cult film freak: October 2021

Written by James M. Tate / 10/30/2021 / No comments / 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

<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;">HALLOWEEN III SEASON OF THE WITCH 1982 Rates ****</td></tr></tbody></table>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...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...

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...

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

<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/AVvXsEicRoi2apZSz9U_FQ5NZZp7AT-aC5OntzNpEYXBupIrEpAtwGoK8kUTr3n7uFQz2654GJTq9U3sFVRrs4_r52wBigVUgA1-bu0mp4_R_DLjlY4KE56VL1yAs2vxGDhsaA6VYEGPgV32bsHfRHO8E8zGmWQ1rMu8qIvMbwgvLQWJC0fcOBPhzroy2ECHvw=s1758" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="793" data-original-width="1758" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEicRoi2apZSz9U_FQ5NZZp7AT-aC5OntzNpEYXBupIrEpAtwGoK8kUTr3n7uFQz2654GJTq9U3sFVRrs4_r52wBigVUgA1-bu0mp4_R_DLjlY4KE56VL1yAs2vxGDhsaA6VYEGPgV32bsHfRHO8E8zGmWQ1rMu8qIvMbwgvLQWJC0fcOBPhzroy2ECHvw=s16000"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Running from a heist in HOUSE OF BAMBOO Year: 1955 Rating: ****</td></tr></tbody></table>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...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...

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'

Running from a heist in HOUSE OF BAMBOO Year: 1955 Rating: **** One of Sam Fuller's greatest movies is a Noir remake set in Tokyo, and t...

REST IN PEACE TO SCOTTISH TOUGH GUY ACTOR KEN HUTCHISON

<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;">The late Ken Hutchison warms up for another blag in SWEENEY 2 circa 1978</td></tr></tbody></table>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... 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... <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;">Was so typecast he was even hired to beat up GANDHI of all people (Ben Kinglsey)</td></tr></tbody></table>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..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.

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...

SYDNEY CHAPLIN STARS IN THE BRITISH FILM NOIR' CONFESSION'

<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/AVvXsEjrR43MNPBWOqIdLxoKhuuBcjc7IERwevZjlQErwIDr_wbAl8-vX11HGm2dOda_E5TOhNeC31jOdVasvuuxYAbYi_4vXCiEEd09eucn8KbDDYXIdLHtZALp44qKptPKd1sIpWJ4JJl0q1AxueMtdJpOOMmKGF5UjPgiQvene-WN5_YoqZXEl9TVtaMK-g=s818" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="633" data-original-width="818" height="310" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjrR43MNPBWOqIdLxoKhuuBcjc7IERwevZjlQErwIDr_wbAl8-vX11HGm2dOda_E5TOhNeC31jOdVasvuuxYAbYi_4vXCiEEd09eucn8KbDDYXIdLHtZALp44qKptPKd1sIpWJ4JJl0q1AxueMtdJpOOMmKGF5UjPgiQvene-WN5_YoqZXEl9TVtaMK-g=w400-h310" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Poster for THE CONFESSION Year: 1955 Rating: **1/2</td></tr></tbody></table>Charlie Chaplin's son Sydney Chaplin gets first-billing in a British Film Noir titled CONFESSION aka THE DEADLIEST SIN; the melodramatic alternate references a priest hearing the confession of a killer admitting what he's done, sort of, before he himself is killed right there and then... And it's all the fault of Chaplin as prodigal son Mike Nelson, returned home from America (having no British accent left), again living with his crippled father and gorgeous sister Audrey Dalton...She thinks big brother's as clean as the driven snow, providing what others have noticed is similar to Alfred Hitchcock's "cute niece loves her charming yet secretly vicious uncle" SHADOW OF A DOUBT as well as I CONFESS with a targeted priest, leaving Chaplin little to do but look ominous and secretive, especially after sister loses trust since her boyfriend (and both their childhood friend) is the one killed after committing a defensive murder of square-jawed Patrick Allen, who was blackmailing the suitcase-full-of-cash Chaplin in a thriller where the important side-roles die off too quick to matter, and, sadly, what began as a chance for Sydney Chaplin to shine darkly (looking more like he'd be Victor Mature's brother than Charlie Chaplin's son), the picture winds up in the hands of cop John Bentley, who... as the tail wags the dog... would have been better left on the sidelines.

audrey dalton, british film noir, fifties, john bentley, patrick allen, sydney chaplin, thriller

SYDNEY CHAPLIN STARS IN THE BRITISH FILM NOIR' CONFESSION'

Poster for THE CONFESSION Year: 1955 Rating: **1/2 Charlie Chaplin's son Sydney Chaplin gets first-billing in a British Film Noir titled...

KRISTY SWASON IN WES CRAVEN'S SCIENCE-HORROR 'DEADLY FRIEND'

<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/AVvXsEjWxQKrn64lW1wEHi4k-3mH8bsnlFl6gEzcvP6y7KCVdF_6IJlihQ4udaczMgFZYKTW3IQ48IgcmJeb-MqbEY_c2cpyKm8WTyWxu-OkmfdEFFqKUTc4OZNUDucnITkMghj07hMhn-8Lb9F8b3JLN7RJEa3XVgMJto8HjzLd5QpibseHNIE0XmcNhiAO9Q=s2048" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1041" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjWxQKrn64lW1wEHi4k-3mH8bsnlFl6gEzcvP6y7KCVdF_6IJlihQ4udaczMgFZYKTW3IQ48IgcmJeb-MqbEY_c2cpyKm8WTyWxu-OkmfdEFFqKUTc4OZNUDucnITkMghj07hMhn-8Lb9F8b3JLN7RJEa3XVgMJto8HjzLd5QpibseHNIE0XmcNhiAO9Q=s16000"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Blu Ray Cover Artwork for DEADLY FRIEND Year Released: 1986 Rating: ****</td></tr></tbody></table>A year before giving her class the lowdown about FERRIS BEULLER'S DAY OFF and around five years until losing her adorable baby fat for the deliberately camp-filled BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER, Kristy Swanson starred in another Classic Monster-inspired b-movie directed by Wes Craven, a horror-genre director having so much silly fun here it seems he hadn't yet realized A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET had blown up on video... Thank God because DEADLY FRIEND, a modern take on the FRANKENSTEIN tale, packs one helluva wallop, particularly a basketball beheading so pivotal and scene-stealing it should be backed by celebratory fireworks...

anne ramsey, body count, cult, eighties, horror, kristy swanson, matthew labyorteaux, robot, science-fiction, wes craven

KRISTY SWASON IN WES CRAVEN'S SCIENCE-HORROR 'DEADLY FRIEND'

Blu Ray Cover Artwork for DEADLY FRIEND Year Released: 1986 Rating: **** A year before giving her class the lowdown about FERRIS BEULLER'...

JACK NICHOLSON & OTIS YOUNG TAKING ON 'THE LAST DETAIL'

<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/AVvXsEhy2Tt9EucAJmYFRl2te7I29yZ1P3NLkGem2lkKEvUqfQgL7v6tBnvxJtXj5Q_vHV3_-MBt_KiSG6QUSGbO2viduLZBe2ouybwAehmFpAOrk4bXPY9Rs4M8MfrLHKxpXoo0pRtEkzTOItRCwjlPq3OUu6SEmkxwXtiA5j6D0B1yKI0mc36-sSyE_xxWhg=s2048" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1160" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhy2Tt9EucAJmYFRl2te7I29yZ1P3NLkGem2lkKEvUqfQgL7v6tBnvxJtXj5Q_vHV3_-MBt_KiSG6QUSGbO2viduLZBe2ouybwAehmFpAOrk4bXPY9Rs4M8MfrLHKxpXoo0pRtEkzTOItRCwjlPq3OUu6SEmkxwXtiA5j6D0B1yKI0mc36-sSyE_xxWhg=s16000"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jack Nicholson and Otis Young in THE LAST DETAIL Year: 1973 Rating: *****</td></tr></tbody></table>What makes THE LAST DETAIL as much comedy as drama is the brilliant use of quick editing, like whenever Navy lifer Jack Nicholson gets too drunk and boisterous, turning a would-be fight into just another time-filling tantrum... Cutting to the next scene before what seems important rolls into the overall road trip journey from New York to Boston on buses and trains, throughout in the snowy East Coast in what's Jack Nicholson's greatest performance...<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/AVvXsEgjkfKmd_kmwxbH8s9aMgOPCsYtTzSGmsa7HTXzRRXrqSASS6ro7VF04yeSUtoawfVFTCdV8w1wipboNGgqlZOAE0tvvn6FihkZ_S5iRewOr_oZyy8pDfliJXgCNf1sSuvtb4jEsKEw5Kps8bYqfZObMaGREZRMgiPhUEocRmghf5Qab4uBr4X6Jw8gcg=s1622" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="806" data-original-width="1622" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgjkfKmd_kmwxbH8s9aMgOPCsYtTzSGmsa7HTXzRRXrqSASS6ro7VF04yeSUtoawfVFTCdV8w1wipboNGgqlZOAE0tvvn6FihkZ_S5iRewOr_oZyy8pDfliJXgCNf1sSuvtb4jEsKEw5Kps8bYqfZObMaGREZRMgiPhUEocRmghf5Qab4uBr4X6Jw8gcg=s16000"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jack Nicholson's Bad Ass starting a fight in THE LAST DETAIL</td></tr></tbody></table>And it was before he had very much to compare it with, following EASY RIDER and FIVE EASY PIECES, energetically combining wily charm and combative mood-swings... This guy's been everywhere and seen everything, curbed perfectly by handsome black actor Otis Young as Mullhall nicknamed Mule, the mellow, dependable wing man to Jack's self-described Bad Ass Budduski...

comedy, counter culture, cult, drama, hal ashby, indie, jack nicholson, military, nancy allen, otis young, randy quaid, road movie, seventies

JACK NICHOLSON & OTIS YOUNG TAKING ON 'THE LAST DETAIL'

Jack Nicholson and Otis Young in THE LAST DETAIL Year: 1973 Rating: ***** What makes THE LAST DETAIL as much comedy as drama is the brillian...

KEN RUSSELL'S EXPLOITATION NEO NOIR 'CRIMES OF PASSION'

<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/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwhR9GkxYHlbtfz_W_3fxyNJqzGB5jl1xSwuqA4r6DDRN3HPOhzcoTBEHuY7ELKxDx3HfkBs1m-or22B5OA3URqlW3ylXuQfN5uud4MpJB-rm1iTjHpX0A5FldnGVtSq6-N7MS9K2XLjmgq_g2F6kesFCZ48cobG_m49u9GO06R6xQAj8NGKF0LPa4yg/s1858/Screen%20Shot%202021-12-18%20at%204.00.22%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="898" data-original-width="1858" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwhR9GkxYHlbtfz_W_3fxyNJqzGB5jl1xSwuqA4r6DDRN3HPOhzcoTBEHuY7ELKxDx3HfkBs1m-or22B5OA3URqlW3ylXuQfN5uud4MpJB-rm1iTjHpX0A5FldnGVtSq6-N7MS9K2XLjmgq_g2F6kesFCZ48cobG_m49u9GO06R6xQAj8NGKF0LPa4yg/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202021-12-18%20at%204.00.22%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Title: CRIMES OF PASSION Year: 1984 Rating: ***1/2</td></tr></tbody></table>If Brian De Palma and Paul Schrader had a baby, it'd hang around Ken 
Russell's CRIMES OF PASSION starring 
Kathleen Turner as a fashion designer by day, anything-goes hooker by 
night, crossing paths with sexually-frustrated family man John 
Laughlin who, in a Neon Neo-Noir fashion, is hired by Turner's daytime boss to trail her nightlife... Buried lead John Laughlin, more comfortable as a fourth or fifth banana (like the faithfully protective muscle-head in the same years' FOOTLOOSE), tries his very hardest to wield the intensity to learn the taboo 
trade and, fitfully curious, becomes one of her most loyal (and beloved) customers in sexy/steamy scenes perhaps too intense for casual viewers and not enough for the hardcore crowd...

annie potts, anthony perkins, bruce davison, drama, eighties, john laughlin, kathleen turner, ken russell, louise sorel, neo noir, romance, seth wagerman, thriller

KEN RUSSELL'S EXPLOITATION NEO NOIR 'CRIMES OF PASSION'

Title: CRIMES OF PASSION Year: 1984 Rating: ***1/2 If Brian De Palma and Paul Schrader had a baby, it'd hang around Ken Russell's C...

JACK NICHOLSON NOIR FOR 'THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE'

<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://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GN36gTj-nL0/YVL5V3Il3aI/AAAAAAABm5c/ud06ubAoTwUH-jnGzaq61qzLDDrHL7aHwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1517/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-09-28%2Bat%2B3.46.03%2BAM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="702" data-original-width="1517" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GN36gTj-nL0/YVL5V3Il3aI/AAAAAAABm5c/ud06ubAoTwUH-jnGzaq61qzLDDrHL7aHwCLcBGAsYHQ/s16000/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-09-28%2Bat%2B3.46.03%2BAM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Title: THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE Year: 1981 Rating: ***1/2</td></tr></tbody></table>Passion is better left implied, and 
the original POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE is far more sensuous, especially as Bob Rafelson's unapologetically R-Rated remake keeps little hidden with Jack Nicholson's otherwise useless drifter making Jessica Lange right there in the steamy kitchen of a diner he winds up employed... And while Nicholson "is no John Garfield," the Noir-friendly CHINATOWN actor doesn't need to be. Paired with tough and tender Jessica Lange, she's not voluptuous like Lana Turner yet is equally beautiful and more realistically earthy/natural given the rural locale — desperately living the part instead of dramatically playing it...

bob rafelson, christopher lloyd, eighties, jack nicholson, jessica lange, john colicos, melodrama, michael lerner, neo noir, remake, romance, thriller

JACK NICHOLSON NOIR FOR 'THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE'

Title: THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE Year: 1981 Rating: ***1/2 Passion is better left implied, and the original POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE...

JACK NICHOLSON IN THE FORGOTTEN NEO NOIR 'BLOOD AND WINE'

<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/AVvXsEgf9s8nO_JB-JbH6E9leH4bqvDUYNIuN6Si3eIZIS4j19Czt4_hLyLqqh-iHBpldPSzQGyaZSuretgztgN5sUgvTler1f1dN3tcFU--Xvt4GyboGE4DUVI1CYZNtdz5O3E3eH7vTbGBEyxyn5gwFwGNrFGM7_XCD9gK_Kp-NT67Ip4z17ItAipZj08ISg=s1499" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="407" data-original-width="1499" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgf9s8nO_JB-JbH6E9leH4bqvDUYNIuN6Si3eIZIS4j19Czt4_hLyLqqh-iHBpldPSzQGyaZSuretgztgN5sUgvTler1f1dN3tcFU--Xvt4GyboGE4DUVI1CYZNtdz5O3E3eH7vTbGBEyxyn5gwFwGNrFGM7_XCD9gK_Kp-NT67Ip4z17ItAipZj08ISg=s16000"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jack Nicholson stars in Bob Rafelson's BLOOD AND WINE Year: 1996 Rating: ***1/2</td></tr></tbody></table>Some truly inspired casting of two sly human bobcats, one young in this 
agile twenties and muscular from shark-hunting but what a letdown that doppelgangers Jack Nicholson and 
Stephen Dorf... the latter the first's step-son... don't play actual blood relatives in Bob Rafelson's forgotten neo noir BLOOD AND WINE set in a humid locale suited for the pulpy, visual page-turning "Cerebral Crime" genre, better known as a Thriller...Fitfully set in sweat-soaked Florida, on and off the sea although 
Dorff's Jason isn't the type to get himself that deep into something he's
 not in complete control of, like a hooked shark, 
conveniently using a lure attached to a pickup truck, so he's used to 
opening the usual Noir McGuffin Pandora's Box or some kind of shortcut, always fueled by curiosity...

bob rafelson, heist, jack nicholson, jennifer lopez, judy davis, michael caine, neo noir, nineties, stephen dorff, thriller

JACK NICHOLSON IN THE FORGOTTEN NEO NOIR 'BLOOD AND WINE'

Jack Nicholson stars in Bob Rafelson's BLOOD AND WINE Year: 1996 Rating: ***1/2 Some truly inspired casting of two sly human bobcats, on...

JACK NICHOLSON 'THE KING OF MARVIN GARDENS' BRUCE DERN

<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://1.bp.blogspot.com/-w52_gtDKduo/YVEmJqWv3rI/AAAAAAABm1g/eD9P5lQ7kd8uM68SoFgwHNnHwHs5NB1BgCLcBGAsYHQ/s919/TheKingOfMarvinGardens-final-emailable.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="458" data-original-width="919" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-w52_gtDKduo/YVEmJqWv3rI/AAAAAAABm1g/eD9P5lQ7kd8uM68SoFgwHNnHwHs5NB1BgCLcBGAsYHQ/s16000/TheKingOfMarvinGardens-final-emailable.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Title: THE KING OF MARVIN GARDENS Year: 1972 Rating: *** </td></tr></tbody></table>Maybe directors never really outgrow their film school mindset: And in 
that, following what would forever remain their collaborative pinnacle, 
FIVE EASY PIECES director Bob Rafelson gave his close friend Jack Nicholson a break from the stereotype
 of being the feisty rebel type, here a meek Philly-dwelling radio host of melancholy monologues... Then again maybe 
he should have played Bruce Dern's conniving con-man older brother Jason
 Staebler, on the stumbling verge of an Atlantic City land deal with a 
few obstacles including a potentially dangerous kingpin (Nicholson's 
three picture co-star, Scatman Crothers) and especially his women...

bob rafelson, bruce dern, crime, cult, ellen burstyn, gambling, indie, jack nicholson, julia anne robinson, neo noir, scatman crothers, seventies, thriller

JACK NICHOLSON 'THE KING OF MARVIN GARDENS' BRUCE DERN

Title: THE KING OF MARVIN GARDENS Year: 1972 Rating: *** Maybe directors never really outgrow their film school mindset: And in that, follo...

DIRECTOR JACK ARNOLD GROUNDS 'IT CAME FROM OUTER SPACE'

<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/AVvXsEj_kPlrtEKEsnK1MKkZXXwRozdsQAv1SHCOhC9EH7GsaDIB_e0pftArTypbMM0k9fE6XuTOAz3wdVmIAJC6D3D1twNIbUT9j7QFy17pg2NRgNLyfCKiKeeitq9khW0yrG8VL3PwggbAMCofcBLrJ0D7Cr0bIKmWeLR_MdrJVf-BFyf5ETkER53sABs9KQ=s2114" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="889" data-original-width="2114" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj_kPlrtEKEsnK1MKkZXXwRozdsQAv1SHCOhC9EH7GsaDIB_e0pftArTypbMM0k9fE6XuTOAz3wdVmIAJC6D3D1twNIbUT9j7QFy17pg2NRgNLyfCKiKeeitq9khW0yrG8VL3PwggbAMCofcBLrJ0D7Cr0bIKmWeLR_MdrJVf-BFyf5ETkER53sABs9KQ=s16000"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Richard Carlson and Barbara Rush in IT CAME FROM OUTER SPACE Year: 1953 Rating: ***1/2</td></tr></tbody></table>The same year as the theatrical WAR OF THE WORLDS, where what resembles a meteorite lands on Earth and turns out being aliens that the entire region witnesses, amateur stargazer Richard Carlson is all alone in what's half a theory: while it's fact that something landed into the desert ground, only HE realizes what's really inside it...And Jack Arnold was beginning a great career as Universal's science-fiction/monster b-movie director, and while the near-future TARANTULA, THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING MAN and both CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON features, IT CAME FROM OUTER SPACE is more slow-burn than exciting, and while somewhat short on outright thrills and suspense, the story's told so conventionally and unpretentiously it all seems completely natural, providing Arnold a natural fit for bringing farfetched down to earth...

barbara rush, fifties, horror, jack arnold, kathleen hughes, richard carlson, russell johnson, science-fiction, thriller

DIRECTOR JACK ARNOLD GROUNDS 'IT CAME FROM OUTER SPACE'

Richard Carlson and Barbara Rush in IT CAME FROM OUTER SPACE Year: 1953 Rating: ***1/2 The same year as the theatrical WAR OF THE WORLDS, wh...

STERLING HAYDEN VS NEDRICK YOUNG 'TERROR IN A TEXAS TOWN'

<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/AVvXsEhE7tJ7pVnL516jAhKQLRMossW-ivf0xoRUNuUHwO_nFSkXjEdiNyA90-ypnoSnNV1EwrcO_ggfeIjzrkrvdJWAEQWDitCmCzfiyv6bEE1_0DODpGeHInutG85zeDwDt9b7wOcMttI9n0cWgcn2zrJtZ1CEWq7YYRKuwVK_GuWeyFdmFlS1UcV5LBMjqw=s2048" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1268" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhE7tJ7pVnL516jAhKQLRMossW-ivf0xoRUNuUHwO_nFSkXjEdiNyA90-ypnoSnNV1EwrcO_ggfeIjzrkrvdJWAEQWDitCmCzfiyv6bEE1_0DODpGeHInutG85zeDwDt9b7wOcMttI9n0cWgcn2zrJtZ1CEWq7YYRKuwVK_GuWeyFdmFlS1UcV5LBMjqw=s16000"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Title: TERROR IN A TEXAS TOWN Year: 1958 Rating: ****</td></tr></tbody></table>If the blacklisted Dalton Trumbo were a more violently-inclined exploitative screenwriter, the harpoon carried around by Swedish whaler turned would-be rancher Sterling Hayden (using a terrible accent made up for by his usual strong presence) would have the opportunity to slay a gaggle of bad guys... But it only takes one baddie... or two, actually... the brains and brawn in land baron Sebastian Cabot... with sexy secretary Marilee Earle the same year she'd play another villain's secretary in THE FEARMAKERS... and black-clothes-clad gunman Nedrick Young with his own heart-of-gold lush Carol Kelly...

carol kelly, dalton trumbo, fifties, marilee earle, melodrama, nedrick young, sebastian cabot, staring hayden, western

STERLING HAYDEN VS NEDRICK YOUNG 'TERROR IN A TEXAS TOWN'

Title: TERROR IN A TEXAS TOWN Year: 1958 Rating: **** If the blacklisted Dalton Trumbo were a more violently-inclined exploitative screenwri...

JACK NICHOLSON & ART GARFUNKEL IN 'CARNAL KNOWLEDGE'

<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/AVvXsEipCNp8uKQBT5E4zOqdgwcu6SKGxvXiINPi0giE-VIymbzqO5Vt5O1_uUuI1AIYOqvx8iNlaeC5I1J5jGY9sdAJl7sEtgiYZk4f8pT5SeSyBnoel3X6OmO8_Z9oSFxFVbSpWovl9rT2z2VVG-GJbXhqvg-s55VBIULnXnccXtsVpCWUePyLa2hgxVsMug=s2244" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="976" data-original-width="2244" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEipCNp8uKQBT5E4zOqdgwcu6SKGxvXiINPi0giE-VIymbzqO5Vt5O1_uUuI1AIYOqvx8iNlaeC5I1J5jGY9sdAJl7sEtgiYZk4f8pT5SeSyBnoel3X6OmO8_Z9oSFxFVbSpWovl9rT2z2VVG-GJbXhqvg-s55VBIULnXnccXtsVpCWUePyLa2hgxVsMug=s16000"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jack Nicholson raging through CARNAL KNOWLEDGE Year: 1971 Rating: ***1/2</td></tr></tbody></table>If you can get past a then thirty-four year old Jack Nicholson as a virginal college freshman after having asserted himself a man of the world 
in previous films, you’ll do alright... CARNAL KNOWLEDGE sets itself 
up as a nostalgic just-came-of-age tale but quickly changes decades and storylines
later, and, most important, sexual relationships, beginning with University 
boys Jack and his best friend Sandy — played with a natural screen 
presence by Art Garfunkel— both dating the same prized Ivy League girl, 
Candace Bergen… Jack having moved in carnally without Art's knowledge…

ann-margret, art garfunkel, buddy, carol kane, cult, cynthia o'neal, jack nicholson, mike nichols, romance, seventies