cult film freak: william lustig

Showing posts with label william lustig. Show all posts

Written by James M. Tate / 8/31/2026 / No comments / angel tompkins , body count , cop , eddie bunker , eighties , frank pesce , judd nelson , leo rossi , meg foster , neo noir , robert loggia , william lustig

JUDD NELSON IS 'RELENTLESS' WITH LEO ROSSI & ROBERT LOGGIA

<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/AVvXsEjvkXIJmOu6Ar1krsooooS46LJsy8mrJ1btppf9LhwopkEnAJWlslcKgHQ4jTWdKq3R-olhKY2KF0Y4LqlRQ1IrSojONKVqVBzl_tKYDQaFo8wDYQMOnDgYnRv0JBABZXDh8llID7NNfBcbnBhxR_UHw6Q7dyQP69IRjb2WhCR6yMHmVmOiczFpmmmyJAK9" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1056" data-original-width="1600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjvkXIJmOu6Ar1krsooooS46LJsy8mrJ1btppf9LhwopkEnAJWlslcKgHQ4jTWdKq3R-olhKY2KF0Y4LqlRQ1IrSojONKVqVBzl_tKYDQaFo8wDYQMOnDgYnRv0JBABZXDh8llID7NNfBcbnBhxR_UHw6Q7dyQP69IRjb2WhCR6yMHmVmOiczFpmmmyJAK9=s1600"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Year: 1989 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>In the mid-1980's, starting out with famously low-budget Cannon Films in MAKING THE GRADE before breaking into Universal stardom for THE BREAKFAST CLUB, by 1989, Judd Nelson was back in the little leagues...</p><p>Getting first-billed in exploitation drive-in maestro William Lustig's RELENTLESS, a kind of revamp of WHILE THE CITY SLEEPS involving Nelson as a man-child serial killer, motivated by the media's goading perception of his ultra-violent actions based on lonely loser motivations... <br></p><p></p><p><span></span></p>

angel tompkins, body count, cop, eddie bunker, eighties, frank pesce, judd nelson, leo rossi, meg foster, neo noir, robert loggia, william lustig

JUDD NELSON IS 'RELENTLESS' WITH LEO ROSSI & ROBERT LOGGIA

Year: 1989 Rating: ***1/2 In the mid-1980's, starting out with famously low-budget Cannon Films in MAKING THE GRADE before breaking into...

WILLIAM LUSTIG & LARRY COHEN WANT YOU TO FEAR 'UNCLE SAM'

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Christopher Ogden daydreaming of war in UNCLE SAM Year: 1996</u></td></tr>
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Never have two actresses looked so much like sisters who aren't playing sisters but sisters-in-law, and one was married to a really bad guy named Sam Harper who, having gone missing in Iraq during the 1990's Iraq War (that never actually began), his body's found dead... or... wait...<br>
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The MANIAC COP franchise team of writer Larry Cohen and director William Lustig open things with intentionally campy horror: a soldier corpse resembling an Iron Maiden album cover reanimates to kill actor William Smith, responding to what's infamously referred to as friendly fire: Smith whose anti-war rap-song ends the show, sounding like a 6th grade idealist. He's a better actor, but sadly, with a voice so scratchy he can hardly speak and still looking the intense and bulky badass, he has very little screen-time and is less than a guest star...<br>

bo hopkins, body count, christopher ogden, exploitation, horror, isaac hayes, larry cohen, leslie neale, morgan paull, nineties, pj soles, robert forster, war, william lustig, william smith

WILLIAM LUSTIG & LARRY COHEN WANT YOU TO FEAR 'UNCLE SAM'

Christopher Ogden daydreaming of war in UNCLE SAM Year: 1996 Never have two actresses looked so much like sisters who aren't playing...

WILLIAM LUSTIG & LARRY COHEN FIRST TWO 'MANIAC COP' FILMS

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>The first MANIAC COP Year: 1987 Rates: ***1/2</u></td></tr>
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<u>MANIAC COP</u>: Director William Lustig makes horror and action flicks with a murky Film Noir vibe where the night is a character in itself: and not
 too friendly, centering on a killer cop played by the unique Robert D'Zar, 
faceless through most of the film, the first half is a mystery/thriller,
 making every policeman, including tough and growling William Smith, a 
possible suspect.<br>
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Tom Atkins investigates a rogue cop on the loose. Bruce Campbell is a 
beat cop and cheating husband both, making him a crooked kind of hero 
only writer/producer Larry Cohen could create. But most of the bloody 
fun is the Maniac Cop going from victim to victim. And he could be a 
zombie, or something otherworldly, because even bullets can’t do the 
trick. So once the killer's identity is revealed, followed by flashbacks
 and a b-story about his crippled lover (Sheree North), the action 
subsides into a much slower, less involving pace. Yet it’s all original 
throughout: leading to a somewhat overlong car chase, and then a battle 
with Campbell versus the Maniac Cop. And once his grotesque face is 
revealed, things rush to a predictable conclusion. And yet, despite the 
sporadic flaws, it's an action/horror that always keeps the beat.<br>

action, bruce campbell, claudia christian, eighties, horror, larry cohen, laurene landon, leo rossi, nineties, robert z'dar, sequel, william lustig, william smith

WILLIAM LUSTIG & LARRY COHEN FIRST TWO 'MANIAC COP' FILMS

The first MANIAC COP Year: 1987 Rates: ***1/2 MANIAC COP : Director William Lustig makes horror and action flicks with a murky Film Noir...

ROBERT FORSTER TURNS 'VIGILANTE' WITH FRED WILLIAMSON

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Fred Williamson in VIGILANTE aka STREET GANG Year: 1982</u></td></tr>
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During the eighties, the decade-old DEATH WISH template was alive and kicking ass. Not like the Charles Bronson classic invented the revenge theme, but when it came to law without order and giving the streets back to the people, for VIGILANTE it was the more, the merrier...<br>
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Robert Forster stars as, like Bronson, an average family man who winds up seeking revenge, but unlike Chuck he's far from alone. Fred Williamson leads a group of working class tough guys including THE GODFATHER bodyguard Richard Bright and SHORT EYES scene-stealer Joe Carberry, who were beating up muggers/rapists before our hero got into the swing of things....<br>

action, crime, don blakely, eighties, exploitation, frank pesce, fred williamson, joe carberry, joe spinell, revenge, richard bright, robert forster, rutanya alda, vigilante, william lustig, woody strode

ROBERT FORSTER TURNS 'VIGILANTE' WITH FRED WILLIAMSON

Fred Williamson in VIGILANTE aka STREET GANG Year: 1982 During the eighties, the decade-old DEATH WISH template was alive and kicking as...

ROBERT Z'DAR RETURNS IN MANIAC COP 2

action, bruce campbell, horror, larry cohen, leo rossi, nineties, robert z'dar, sequel, william lustig

ROBERT Z'DAR RETURNS IN MANIAC COP 2

year: 1990 rating: ***1/2 REVIEW HAS MOVED HERE

Written by James M. Tate / 8/01/2011 / No comments / action , bruce campbell , eighties , horror , larry cohen , robert z'dar , suspense , william lustig , william smith

REVIEW OF THE FIRST MANIAC COP

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">1987 rating: ***1/2</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2019/10/ManiacCops.html">REVIEW HAS MOVED HERE</a></span>

action, bruce campbell, eighties, horror, larry cohen, robert z'dar, suspense, william lustig, william smith

REVIEW OF THE FIRST MANIAC COP

1987 rating: ***1/2 REVIEW HAS MOVED HERE

Written by James M. Tate / 4/15/2010 / No comments / action , don blakely , drama , eighties , ensemble , exploitation , fred williamson , joseph carberry , prison , revenge , richard bright , robert forster , vigilante , william lustig

ARCHIVE SUMMARY REVIEW OF 'VIGILANTE' WITH FRED WILLIAMSON

<b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM322Tyv9ezB6Z1eXBk1HmV8tCA5DqvxszuxZSF2SYqsi38KndKo88CEw2FzHLPLOnNmaaT16is6FIaDJ9p8ZjDzWQyB4n__m1ef_o6RVYxt54WNAdmSQ1vsmIOdjeNgEo-EDEspKxKCGJFC_9Zpdvnww3LRMbAuc0_n6eeHg8klWG-aFcNsbnlhxH3A/s1050/Screen%20Shot%202023-03-05%20at%2011.40.22%20PM.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1050" data-original-width="962" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM322Tyv9ezB6Z1eXBk1HmV8tCA5DqvxszuxZSF2SYqsi38KndKo88CEw2FzHLPLOnNmaaT16is6FIaDJ9p8ZjDzWQyB4n__m1ef_o6RVYxt54WNAdmSQ1vsmIOdjeNgEo-EDEspKxKCGJFC_9Zpdvnww3LRMbAuc0_n6eeHg8klWG-aFcNsbnlhxH3A/w183-h200/Screen%20Shot%202023-03-05%20at%2011.40.22%20PM.jpeg" width="183" /></a></div>title:</b> VIGILANTE  <b>year:</b> 1983<b> cast:</b> Robert Forster, Fred Williamson, Richard Bright, Joe Carberry, Richard Bright, Willie Colon, Joe Spinell, Frank Pesce, Vincent Beck<br />
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<b>rating:</b> ****</div>
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The trio of vigilantes, sort of a neighborhood watch that kicks ass, are Fred Williamson, Richard Bright, and Joseph Carberry (SHORT EYES). The gang of vicious cold-blooded blood-thirsty thugs include shit-talkin' leader Willie Colin and henchman Don Blakley. And everyman machinist father/husband Robert Forster, friends with the (secret) vigilante group, is in denial about how bad society is until his child and wife are attacked by the gang. Everything collides wonderfully in this exploitation-DEATH WISH that delivers on every level, including street fights, prison survival, and an awesome guitar-driven soundtrack. Too classy for grindhouse and too gritty for mainstream, this is the perfect synergy of blood, guts, guns, and best of all, sweet revenge. </div>