bWpYDNsr69IQyTz2flgjgFclnluS2lWjufvIMhiPZAhC363KJMaIfHXWz2E7iE1T8v1jc-oZwkIDExbgNnbYwOIixTMSEubpaR8Ymml3X_kd5VXEiuJUmTxeAHUlw=s1468" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1106" data-original-width="1468" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjuDLpXx117oUJH0rMXm29I9Fq9odXphgBaViDtL3qr-pFRZ0z4sKhCxKxjbMK19bWpYDNsr69IQyTz2flgjgFclnluS2lWjufvIMhiPZAhC363KJMaIfHXWz2E7iE1T8v1jc-oZwkIDExbgNnbYwOIixTMSEubpaR8Ymml3X_kd5VXEiuJUmTxeAHUlw=w400-h301" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>John Colicos & Susan Hogan in Phobia 1980 Rates: ***</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>There's something <i>different</i> about Canadian-shot b-horrors and how they look, and feel... kind of sparsely enigmatic, lonesome and hollow, Noirish in tone... ranging from native <i>canook</i> David Cronenberg and sometimes imported Americans — in this case the legendary and still hard-working John Huston, directing what resembles a violent TV-movie fitfully titled PHOBIA wherein the body count aspect flows strategically with the plot...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Starring Paul Michael Glaser <i>right after</i> STARSKY AND HUTCH and when partner David Soul moved to <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2019/10/SLot.html">SALEM'S LOT</a>, he's a seemingly helpful psychologist using a face-your-fear approach on his hospitalized patients as each of the eclectic group suffers from the same intense, specified fears that — during the best parts within an otherwise talky, by-the-numbers exploitation-horror — ultimately seals their fate: from heights to drowning to snakes while providing good roles for two lovely Canadian actresses, and is the first for 1980's scream queen <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2019/11/nest.html">Lisa Langlois</a> (pulling a Janet Leigh but in a tub) and Glaser's love-interest, <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2019/10/cronenbrood.html">THE BROOD</a> ingenue Susan Hogan. John Huston's PHOBIA is a mystery-thriller curbed by token investigative cop John Colicos that pays off in predictable yet twisty, entertaining death scenes and that, if it <i>really were </i>made for television and with a less famous/legendary director, just might've gotten the attention it deserved... or any at all.  </p><p><span></span></p>

body count, eighties, exploitation, horror, john colicos, john huston, lisa langlois, mystery, paul michael glaser, susan hogan, suspense

SUSAN HOGAN & LISA LANGLOIS SUFFER JOHN HUSTON'S 'PHOBIA'

John Colicos & Susan Hogan in Phobia 1980 Rates: *** There's something different about Canadian-shot b-horrors and how they look, a...

PHOTO GALLERY FOR 'NIGHT OF THE DEMON' THIS HALLOWEEN

<p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEingY4Z5NsMbEqM2Ri4h_L3R1fixHTr-y-UcbY6xBGdSHi2LJIARts_hF6xGGml3az9yP333KQycBGcYKApu99j7yHuU-9vkjaXW1LdgEb5VmVwIuNwo0LJjq6IGrEdTvMC2um1rT2NYQX_6WRZGviz-GsYSauesJawDJHi6Zc2T1yA7BMJAqala5tmXA=s1147" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="599" data-original-width="1147" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEingY4Z5NsMbEqM2Ri4h_L3R1fixHTr-y-UcbY6xBGdSHi2LJIARts_hF6xGGml3az9yP333KQycBGcYKApu99j7yHuU-9vkjaXW1LdgEb5VmVwIuNwo0LJjq6IGrEdTvMC2um1rT2NYQX_6WRZGviz-GsYSauesJawDJHi6Zc2T1yA7BMJAqala5tmXA=s16000"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Cover of the British Blu Ray Box Set for NIGHT OF THE DEMON/CURSE OF THE DEMON</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>There have been two reviews on the Jacques Tourneur classic horror <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2018/12/DemonCurse.html">CURSE OF THE DEMON</a>, the American re-release title, and how it differs from the original British <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2019/10/NightCurse.html">NIGHT OF THE DEMON</a>, which these particular captures, celebrating this years' Halloween, derive...</p><p></p><p></p><p>Our favorite actor is Dana Andrews and favorite director is Jacques Tourneur, making either DEMON a favorite horror that combines American cinema thrills and leading man, a French auteur and everything else belongs to the British including locations (including Stonehenge), character-actors and leading lady, Peggy Cummins...</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjRcWggInZbp9_qxNW6NA4APscIsejd5oQgVbkZNd2_RtnYou5KvxjOAvHyCl4US-nZjVl8MnMj8c3UqbtE3KkpzzJ4bS-3JaJn3lS7qb8Em1aFndSJfu58M8ktYAG5HwaThS5m55f96KORKdHk2SAwgJ9qD1aJqVrghtNQYOqMlvQo_fjfmGsl2WiIZg=s1447" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="613" data-original-width="1447" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjRcWggInZbp9_qxNW6NA4APscIsejd5oQgVbkZNd2_RtnYou5KvxjOAvHyCl4US-nZjVl8MnMj8c3UqbtE3KkpzzJ4bS-3JaJn3lS7qb8Em1aFndSJfu58M8ktYAG5HwaThS5m55f96KORKdHk2SAwgJ9qD1aJqVrghtNQYOqMlvQo_fjfmGsl2WiIZg=s16000"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Poster artwork for CURSE/NIGHT OF THE DEMON</u><br></td></tr></tbody></table><p>As for the two versions, well... the comparisons between NIGHT and CURSE actually have little merit since the original cut existed for both... and when the shorter, scene-shuffled version came out, it was mistaken to have ONLY been edited for the American CURSE when in reality, both CURSE and England's NIGHT were altered in the same fashion... </p><p>So basically what's been lost in the mix is both Britain's edited <i>second</i> version and America's unedited <i>original </i>version. Which are<i> two </i>in the same... each time.  <br></p><span></span>

article, british, cult, dana andrews, fifties, horror, jacques tourneur, list, niall macginnis, occult, peggy cummins, thriller

PHOTO GALLERY FOR 'NIGHT OF THE DEMON' THIS HALLOWEEN

Cover of the British Blu Ray Box Set for NIGHT OF THE DEMON/CURSE OF THE DEMON There have been two reviews on the Jacques Tourneur classic h...

TRACKING 'HALLOWEEN III: SEASON OF THE WITCH' FOR HALLOWEEN

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjNFNqaOSuiMPUEiqUpw393qscwtpN4uRvH4cpfaAmwp4nt8jIdCzshO1XJsoAErES3gfXCQ20yu9bIqFvuaTLKpTwZE7w6IMYOTwIMqI0hj6niy0qeWFq66R-e7h0j4jHNVQNJv7QJhVt29ImkpUVJZQ1J5m4WXdR8KMpdBZ0f67O6-MeHahCXBJ1bfw=s1097" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="469" data-original-width="1097" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjNFNqaOSuiMPUEiqUpw393qscwtpN4uRvH4cpfaAmwp4nt8jIdCzshO1XJsoAErES3gfXCQ20yu9bIqFvuaTLKpTwZE7w6IMYOTwIMqI0hj6niy0qeWFq66R-e7h0j4jHNVQNJv7QJhVt29ImkpUVJZQ1J5m4WXdR8KMpdBZ0f67O6-MeHahCXBJ1bfw=s16000"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>HALLOWEEN III SEASON OF THE WITCH 1982 Rates ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>The plan was to have a separate Halloween yarn within each HALLOWEEN movie, but John Carpenter had no idea how gigantic his relatively low-budget horror/slasher with Michael Myers would become, so, following the Carpenter-produced followup with Myers, they went back to the drawing board, which confused audiences since the Shatner-mask-donning spree killer's image was synonymous with the franchise...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>But HALLOWEEN III: SEASON OF THE WITCH takes the MASK element and runs, basing this horror/science-fiction tale around an Irish-built Halloween mask company in a small Northern California town that a doctor, Tom Akins, checks out with Stacey Neklin (too young and hot for Atkins), the daughter of a slain toy store dealer... </p><p><span></span></p>

body count, dan o'herlihy, eighties, franchise, horror, john carpenter, science-fiction, stacey nelkin, thriller, tom atkins

TRACKING 'HALLOWEEN III: SEASON OF THE WITCH' FOR HALLOWEEN

HALLOWEEN III SEASON OF THE WITCH 1982 Rates **** The plan was to have a separate Halloween yarn within each HALLOWEEN movie, but John Carpe...

FAITH DOMERGUE SLITHERS THROUGH 'CULT OF THE COBRA'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiKUbQhcrV3oEhPoDLYtw8-ZAvap2jPDd1fffB0POJsSSkt2QJ9uw7n2lMDsM8xIee1qKf6AQMTUceZRaFP-W7hpTd3nw3hj-ooo3qDrA5Gfn66wPdWRp_wgAIjp7afO_VRgF2A4md6lGQIbbPUX9vvTQmIMl5REMxafcVS4_nDl20bbwSIA0eG-HtORw=s1835" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="994" data-original-width="1835" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiKUbQhcrV3oEhPoDLYtw8-ZAvap2jPDd1fffB0POJsSSkt2QJ9uw7n2lMDsM8xIee1qKf6AQMTUceZRaFP-W7hpTd3nw3hj-ooo3qDrA5Gfn66wPdWRp_wgAIjp7afO_VRgF2A4md6lGQIbbPUX9vvTQmIMl5REMxafcVS4_nDl20bbwSIA0eG-HtORw=s16000"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Poster Artwork for CULT OF THE COBRA Year: 1955 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>The kind of Horror flick epitomizing the "Body Count" aspect since, at the beginning, before a group of soldiers return from Asia to America... after breaking a no-camera rule in a cobra cult temple... that they'll all die <i>one after one</i>; so it's no surprise when that very thing happens and keeps happening, making CULT OF THE COBRA suspenseful despite its telegraphed predictability...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Before which our creature feature's femme fatale in Faith Domergue does the sexiest of sexy dame dances wearing unique tight-fitting clothes, a surrogate special-effect actually resembling a serpent as she slithers across the floor till that flashbulb flashes... after which she winds up in New York City, in human form, with a vengeance...<br></p><p><span></span></p>

body count, creature, david janssen, faith domergue, horror, kathleen hughes, marshall thompson, richard long, snake, thriller, universal monsters, william reynolds

FAITH DOMERGUE SLITHERS THROUGH 'CULT OF THE COBRA'

Poster Artwork for CULT OF THE COBRA Year: 1955 Rating: **** The kind of Horror flick epitomizing the "Body Count" aspect since, a...

CORNEL WILDE & JENNIFER SALT IN THE TV-HORROR 'GARGOYLES'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjIWFHnYmB9M9fcDqVE2ev-D2FiNjPYzzyhPMeK_YcpUUyIMf0TQQm7yYgbMohGxpikq5mLDtPpjDAzwuAeZHCPDANNyYjxSirx5NbLSuF-6s3nos2Q9Uzf8TQBEkbSoDyVI4_jdmim5bCim9jdYivnXUn9bDSd8u-Y_x91F_c_5MWd5DZ-cHM9Cfis0g=s1396" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="724" data-original-width="1396" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjIWFHnYmB9M9fcDqVE2ev-D2FiNjPYzzyhPMeK_YcpUUyIMf0TQQm7yYgbMohGxpikq5mLDtPpjDAzwuAeZHCPDANNyYjxSirx5NbLSuF-6s3nos2Q9Uzf8TQBEkbSoDyVI4_jdmim5bCim9jdYivnXUn9bDSd8u-Y_x91F_c_5MWd5DZ-cHM9Cfis0g=s16000"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Opening credit titular green slimy font for GARGOYLES Year: 1972 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Cornel Wilde plays a writer obsessed with debunking Gothic mythologies, and answers a call to hear an old man in the middle of the desert who owns a rural liquor store/freak show hybrid, and has a Gargoyle skeleton to <i>possibly</i> prove it...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Jennifer Salt tags along as Wilde's progressive photographer daughter, and eventually winds up kidnapped by the titular creatures that... seeking their skeletal bones that Wilde took with him... prance around in a surreal/dreamlike fashion; ultimately led by Bernie Casey outfitted in green monster garb that, created by Stan Winston, looks effective and creepy, especially for a TV-movie...</p><p><span></span></p>

adventure, bernie casey, cornel wilde, creature feature, horror, jennifer salt, scott glenn, seventies, thriller, tv movie

CORNEL WILDE & JENNIFER SALT IN THE TV-HORROR 'GARGOYLES'

Opening credit titular green slimy font for GARGOYLES Year: 1972 Rating: **** Cornel Wilde plays a writer obsessed with debunking Gothic myt...

SAMUEL FULLER'S TOKYO-BASED FILM NOIR 'HOUSE OF BAMBOO'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhJx-_xN1P0jH45xiUF-p5c0RCgUr6DZZvm-R8ZLV1cLdNx-BFCtq0hfmeZPnUHjEq3U5XmQB4wopGwwbqCvm8PG-VoQKr6yzyM4PFUFdCOmqjhkuwzbDBfF8XEihyQ6R-ISIL4NhdY3ipEWlICR01y8mBrs3PuUeG3hJLEZAZEwvB6ZiplyAedYTELow=s758" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="435" data-original-width="758" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhJx-_xN1P0jH45xiUF-p5c0RCgUr6DZZvm-R8ZLV1cLdNx-BFCtq0hfmeZPnUHjEq3U5XmQB4wopGwwbqCvm8PG-VoQKr6yzyM4PFUFdCOmqjhkuwzbDBfF8XEihyQ6R-ISIL4NhdY3ipEWlICR01y8mBrs3PuUeG3hJLEZAZEwvB6ZiplyAedYTELow=s16000"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Movie Poster for HOUSE OF BAMBOO Year: 1955 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>One of Sam Fuller's greatest movies is a Noir remake set in Tokyo, and the 1948 FBI-propaganda THE STREET WITH NO NAME is the best cinematic venture J. Edgar Hoover was ever connected to and starring Mark Stevens as an agent going undercover, literally on Skid Row, first as a boxer and then joining a gang of gangsters more like crooks...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>In HOUSE OF BAMBOO the head baddie's Robert Ryan, slowburn and professional, the polar opposite of Richard Widmark's signature tantrum-spouting hood. More a crooked businessman, he's cold to the bone yet eventually finds trust in seemingly wayward stranger-in-town Robert Stack...</p><p><span></span></p>

crime, deforest kelley, FBI, fifties, film noir or melodrama, heist, japanese-based, robert ryan, robert stack

SAMUEL FULLER'S TOKYO-BASED FILM NOIR 'HOUSE OF BAMBOO'

Movie Poster for HOUSE OF BAMBOO Year: 1955 Rating: **** One of Sam Fuller's greatest movies is a Noir remake set in Tokyo, and the 1948...

KEN HUTCHISON PLAYS THE ULTIMATE HEAVY FOR 'SWEENEY 2'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgJFKQSeb7Wz2vIae7KHU2L0L8daAiSiWQs8VwbgpxVEOpS0B0EK1u2k4-YHCUlvcYkabL6yZWCl6zRcsYnSSvxyeC1CyU-wJyBKQpSPXIG7CMzC4BcNx_lwIMs7RoIZsYY9CRwTiADceRRT76RW3nM384PhYL-Gt-t-k9L_ZEJwIs83VDAhrSjMyH7mw=s1579" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="868" data-original-width="1579" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgJFKQSeb7Wz2vIae7KHU2L0L8daAiSiWQs8VwbgpxVEOpS0B0EK1u2k4-YHCUlvcYkabL6yZWCl6zRcsYnSSvxyeC1CyU-wJyBKQpSPXIG7CMzC4BcNx_lwIMs7RoIZsYY9CRwTiADceRRT76RW3nM384PhYL-Gt-t-k9L_ZEJwIs83VDAhrSjMyH7mw=s16000"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>SWEENEY 2 featuring John Thaw & Ken Hutchison Year: 1978 Rates: ****1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Before the fourth and final season of the popular British crime television series <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2021/06/sweeney-sustained.html">THE SWEENEY</a>, there were two theatrical films that hit the big screens in succession from 1977 to 1978...<br></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>The first called <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2021/06/sweeney-one.html">SWEENEY!</a> centered more on John Thaw's Chief Inspector Regan in a kind of NORTH BY NORTHWEST where his young protege Sergeant Carter, played by Dennis Waterman, had such little screen-time at one point he chooses not to be seen with Regan's "wrong man" at all...</p><p><span></span></p>

british neo noir, buddy, cop, crime, dennis waterman, john thaw, ken hutchison, seventies, sweeney

KEN HUTCHISON PLAYS THE ULTIMATE HEAVY FOR 'SWEENEY 2'

SWEENEY 2 featuring John Thaw & Ken Hutchison Year: 1978 Rates: ****1/2 Before the fourth and final season of the popular British crime ...

REST IN PEACE TO SCOTTISH TOUGH GUY ACTOR KEN HUTCHISON

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhIunBsTgPsg14fk6xWTJBOExTKioE3YZ8agk4YaCVtnydQKCdZHHWZ12FhZUdi5jtetIqSPevTPCkw5M7rjxTVa_Sd9qLkJT84THzEbkfUvBiAW4F3JpI5BShMfRyq9g0ShwRZijBD-cP1z-awstQfWmRrPHFuYxYdZGS6JU-VkvlGkzUMmPXNV2HApQ=s1870" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="994" data-original-width="1870" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhIunBsTgPsg14fk6xWTJBOExTKioE3YZ8agk4YaCVtnydQKCdZHHWZ12FhZUdi5jtetIqSPevTPCkw5M7rjxTVa_Sd9qLkJT84THzEbkfUvBiAW4F3JpI5BShMfRyq9g0ShwRZijBD-cP1z-awstQfWmRrPHFuYxYdZGS6JU-VkvlGkzUMmPXNV2HApQ=s16000"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>The late Ken Hutchison warms up for another blag in SWEENEY 2 circa 1978</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Before delving into the career of Scottish tough guy actor Ken Hutchison with an anticipated review of STRAW DOGS, here's an RIP to one of the truly great character-actors... </p><p></p><p>In the Sam Peckinpah cult classic he plays the meanest of a group of local rural Brits vs Dustin Hoffman: The fierce-looking Hutchison's a character-actor whose characters share the same deadly glare, particularly SWEENEY 2 as a Malta-dwelling British bank robber who returns to England to rob banks with just-enough cash to bring back home... </p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgZLc5tBwf47XUyOFOtjWBTz7M0X2aoKvA62E6hAmg5t0oDf_3s5dkchmrxahVaQa2dVE6j-6uvgYpEPvIuqNGiWDlEctaj3rzP2OVNRmzrlYrcBt6ymt-85hWa2i8iAKc-K3kxf7ekjTHNIH5PI_XQS8luOdxIBi4s93epv_DD0sx8Pj5OqeF7lX7_rw=s1448" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="636" data-original-width="1448" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgZLc5tBwf47XUyOFOtjWBTz7M0X2aoKvA62E6hAmg5t0oDf_3s5dkchmrxahVaQa2dVE6j-6uvgYpEPvIuqNGiWDlEctaj3rzP2OVNRmzrlYrcBt6ymt-85hWa2i8iAKc-K3kxf7ekjTHNIH5PI_XQS8luOdxIBi4s93epv_DD0sx8Pj5OqeF7lX7_rw=s16000"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Was so typecast he was even hired to beat up GANDHI of all people (Ben Kinglsey)</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>And he would attempt mainstream as a good guy scoundrel in THE WRATH OF GOD opposite Robert Mitchum and later beat up GANDHI and try killing Matthew Broderick in LADYHAWKE before vanishing altogether..</p><p></p><p>So... either way... here's to Mr. Hutchison. Described by STRAW DOGS ingenue Sally Thomsett as a "Fun-loving rogue" in a Cult Film Freak interview, he was something else, entirely.  <br></p><span></span>

british, cult, eighties, ken hutchison, memorial, robert mitchum, seventies

REST IN PEACE TO SCOTTISH TOUGH GUY ACTOR KEN HUTCHISON

The late Ken Hutchison warms up for another blag in SWEENEY 2 circa 1978 Before delving into the career of Scottish tough guy actor Ken Hutc...

KEN HUTCHISON STEALS 'THE SWEENEY' STAY LUCKY EH EPISODE

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><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://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgdV7B4PRQZB7HKCJ0Npd3NwSUyTwP0B6-9cbWjGc9airDqjQyfwcJAksEZKsAtmBH_9pJaNrE6wwGO9q_613yh9Vq6Lj4eKMXSOc4JGRaah0F4JVoyrTqWvPPvMgxqAUqKAIUXg0uOc_gWVkRW1vWl_6d9zXAD_63HMEPvysgwX16JlMhwmZ-aKU3Dgw=s1406" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1052" data-original-width="1406" height="299" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgdV7B4PRQZB7HKCJ0Npd3NwSUyTwP0B6-9cbWjGc9airDqjQyfwcJAksEZKsAtmBH_9pJaNrE6wwGO9q_613yh9Vq6Lj4eKMXSOc4JGRaah0F4JVoyrTqWvPPvMgxqAUqKAIUXg0uOc_gWVkRW1vWl_6d9zXAD_63HMEPvysgwX16JlMhwmZ-aKU3Dgw=w400-h299" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Ken Hutchison on The Sweeney Year: 1975 Rates: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Before playing Mr. Hill in SWEENEY 2, the late STRAW DOGS baddie Ken Hutchison dons a fake blonde wig and mustache, intentionally homage to Robert Shaw from FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE on the SWEENEY episode STAY LUCKY EH, and his character Vincent Vaughan steals money before being delivered to mob boss and Ken's STRAW DOGS leader Peter Vaughan while thwarting patsies Alun Armstrong to Michael Ripper...<br></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>One of the few episodes where the heavies get more screen time than John Thaw's Regan and his younger partner Dennis Waterman as Carter... </p><p>An edge tale of backstabbing from the paramount 2nd season, here stolen by Hutchison's villain's villain while another STRAW DOGS antagonist Donald Webster has a scene with Waterman, adding to the number of actors from the Sam Peckinpah cult classic including, in former episodes, T.P. McKenna, Jim Norton and Del Henney. And this particular tale winds up in a fist-fight turned shootout (on a theater stage) where our titular cops simply watch things pan out, like they'd done all along but now up close, and literally.  <br></p><p><span></span></p>

alun armstrong, british neo noir, crime,