Aftershock (1990): Review

Directed by Frank Harris. Written by Michael Standing. Starring Jay Roberts Jr., John Saxon, Christopher Mitchum, James Lew, Chris DeRose, Chuck Jeffreys, Russ Tamblyn, Elizabeth Kaitan, Michael Berryman.

The 1990 post-apocalyptic film Aftershock would appear to have an embarrassment of b-movie riches. Where else can you find two kickboxing heroes, a one-armed Chris Mitchum, and Michael Berryman in leather, eyeshadow, and hot-red lipstick? Unfortunately, Aftershock is an example of what happens when there are too many ingredients in the cinematic stew for any cohesive flavor to form.

Shit has gone bad on planet Earth. While there are no mutant viruses or radioactive clouds to confirm this, we know we’re in the aftermath of a seismic shift in civilized living. The buildings are dilapidated and people live in communal enclaves. It’s overcast all the time, like London or Lima. There are really only two remaining classes: those scrounging for a dignified living, and the military fascists who shoot them.

Leading the charge for Team Dickwad is Quinn, a security force commander played by John Saxon. He runs a tight ship, regularly dispatching his second-in-command Mr. James (Lew) to apprehend (kill) suspected rebels. Batting cleanup in the order is Brandt (DeRose), a ponytailed mercenary for hire who brandishes a six-shooter somehow capable of getting off 10 rounds without being reloaded. Their latest haul includes a comely blonde (Kaitan) dressed like an elementary school-teacher who materializes in a hazy glow in the middle of the slums. They dub her “Sabina,” which I believe means “we couldn’t afford Darryl Hannah” in Latin. While her inability to communicate suggests she’s mentally challenged, her strange clothing and lack of forearm barcode makes her very suspicious to the authorities. In this future, all civilians are branded for easy identification.

So what does the citizenry do to cut loose besides dodge bullets? Most folks in search of a good time gather at Franklin’s Bar. The clientele is a mix of losers, loners, and punks, but Hank Franklin (Tamblyn) keeps the moonshine flowing. Among the regulars are Cassidy, a muscular hulk played by Matthias Hues, and his friend Queen, a biker adorned in a wig and lipstick. While Michael Berryman is a unique actor with an already creepy look, the image of him in drag is something that may extinguish the lust in your heart at very inopportune times. (If you’re reading this, Jill: I’m sorry about last night -- I swear that’s never happened before).

Thankfully, there are a few beacons of goodness flickering in the darkness. The central hero of the film is Willie (Roberts Jr.), a dirtbike enthusiast with karate skills nearly as impressive as his feathered hair. Even better is his braided rat-tail, which is either glued to his shoulder or hairsprayed into paralysis. I’m not sure if this was in Roberts’ contract, but the tail is always front-facing and highly visible.

Willie is also a connoisseur of fine women, and puts the moves on a lady handing out fliers for the anti-security revolutionaries. After some resistance, he mentions that “if you ever decide to be the mother of my children, look me up.” Now, you can give Willie points for his sentiments on settling down and propagating the species in such a dreary sociopolitical climate. But that’s the worst fucking pick-up line ever. No sober girl in a bar wants to hear you talking about getting her pregnant, especially when she’s handing out fliers for the rebel uprising.

Included in the resistance forces is Danny, played by actor and stuntman Chuck Jeffreys. In a security sweep of the bar apparently targeting sweaty dudes in vests, he and Willie are brought to Quinn’s detainment center. The latter is brought directly to Quinn’s inner office for a violent interrogation. It’s during these and other confrontations with the rebels that Saxon really shines; he doesn’t stand for back-talk and is happy to assert his authority with a pair of brass knuckles. Shortly thereafter, Willie and Danny manage to escape the facility with Sabina tagging along.

Her escape is of greater consequence than Quinn first realizes. His superior, played by Richard Lynch, shows up to deliver the news that Sabina is a high-risk detainee with an I.Q. twice that of any previously recorded and that her clothing is unlike any material known to man. Shocking news, to be sure, but not nearly as jarring as Lynch sporting a pair of late-80s Oakleys and stroking a terrified puppy for no particular reason.

The trio of escaped detainees hook up with Danny’s crew, led by veteran Col. Slater, played by Christopher Mitchum. It’s around this point in the film where things grind to a halt; nearly 25 minutes worth of people sitting around talking about hacked computer files, democracy, and other undercooked ideas. There are movies that can afford to move away from action set pieces in order to develop the characters and plot, but Aftershock is not one of those films. There are simply too many characters to emphasize any one (or two) for a meaningful period of time. The result is an incoherent mess; characters vanish and then reappear without explanation and we never really get a grasp for which supporting characters are important or why. Sabina reveals to the group that she’s an alien researching Earth, but you get the feeling that there was a better film hiding in here if only Harris had cut away this type of convoluted fat.

There’s a solid climax involving a few hilarious dummy falls as well as two decent fight sequences between Roberts and James Lew and then Roberts and Chris DeRose. Unfortunately, this comes a bit too late to compensate for the big sag in the middle of the film. The cheesy-good end only underscores how scattershot the film is overall, and while there are definitely glimpses of a really fun action b-movie here, it just doesn’t come together the way it should have.

Make or Break: There’s an atrocious scene with Willie and Sabina hitching a ride with Hank Franklin where they all break into a sing-along with Jay Roberts Jr. jamming on the harmonica. This was a huge misstep in tone and felt incredibly forced. Awful to watch. Definite break for me.

MVT: Had he been given more screen-time, I might have been tempted to go with Chuck Jeffreys as a sleeper pick. But of all the performers, John Saxon is way above the rest in terms of skill and delivery. He turns in a pretty dickish performance, which is precisely what you need from your villain.

6.25/10

Goth: Love of Death (2008): Review

Those goth folk used to scare the piss out of me. I mean, how can you trust these people who gladly embrace the darkest corners of their soul and flaunt it for the world to see? These people were dangerous. At least that’s what my junior high-self thought. Then it all changed for me. I’m not sure if the shift from intimidating to buffoonery happened around the time of Hot Topic or when goth went pop-punk. Goth: Love of Death helped some of the feelings of unease to resurface.

Gen Takahashi’s film introduces us to two unabashedly gothic stereotypes: black umbrella sporting Yoru and happy on the outside, gloom on the inside Itsuki. Itsuki comes off as your typical fun-loving teenager, but in his western-style home is a bookcase/secret compartment of all manners of literature relating to death and murder. Yoru is your prototypical ice-cold goth girl who has a comically clichéd goth lair in her traditional Japanese home. The similarities in their rooms coupled with their homes could be a comment on traditional and westernized lives carry the same capacity for gloom, but I’m sure it’s more nuanced than that so I’ll just leave that alone.

Initially, the film comes off as a really hard sell. The plot is appealing enough, as it shows Yoru and Itsuki trying to track down a serial killer. This may feel like a Choose Your Own Adventure kind of story, but these goth kids' priority is to just see the victims first and have no real ambitions of stopping the killer.

The film has a very meditative pace and aims to supplement that with ethereal lighting and steady camera movement. This is all well and good, but it has the delivery of a Mack truck into a gas station. There’s never a moment where the camera isn’t overexposed, creating an ethereal glow to the settings. The problem is that this overexposure is omnipresent and just feels too ham-fisted. This movie is to overexposed light as Michael Bay is to explosions. Where the film's style succeeds in spades is in the score. The film switches between a fantastic orchestral score that supplements the emotional aspect, while an awesome Goblin-esque score plays up the unsettling moments.

The acting can also swing from inspired intensity to broad gothic pout. To her credit, Rin Takanashi’s Yoru manages to be the most engaging through her subtle expressions and steely eyes. While she doesn’t mutter a word for the first 15 minutes, she does manage to communicate very well with the audience. On the other hand, Kanata Hongo’s Itsuki sometimes just comes off as stereotypically effeminate and unbearably pouty.

Even though the ham-fisted delivery turned me off from the movie for the first half, the emotional payoff in the climax really helps to justify the characterization. The closer the two teens come to finding the killer, the closer the audience comes to understand the motives and reasons behind why these two teenage characters are who they are. There’s a real sense of tragedy that underscores Yoru’s demeanor and a frightening ambivalence to Itsuki. The height of the climax brings up a number of questions to the emotional and psychological state of these two characters. Unfortunately, while the climax brings the film together as an enjoyable whole, the denouement betrays the show-don’t-tell mood of everything before it.

Aside from the long-winded conclusion and a completely unnecessary twist(just a small one), Goth: Love of Death manages to work in ways that I wasn’t prepared to anticipate. The film has a grisly sheen at first, but it turns out to be an emotionally substantive take on teen isolation, guilt, and identity.

MVT: Easily, the most valuable thing in this movie is Rin Takanashi. When the director's overblown style and broad acting of her male counterpart failed to engage, I found her portrayal to be the most fascinating and nuanced part of the film.

Make or Break: The climax is really what helped the movie realize what it is. The build-up is a tense encounter in a coffee house which leads to the payoff, which is just a quiet moment between two of the characters. The combination of tension and quiet relation is the perfect crystallization of what makes this film work.

7.75/10

Bonus #21: Interview with Jeremy Smith AKA Mr. Beaks

West Coast Correspondent Rupert Pupkin delivers another interview for your listening pleasure. This time he sits down for a chat with Jeremy Smith AKA Mr. Beaks over at Aint It Cool News which you can find at aintitcool.com. You can also follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/mrbeaks.

Jeremy Smith (left) and Tim Roth

Episode #103: Kickbox County Line

Welcome to another episode of the GGtMC, in this episode the Gents cover Macon County Line (1974) and Kickbox Terminator AKA Capital Punishment (1991). Spirited conversation took place on this episode and we hope you enjoy!!!

If anybody wants help promoting anything that they are doing the Gents are glad to oblige, all we ask is that you approach us first about promoting some material that you want to make people aware of in the future. Please contact us and we'll work something out.

Emails to midnitecinema@gmail.com

Voicemails to 206-666-5207

Adios!!

 

The Hired Hand (1971): Review

Directed by Peter Fonda. Written by Alan Sharp. Starring Peter Fonda, Warren Oates, Verna Bloom, and Robert Pratt. Rated R.

THE HIRED HAND is an artsy and unconventional American Western that's more or less about the bond of friendship. Harry (Fonda) and Arch (Warren Oates) are best friends who have been travelling together for seven years. During that time, Harry has abandoned his wife Hannah (Verna Bloom) for reasons that aren't exactly explained. The movie begins with the two friends and another acquaintance riding out to California for the sole purpose of seeing the ocean for the first time. Along the way, they have a run-in with certain characters in a very small town out in the middle of nowhere thanks to their much younger acquaintance who decides to get a little too friendly with a married woman. At some point, Harry decides that he wants to go back home and make things right with his wife and estranged daughter. Initially surprised by his abrupt decision, Arch, out of respect, escorts Harry back home and puts his journey to the west coast on hold.


What follows is basically Harry attempting to fix his strained relationship with his family. Hannah understandably wants nothing to do with him and his young daughter doesn't even know who he is, so Harry and Arch take up jobs as hired hands on Hannah's farm for the time being. Warren Oates, as Arch, acts as a voice of reason and a mediator between the two, with hopes that they can become a family again and he can finally be on his way. Things take a turn when the characters who they had a run-in with earlier come back into the picture. Arch finds himself in danger and Harry is forced to make a choice between friendship and family - if he tries to save his best friend, there's a good chance he may never see his family again.


THE HIRED HAND is a pretty simple movie. Actually, it's a bit slow for the most part. Not a whole lot going on. Like I said, it's very artsy for a Western and comparable to David Lynch trying to direct a straightforward Western. There are some very, very subtle EL TOPO-ish moments as well, not in terms of violence or being allegorical, but in terms of style and look (especially the scenes in which Oates and Fonda are out on the sand dunes, pictured below). That being said, this film has some amazing cinematography, and to go along with the beautiful visuals of the film, we have a gorgeous bluegrass-y score consisting of acoustic slide guitar, banjo, fiddle, and light piano. The story itself is interesting enough, but it's the visuals, score, and the great performances from Oates, Fonda, and Bloom are what really drive the movie.


Make or Break: Despite the fact that, as a whole, there's not a lot going on in the movie, there are still a lot of really good "moments" scattered throughout. It was hard to pick a "make or break" scene, but I'm going with the scene in which Fonda and Oates are burying their younger acquaintance and traveling partner who I mentioned earlier. The character's demise happens early in the film, so I'm not spoiling anything for anyone. Anyway, as Fonda and Oates are laying him to rest, the scene goes dark in a very theatrical manner and Oates says a prayer while the film's amazing score plays in the background. It's a simple but very moving scene that set really set the tone for the rest of the film.

MVT: Fonda does a great job, and of course both the music and cinematography are well-deserving of being the most valuable thing in the movie, but I have to give it to the late, great Warren Oates for his amazing performance. Just watch the movie and you'll see why.


Score: 7.5/10

A slow, but highly recommended film nonetheless. If you like the unconventional approach of Westerns, like Fulci's FOUR OF THE APOCALYPSE or Corbucci's GREAT SILENCE for example, THE HIRED HAND is worth checking out. Of course it's not nearly as violent as those two films, but its similarities lie in its tone, style, and how outside of the box it is. Now that I think about it, calling this a "Western" is a bit unfair. It's more of a Drama that just so happens to take place in a Western setting. On a side note, I'd actually recommend this as a fun double-feature with another Fonda/Oates collaboration, RACE WITH THE DEVIL.

Higanjima(2009) Review

Despite its passing resemblance to recent Japanese gore fests like Machine Girl and Robogeisha, Higanjima is a decidedly more mainstream attempt at capturing the goofy magic of those Sushi Typhoon movies. The movie opens brilliantly enough as Atsushi Miyamoto(DaiWatanabe) dispatches some vampires with extreme prejudice. By extreme prejudice, I mean a giant wooden pillar that Atsushi uses to squishy the vampire heads. The scene is stylish, brutal, and sets a nice tone for the rest of the movie.

Cut to Akira Miyamoto(Hideo Ishiguro) escaping the wrath of a bunch of schoolyard goons. These goons, of course, fit the mold of all Japanese hoodlums by having the goofiest hair imaginable. We're talking spiky mullets, 'fro hair with fierce eyeliner, and some frosted tips for good measure. While trying to escape, he’s rescued by the mysterious Rei(Asami Mizukawa) who tells Akira that she knows where his long-lost brother Atsushi is. Akira enlists the help of his stereotypical ragtag group of friends and I’m fully on board at this point. There’s a cute tomboy, the tough guy, the brainy nerd, the fat jolly guy, and a stereotype I was fully unaware of, the effeminate weirdo

with a bowl cut. The gang reaches the island and come face to face with an island infested by a vampire horde. Their leader is like a mixture between the Goblin King and Edward Cullen on steroids; he’s paler, more effeminate, goofier hair, and has an even more abusive relationship with his honey.

Despite a fun concept, Higanjima still represents some of the best and worst aspects of mainstream Japanese/Korean cinema. The movie just oozes style and it’s not shy about turning on the bloodwork. The action is serviceable, but it’s typical of Japanese cinema in that it’s far more stilted than it’s Hong Kong brethren. To complicate the identity, the movie is directed by Tae-Gyun Kim, who is best known for the incomprehensible action extravaganza, Volcano High. Kim definitely brings a lot of much needed style and fun to the movie, but nothing can escape the black hole of schmaltzy Japanese melodrama. The melodrama is probably the biggest enemy of the movie as it more often than not kills the pacing. The near-2 hour run time also feels completely unnecessary. This could’ve been avoided if it weren’t for an extended training sequence with the resistance movement, but the less said about that, the better.

Needles to say, there's a mass assault on the mountain base where things take a turn for the bizarrely awesome. The audience gets treated to one of the strangest cg cinematic creations: the cg monster, Onya. Even though the movie sports a $60 million budget, it obviously did not go to this atrocity. It bears the odd distinction of being a terrible cg creation, but with the herky jerky movement of stop-motion animation. Despite the horrible animation, I couldn’t help but embrace this strange creation. It’s best described as a gigantor version of the Brood aliens from X-Men, but without the carapace.

Like most mainstream Japanese genre affair, it isn’t a complete failure or a complete success. It has a good deal of creativity and energy that keeps the audience engaged, but it can’t seem to get out of its own way. The melodrama is necessary to the story, but doesn’t ring true due to the milquetoast main characters. I would say tread carefully when thinking about watching this flick, but there’s enough to enjoy that it can be a serviceable distraction.

Make or Break: The opening scene really sets the right tone of style and gore. It gives you a taste of what to expect, even though the movie doesn’t help realize those expectations.

MVT: I’d have to say that the style is the most valuable asset to the movie. There’s a great mix of horror stereotypes with Tokugawa-era aesthetics.

6.75/10

Candid Cuties: When Worlds Collide

There are so many questions that could be asked of this photo:

What did they talk about?

Was there, at any point in time, any snake eating going on by either of them? 

Who impregnated the most girls during the 10 seconds that it took to take this picture?

Are either of them wearing flip flops?

Where did Lorenzo park his bike?

  How many times did Claude 'casually' do the splits for onlookers?

Was there a dance off at some point?

These are all burning questions for sure, but the one that is most important, I believe, is how exactly does the planet survive a meeting of this magnitude without imploding, leaving only Jean and Lorenzo to roam the earth with no one left but each other? The answer lies within Claude Van's undervears, and forever will it stay there.  I'd personally like to think it has something to do with the new season of Lawman on the horizon, but what do I know?

Episode #102: Strange Sisters

Large William is out this week taking care of his newborn baby boy, so I called good friend of the show Pickleloaf to help fill in for him this week. This week we cover Sisters (1973) directed by Brian De Palma and Strange Behavior (1981) directed by Michael Laughlin.

Sit back and relax and enjoy the show and wish William and his family a big congrats on the new addition to his family!!!

Emails to midnitecinema@gmail.com

Voicemails to 206-666-5207

Adios!!!

The Long Goodbye (1973) Review

Directed by: Robert Altman.
Starring: Elliot Gould, Sterling Hayden, Mark Rydell.


“Well that's you, Marlowe. You'll never learn, you're a born loser.”

The Long Goodbye is Robert Altman’s majestic update/ smart arse deconstruction of Raymond Chandler’s second to last detective novel featuring Philip Marlowe. Released in 1973, it shapes Chandler’s hard boiled mystery into the then current times, Ronald Reagan is California’s governor, hippies practise nude yoga and somewhere in an L.A. hotel Led Zeppelin are putting bits of fish into groupies.

The story is pretty basic, Philip Marlowe receives a late night visit from a friend Terry Lennox, who wants a lift to the Mexican border under the pretext that he has hit his wife and needs to flee. Marlowe obliges but is lifted by the police upon his return and discovers that Mrs Lennox is in fact dead by murder and his pal Terry is in the frame. Marlowe tells the cops nothing, later released when the police discover that Lennox is dead by suicide in Mexico. Or is he? Marlowe takes on a case for the wife of a missing alcoholic writer, a mobster comes out of the wood work looking for money Lennox stole and Marlowe finds himself up to his neck in trouble.

A little gem of 1970s crime movies, The Long Goodbye takes on the atmosphere of something like Chinatown but staples on a more subdued and natural tone. There are the genre conventions of plot twists, shadowy professionals, crooked monsters and dumb police but Altman steers the film with a sardonic hand, guiding the film into different waters than say Gene Hackman’s Night Moves from the same period.

The real crux of the film is Elliot Gould, primarily a comic but perfect for the smart mouthed hero of the film. Dressed in a crumpled suit with a cigarette constantly glued to his lips, Gould works the iconic P.I. figure as a man out of time, driving an old car and acting with sarcasm and bemusement at the 70s world around him. Constantly mumbling, sometimes as a mere voiceover, Gould feels like a narrator, or someone doing a dysfunctional dvd commentary at times and is nothing less than constantly witty, running an almost stream of consciousness dialogue about everything and anything.

Alienated, with values that seem out of place in the seemingly corrupt glamour of Hollywood Marlowe seems adrift throughout, everyone in this film are not what they seem, many of the lead characters by the film's end are revealed not to have been the character conventions the audience would have expected them to be.

The only man who is as he appears, is the mobster Augustine played exceptionally well by Mark Rydell. In a weird way his character is less Godfather and more simmering, off kilter Takeshi Kitano yakuza soldier. If he isn’t scatting in gangster jive, he’s glassing women in a very shocking sequence or asking people to disrobe.

Another great performance is Sterling Hayden who plays the writer Roger Wade, a tour de force of yelling and alcoholic confusion. I am guessing his character was based on someone like Ernest Hemmingway but I can imagine some of Altman’s Hollywood peers of the time acting like this Looney tunes.

With its off kilter story and execution and Altman’s skill as both storyteller and film maker and with a great cast, especially Elliot Gould, The Long Goodbye is a stone cold classic of modern noir and 70s cinema. Watch out for Arnie in his underpants as one of Mark Rydell’s goons.

Most Valuable Thing: Elliot Gould. Without him the film would be so much less and probably just a standard mystery piece.


Make Or Break: The film is made as soon as Marlowe is lifted by the police, his reaction to their forceful queries is comedic gold. Altman’s strengthens it by using different shots from in the cell then the reactions of the other cops behind the one way mirror.

Score 8.5/10 An excellent film and Elliot Gould’s finest moment. For me it’s also Altman’s best genre piece, his western McCabe and Mrs. Miller leaves me cold but this movie for all its negative characters and double dealings leaves you with a smile on your face by the time Marlowe is walking into the unset playing the harmonica, doing a jig as he goes. The script is worthy of Tarantino too. Top stuff!

Bonus #20: Netflix Watch Infinitely - A Night In Heaven

Sammy, Rupert and Miles from ShowShow cover a romantic thriller involving cougars, NASA rockets and Christopher Atkins man package!!!
Sit back and enjoy as the Gents' discuss A Night in Heaven (1983) directed by John G. Avildsen (Rocky) and starring Lesley Ann Warren and Christopher Atkins.....we talked about other things as well and we had just a great time as always....
Emails to midnitecinema@gmail.com
Voicemails to 206-666-5207
Adios!!!

The 412ft Verdict: The Brain (1988)

Hello and welcome back to the 412ft Review. I’m your host T.L. Bugg, and in case you don’t know what’s going on around here let me explain. Inside of your average mass market video cassette, there lurks 412 feet of tape waiting to be watched. The lucky tapes made the leap to the digital age, but I’m on the hunt for the ones that didn’t make the cut. Sitting in dusty bins and boxes in thrift stores, yard sales, and flea markets, there are tapes out there waiting to be found, and when I do, I want to share them with you guys. I wasn’t sure what to start off with, and so I thought long and hard about it. That’s when it came to me. I had to use my noggin, as an inspiration that is, and so I am happy to bring to you the The Brain from 1988.

When we’re first introduced to our main character, Jim (Tom Bresnahan), he’s putting a lump of sodium in the school toilet and causing them to blow up. Jim, being a bright fellow (damn sarcasm not working in print), drops the packet of sodium in the trash while standing right next to the principal. This isn’t the first time that Jim has been caught causing trouble, and now the school, and his parents, want to send him to see Dr. Blakely (David Gale), a local psychologist who hosts an inspirational half hour TV program, Independent Thinking. When Jim resists the quack’s treatment, some kind of mind control, the high schooler begins to suspect something is up. Blakely and company have gotten their hands on an alien from space which looks like, you guessed it, a giant brain. Using the alien’s hallucinatory waves to control minds through the TV, Blakely plans for world domination. However, it all depends on if he can he contain the alien’s growing hunger for brainwaves and prevent Jim and his girlfriend Janet (Cynthia Preston) from stopping him.

Spoiler alert, if you guessed that the bad guy probably couldn’t keep a lid on either of those things, then give yourself a prize. I’m feeling generous, make it a good one. The Brain is a by the books kind of sci-fi horror offering, and by books I’m taking EC Comics. It also evokes such films as The Fiend Without a Face (1958) and The Crawling Eye (1958) with a dash of body snatchers thrown in for good measure. Director Ed Hunt and writer Barry Pearson, who had also collaborated on Bloody Birthday (1981), balanced out the old inspiration with a thick layer of ‘80’s movie magic. Sure the big bad is a giant rubber brain with teeth, but the thing could take over your car and shoot Japanese anime porn tentacles out of the steering column to kill or cause people to lust after hallucinatory boobs, well, that seems to be all it can do to Jim. The rest of the town falls prey to mind control, and soon Jim goes from being thought of as an irritating miscreant to the guy that axe murdered the sheriff.  While The Brain has one foot in classic horror conventions, this surely isn’t your daddy’s killer brain movie.

Tom Bresnahan gives a solid performance as Jim, coming off as an affable smart aleck of the John Hughes vein. Down the road, I can't say that I would be able to pick him up in a line-up of other similarally patterned characters, but I enjoyed him as the film's hero. Bresnahan would go on to appear in the films Ski School (1990), Mirror Mirror (1990), and The Kingdom (2007). Actor David Gale, perhaps best known for his role in the Re-Animator series, provides a decent foil as the Brain’s puppet, Blakely, but it’s hard to make an inspirational speaker feel menacing. Cynthia Preston, Jim’s girlfriend Janet, left little impression, but I was interested to find out she was the voice of Zelda in the 1989 Legend of Zelda cartoon series and a regular on Total Recall: The Series before making the jump to a two year run General Hospital.

The Brain is a nice departure for a late ‘80’s horror film. While so many flicks were packed with imitation Freddie’s and Jason’s, The Brain stepped outside of that box and delivered something that was neither a pure ‘80’s sci-fi romp like Remote Control from the same year or a rip off of Aliens from two years earlier. Taking bits and pieces from modern and classic genre film, the director fashioned a picture that was funny and a little bit frightening. It’s also a bit more than prophetic. The power of the television, and social commentators on televisions, is near an all time high. While on the surface The Brain might seem like another story of disaffected youth, under the surface there is a story about the dangers of letting the idiot box do your thinking for you. Like any fun horror flick, The Brain doesn’t bother making any of that important. All that mattered was sitting back and enjoying a forgotten piece of genre film, every last foot of it.

Most Valuable Thing: The mix of old and new. The old classic films are great, and I love to watch them. I’m not one of those folks who can’t sit though something made before I was born. However, you know what would have really kicked them up a notch, boobs and blood, and that’s what The Brain adds to the formula.

Make or Break: For me, it was the crazy Cronenberg meets Asian porno scenes of grabby tentacles and the giant rubber brain itself. The brain is good for a few laughs (and more than a few D&D nerds will get a Beholder feel off it), but the tentacles aren't just silly. They actually seem pretty creepy, and they really help to keep the film from becoming entirely camp.

Score: 5.75/10.00 The Brain makes for an above average sci fi horror flick, but there are scads of films in the genre better than it. That being said, you could do a whole lot worse. The Brain brings enough cheesy laughs and retro thrills to make for a fun viewing experience and is definitely a great film for inviting your friends over and having a laugh.

Episode #101: Heavenly Sheep

Welcome to another episode of the GGtMC!!
In this episode we cover Killer of Sheep (1977) directed by Charles Burnett and Heavenly Bodies (1984) starring Cynthia Dale. Rupert joins us for the reviews and we had a great time having him on for some more movie geekery!!!
Emails to midnitecinema@gmail.com
Voicemails to 206-666-5207
Adios!!!

Death Force (1978): Review

Directed by Cirio H. Santiago. Starring James Iglehart, Carmen Argenziano, Leon Isaac Kennedy, Jayne Kennedy, Joe Mari Avellana. Rated PG.

**Review may contain light spoilers.**

At various points in life, we’ve all had friends screw us over in some way. People who never returned borrowed copies of Excitebike (Wayne), others who pinched liberally from your stash (Steve), and varsity athletes who hooked up with your date the night of senior prom (fuck you, Tim). Despite transgressions like these, I’ve been fortunate that none of my friends tried to stab me to death and leave me in the middle of the ocean. Doug Russell, worthy protagonist in Cirio H. Santiago’s 1978 blaxploitation film Death Force (a.k.a. Fighting Mad) is not so lucky, however.

Three Vietnam War buddies are on their way back to the States after their combat service and have a large shipment of stolen gold to show for it. After selling off the loot to a shady buyer played by Santiago regular Vic Diaz, the three veterans are reveling in their new wealth aboard a boat to Manila. One partner, Morelli (Argenziano) has immediate designs on using the money to take over the Los Angeles underworld. He suggests to McGee (Penitentiary’s Leon Isaac Kennedy) that their partner, Russell, can’t be included in such plans since he’s a family man heading home to a wife and baby. But instead of giving Russell (Iglehart) his slice of the pie and letting him make a new life, they scheme to cut him out of the money right then and there. McGee distracts Russell as Morelli sneaks behind him and slices his throat and the two dump their former friend into the open sea.

Russell soon washes up on an island occupied by two Japanese soldiers marooned there since just after World War II. While the Japanese soldier has light comic streaks and is largely utilitarian -- catching and cooking fish, fetching drinking water -- the general is a samurai master prone to waxing nostalgic about Joe DiMaggio. They treat the burly American soldier’s wounds and are able to nurse him back to health. How he didn’t attract sharks or completely bleed out while drifting for hours in the ocean with multiple stab wounds is never touched upon, but Santiago could give a shit about our scientific logic. In time, the general trains Russell in the art of the samurai and transforms his clumsy sword swiping into slightly less-clumsy lethal force. His skill becomes so deadly, in fact, that he can slice coconuts clean in half as they are slowly lobbed to him.

Meanwhile, McGee and Morelli have begun their violent takeover of the L.A. drug trade, including a particularly humorous scene where they show up to a poker room in pinstripe suits and brandish tommy guns like some 1920s rum-runners. McGee eventually begins putting the moves on Russell’s wife after telling her that he died in combat. Played by model and actress Jayne Kennedy, Maria is a sultry night lounge singer struggling to find new work. Despite her need for financial stability, she continually resists McGee’s sleazy attempts to exert his influence over her and replace Russell as her caretaker. What’s interesting about his increasingly menacing behavior towards her is that the two performers were a married couple of eight years at the time of the film’s release. We can’t be certain which real-life experiences Leon chose to mine from when working up rage for his scenes with her, but I’m sure they came from a “honey do” list.

 

Shortly after the Japanese general declares Russell’s samurai training over and tells him to use his skills “for peace [and] not for the cause of vengeance,” Doug books it out of that shitty island and goes back to the States for bloody, head-choppy revenge. Most of the second and third acts consist of Russell tearing through his former friends’ crime organization, and while the choreography during these scenes isn’t extraordinary, the action has a raw and loose charm. The musclebound James Iglehart cuts a very imposing figure and moves pretty well for a guy of his size, but at times looks like a drunk hippo on ice skates. In a few instances that recall Peter O’Brian in The Stabilizer, our hero literally slips and trips over himself while trying to fight off the baddies. Thankfully, Santiago gives Iglehart and the stunt crew a number of sets to wreck, and they often spend as much time destroying props as they do fighting each other.

There are some awesomely cheesy death scenes in the run-up to the inevitable showdown between our hero and the dickheads who did him wrong. Morelli gets increasingly paranoid and unhinged as Russell works his way up the ranks, getting so flustered at one point that he can’t correctly put a phone back on the hook. While Kennedy portrays a pretty sleazy villain in McGee, I thought Argenziano was clearly the best performer in the film. Their gang may be a two-headed monster on paper, but he plays his character with a heavy anger that signals alpha dog status. Some actors make good creeps, others make good heroes, and judging by a sampling of his film roles, Argenziano’s character type is authority figures. It also doesn’t hurt that he sports a quality moustache and a pretty dense tuft of chest hair through most of the film. That stuff lets you know who’s in charge.

While the shot composition is fairly solid throughout, the biggest critique I can make of the film is that a number of night-time and interior shots are very poorly lit. This is only compounded by the rather poor quality of the edition I watched, as the film lacks a proper/official DVD release. Despite the obvious low budget nature of the film, Santiago still manages to create an engrossing blaxploitation revenge tale with good performances, good action, and reasonably compelling characters. A definite early gem from his catalog and one I would recommend without hesitation for exploitation fans.

Make or Break: Training scenes have the potential to really sink films, so the first beach scene between a recovered Russell and the Japanese general definitely made it for me. After the general describes the samurai code and his allegiance to his Emperor, Russell treats it all very lightly and makes wisecracks in response. Feeling disrespected, the general tosses the bigger and stronger Russell to the ground like a sack of potatoes to assert his authority. It sets the tone for the rest of the training scenes between master and pupil.

MVT: Carmen Argenziano as Morelli. As mentioned, Kennedy gives a really solid villain performance but I just thought Argenziano was operating at a different level. Morelli plants the seeds that set the story in motion and he projects authority in his interactions with cops, underlings, other criminals, and especially with McGee, his allegedly equal partner. While McGee does a lot of the sleazy asshole things that the audience requires to validate Russell’s revenge, you get the sense that Morelli is masterminding all of it.

Score: 7.25/10

Death Force is a solid 70s actioner that would please most fans of Filipino exploitation film and is a definite watch for anyone who digs the films of Cirio H. Santiago. While his filmography is short, James Iglehart also starred in Bamboo Gods and Iron Men and teamed up with Santiago previously for 1973’s Savage! It’s a bit of a shame he didn’t turn into a bigger star, but he’s in fine form here and definitely rates as one of the underrated heroes of 1970s action cinema.

Episode #100: The Man With No Name Trilogy

It is here!!! A gigantic episode for a gigantic trilogy!!!

There are few trilogies that encompass the GGtMC like Sergio Leone's Man with No Name Trilogy, the listeners selected this content and the Gents delivered with an almost 4 hour program for your listening pleasure.

We cover A Fistful of Dollars (1964), For A Few Dollars More (1965) and The Good, The Bad and The Ugly (1966).

We go over what we watched and in that section Will wanted to mention the influence that Kenneth Anger's films, particularly Scorpio Rising, had on current directors including William Friedkin and others. He forgot to mention the Friedkin connection so I am mentioning it here in the show notes.

We also talk about the top 10 films that we have turned each other on to over the last two years...Enjoy!!