Tag Archives: Random Films

Random Film of the Week: Dead of Night (1945)

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(thanks, scaringeachother!) 

Even though it’s almost 60 years old, for my money, Dead of Night is still an effectively scary horror anthology as well as one of those classic movies worth tracking down. It’s also a decent comedy when it needs to be and even a bit of drama and mystery gets tossed into the mix. Four different directors (Alberto Cavalcanti, Charles Crichton, Basil Dearden and Robert Hamer) worked on the five stories that make up the film (Dearden directed the framing sections that make up the beginning and ending as well as one of the stories), but it’s a seamless production where no style overtakes another. Of course, being an Ealing Studios release means there’s a huge amount of that British film quality that studio managed to make standard issue and a sort of Good Housekeeping Seal for film buffs who want no junk tossed at them from the balcony. Of course, most film buffs sit IN that balcony, but Ealing’s films were always fit for both stuffy critics above the common folk and those cheap-seaters below tossing popcorn and balled up paper napkins upward…

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Random Film of the Week(end), Too*: Juan of the Dead

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*Hey! You get an extra RFotW  column because I usually do two or so a week and I’ve been a bit too busy to watch as many movies as I’d like. Lucky you!

JotDAs we’re near completely brainwashed here in America that anything related to Cuba is bad or will turn you into a flag-waving, manifesto carrying Commie if you so much breathe in its general direction (save for stuff that can really kill us if over-consumed like Cuban cigars, Cuban sandwiches, or a fatal clot in the ass or legs from that 48-hour I Love Lucy marathon because you wanted to catch that ONE episode you missed), seeing a great indie zombie flick pop up out of that country is a nicely reaffirming sign that people are indeed alike all over. Juan of the Dead, despite the knockoff title and low budget, is a really fine addition to the crowded zombie flick genre thanks to plenty of gore and decent FX work, a load of humor targeted at current and past political policies and a solid cast that’s just fantastic throughout.

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Random Film of the Week(end): Antichrist

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“A grieving couple retreat to ’Eden’, their isolated cabin in the woods, where they hope to repair their broken hearts and troubled marriage. But nature takes its course and things go from bad to worse…”

antichrist dafoeOh, that’s Antichrist in a nutshell for you, but that’s not Antichrist at all if you’re expecting some weepy blockbuster weekend grossing drama straight out of the Hollywood genre playbook (silver linings version). Then again, if you know Lars von Trier’s work, you know you’re not getting anything you “expect” and in fact, going in blind is the best way to enjoy any of his films. That said (and speaking of blind), after watching this one, you’ll probably want to remove your eyes and boil them for a few minutes. That said, if you happen to see this one with people who tend to over-think too much about movies or relationships you can expect have a hell of a conversation afterwards about all sorts of things…

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Random Film of the Week(end): Rubber

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I absolutely love that some horror fans HATE Quentin Dupiex’ Rubber (or as it’s called in France, Rubber) for a few reasons. I’m betting he knew that’s just what would happen when the jaded but none too bright gore fanatics out there rolled into theaters or caught this on cable thinking they’d be getting a relentlessly violent and gory flick that just so happened to be non-stop hilarious. Well, it IS indeed gory and often quite funny… but it’s also a one or two gag film that works it hard by going in many directions (often at once) as well as one of the more absurdly meta movies you’ll ever see. You know you’re in for a weird time when a movie starts off with two characters on a desert road talking about how things happen for “no reason” before an audience in the distance waiting around is handed binoculars in order to watch what happens next. That’s probably the most normal thing you’ll see for the next 80+ minutes, by the way…

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Random Film of the Week(end): Bath Salt Zombies

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BSZ_CoverAs far as low-budget horror flicks go in this day and age, MVD Entertainment Group’s latest DVD release, Bath Salt Zombies is a gory wonder of economy that’s an intentionally cheesy, but wickedly fun time. Packing in plenty of blood, twisted humor, skin-ripping gore, a couple of sexy ladies, more gore, a few crazily creative fight scenes, cheap backdrops (did I mention gore?), and a leading man with quite the knack for freaky rubber-faced expressions. It’s Type AB-solutely NOT for the kiddies, so go roll them into the closet with a box of eBay Ho-Ho’s (or substitute those nastier Little Debbie rip-offs that taste like sugar dipped chocolate rolled sponges – they won’t know the diff), kick back and definitely catch this flick if you’re into the hot and heavy cult horror thing it’s got going on… Continue reading →

Random Film of the Week: Killer Klowns From Outer Space

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If you hate clowns for any abnormal reason, this film will probably freak every bone in your head out of your skull while making you laugh so much that you might fall off the couch and break something else. Granted, despite a bit of blood and gore it’s not really “scary” at all, but it does bring the laughs faster and furiously than some horror flicks that take themselves too seriously. The Chiodo Brothers (from up here in the Bronx, yeah!) cooked up this 1988 flick and while it didn’t become an “instant” genre classic or box office hit, for those lucky enough to catch it in theaters and later on home video, it was one of the more offbeat blends of horror, sci-fi and humor of the decade. I can recall laughing at the title before I saw this, thinking it was pretty dumb (but hey, it actually fits perfectly) and yep, I would have expected the film to be pretty dumb as well had I not been a fan of The Chido’s special effects work in another 80’s “B” film Critters, itself a bit of an underrated gem. Anyway, those Killer Klowns in the title are yes indeed, from Outer Space (their ship looks like a circus tent) and they’ve landed in tiny Crescent Cove for a midnight snack that just so happens to include the population of the sleepy little town… Continue reading →

Random Film of the Week(end): Emperor of the North Pole

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(thanks, Carl’s Trains & Stuff!)

emperor of the north poleIf you haven’t checked out that video above, don’t let the title fool you one bit – this isn’t a family friendly movie about a bouncy, happy CGI penguin and there’s definitely no red-suited Jolly Saint Nick here to spread happy holiday tidings (but there is a fat guy who throws hammers). Nope, this 1973 film from the late, great Robert Aldrich is simultaneously big, mean, brutal and hilarious, often within a few seconds in some scenes.

Based loosely on a Jack London book and a book partially about Jack London, the film features Lee Marvin and Ernest Borgnine as bitter rivals battling for turf rights in the most absurd of places – a moving freight train. OK, there’s much more to this classic than that, but it pretty much boils town to a prolonged (and excellently shot) fight between two men way past middle age beating the crap out of each other with 2 x 4’s, a chain, thrown hammers and an axe. I guess a cynic would call it Thunderdome on rolling stock, but not as cheesy and much better acted, at that…

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Random Film of the Week: DUNE

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(Thanks, MovieClips Classic Trailers!) 

dune_ver2_xlgRecently, someone who hadn’t seen it yet asked me “Is DUNE a great movie or not?” My answer was (and has always been) “Well, it depends…” I certainly didn’t hate it when I first saw it, but having not read the massive sci-fi novel it was based on at that time, my brain had to hold onto the inside of my head for dear life a few times during the more heady moments of mass exposition. I actually liked that David Lynch brought his trademark visual style to the film and some of the ickier visual effects (the alien navigator in the glass case, for example) were there to show this wasn’t yet another budget Star Wars clone.

Granted, the big, loud battle scenes were a big, loud mess and some of the “special” effects were reused too many times (for example, that same enemy ship swooping over the battlefield on Arrakis became a running gag to some friends I saw the flick with). Nevertheless, I liked the production design and facts that the different alien cultures were well portrayed thanks to some solid casting and it was a “pay attention” flick that demanded more of viewers than almost any other American sci-fi film of that period. Of course, it’s no Blade Runner by a long shot, but that’s another post for another random week… Continue reading →

Random Film of the Week(end): The Baby

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(Thank you, NoMoreHeroes!)

THE BABY_MPAs far as commercial horror flicks of the 1970’s go they don’t get more disturbing than The Baby, a completely bizarre 1973 gem you have to see to believe. And even after you’ve seen it, you’ll probably want to watch it again just to make sure you weren’t having a really wild nightmare. Granted, the film has a few major flaws, some of which come from the writing and pacing. But chances are you’ll be so thrown off by some of the surreal acting and completely insane scenes that you’ll forgive this one for its faults.

It’ll definitely stick in your head for a while afterward, especially if you don’t see the surprise ending winding up to knock you right off the couch. Anajette Comer plays Ann, a social worker who is given the case of Baby, a 21-year old man kept in diapers and an oversize crib by his overbearing mother played by the gorgeous Ruth Roman (channeling Joan Crawford, Joan Collins and Liz Taylor) and two very pretty, very sexy yet verrrrrry peculiar sisters (Marianna Hill and Susanne Zenor). For sheer squirm in your seat value, the film scores big by tossing assorted mental and physical abuses into your lap and letting you figure out where the hell it’s going before taking a big U-turn into WTF territory… Continue reading →

Random Film of the Week Quickie: From Hell It Came

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(Thanks, Blazing Trailers!)

 

from hell it came MPOh, I should have done this one a while back as a RFoTW, but I kept hoping SOME smart cable station would show it again because I haven’t seen it in ages. That hasn’t happened, but there was a DVD release back in 2009 from Warner Bros., meaning you too can snap this up and check it out legally at some point. Sure, this 1957 flick has a hilarious looking tree monster (once you see that Tobanga, you’ll have it stuck in your head for a few days), a plot chock full of wormy holes and you can’t say those natives are anything resembling realistic.

Nevertheless, the film works in it’s own weird way as a sort of remake of Universal’s classic The Mummy, only in a quasi-Polynesian setting with an unstoppable wooden fiend as the monster to be feared. As for actual scares, there are a few here and there and as a kid, I think I laughed a lot at/with it only after I saw the film once or twice and realized it just wasn’t that frightening. Of course, most modern folks will be doubled over laughing at all that’s on display, but I guess it’s better than beating oneself on the head with a real tree branch after one too many hits off a pipe full of funny smelling dried leaves, right?

Anyway, I’m not sure if this flick helped inspire the Swamp Thing or Man-Thing at all, but it’s not hard to see that stiff tree thing being accepted into the Parliament of Trees based on his looks and mythology, getting piss drunk off his wooden ass at the bar there and getting kicked out later for peeing in the bushes. Anyway, someone REALLY on the ball needs to start preserving/restoring these old horror and sci-fi gems so they can be aired on a rotating basis. As in on a REAL horror/sci-fi channel run by genre fans, not a corporation that shoves out the same old crap reruns and lousy made for TV movies that are intentionally awful because they “think” they know what fans want.

If only they knew…