Movieline Online

Nervous breakdown. Emotional collapse. Or straight-up freak-out. Whatever you want to call it, most of us are only one heated argument, one unexpected traffic jam or one bad meal away from blowing our top. So 1993’s Falling Down has only become more relevant in a society where it seems only those who scream the loudest get any attention. But director Joel Schumacher’s film is a bit more troublesome than that, delivering a mixed-message of justified racial intolerance and vigilantism that are at odds with its cathartic tendencies. Still…it’s an undeniable attention grabber! Micheal Douglas plays a nameless desk jockey who abandons his car in the middle of traffic and walks through one angry misadventure after another while en route to the home of his ex-wife (Barbara Hershey) to celebrate his child’s birthday. Meanwhile, Lt. Prendergast (Robert Duvall) is trying to coast through his last day on the job when the string of incidents begin to add up. Tracking the suspect’s movements...

By the end of the ‘60s, westerns had become truly international. German, Italian, French and Spanish co-productions offered up a grittier version of the Old West than Hollywood could muster at the time. But even European filmmakers knew front-loading your movie with familiar faces meant more worldwide box-office appeal. Which leads us to 1971’s Red Sun , an all-star high-concept affair starring Charles Bronson, Alain Delon, Ursula Andress and Toshiro Mifune in an East-meets-West adventure that attempts to match the U.S. “event movie” vibe with all the sex and violence of European sensibilities. Forced into helping a samurai (Mifune) retrieve a stolen sword, Link (Bronson) heads off in pursuit of his former partner (Delon) who cheated him out of the proceeds of a recent train heist. Their only lead is Cristina (Andress), Gauche’s lover, who is coerced into joining them in pursuit of the loot…and the Emperor’s missing katana. Directed in rather bland style by Bond veteran Terence Yo...

Even the most rabid kung-fu fans can get exhausted from time to time. Punch, kick, tumble, twirl. Yes, it’s all elegantly choreographed and professionally executed. But wouldn’t it be cool if, like, one guy had a necklace of skulls that transformed into blood-sucking devil spawn? Then say hello to The Nine Demons , director Chang Cheh’s 1984 occult-action film that reunites most of the original Venom Mob for a distinctly outre martial arts entry that wraps horror embellishments around a sturdy wuxia frame. After selling his soul to bring his best friend back from the dead, the next item on Joey’s (Tien-Chi Cheng) agenda is revenge upon his enemies. Backed up by a posse of child demons and one hot witch, Demon Joey goes on the warpath, unleashing his supernatural fury on the baddies who killed his father and any unlucky bystanders. But his dark side is soothed by a love interest who knows there’s a good man in there somewhere. The question is, does selling your soul have a 30-day...

No one got more mileage out of Gremlins rip-offs than producer Charles Band. His low-budget kingdom was practically built on pint-sized terrors like Dolls, Demonic Toys, Ghoulies and the undying Puppet Master franchise. 1986’s Troll came along relatively early in the pipeline, securing a theatrical release, an unexpectedly stacked cast and a slightly larger budget. But, not to worry, it’s still primarily a showcase for director John Carl Buechler’s army of misfit muppets who straddle the line between kids’ fare and bargain-bin body horror. After they move into their new apartment, the Potters are introduced to a quirky cast of neighbors: a pathetic swinger (Sonny Bono), ex-marine (Gary Sandy of WKRP ), aspiring actors (real life couple Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Brad Hall) and one mysterious old lady on the top floor (June Lockhart) with a talking mushroom on her armoire. All of them are at the mercy of a troll who has taken on the human form of the Potters’ daughter and proceeds ...

If you think collecting physical media has become a niche hobby, consider 3D Blu-ray which now accounts for well under 1% of the home video market. But for a format that was almost doomed from the get-go thanks to incompatible equipment, competing TV manufacturers and pricey glasses, there are still a few die-hards hanging in there thanks to used gear on Facebook Marketplace and a scattering of pre-owned titles. And every so often a new title is added to the dwindling library that saves one more film from extinction. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Jackie Chan’s Magnificent Bodyguards …in 3D! Gathering a team of martial arts experts to escort a critically ill patient via sedan chair through a bandit-filled mountain pass, Ting Chung (Jackie Chan) pledges to make the journey in three days, refusing payment for personal reasons. His compatriots also have their own agendas, but serve as protectors against a series of threats and ambushes that inevitably lead them toward the King of th...

As a subset of the prison movie, the asylum scenario plays with even higher stakes. Remember poor McMurphy at the end of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest ? In cinematic terms, institutionalization does more than take away your freedom, it destroys your soul. Consider director Georges Franju’s 1959 La Tete contre les Murs (Head Against the Wall) that turns your average juvenile delinquent into a dispirited husk all to save a father’s reputation and a psychiatrist’s ego. Francois Gerane (Jean-Pierre Mocky) is the son of a wealthy attorney who has never forgiven his father for his mother’s suicide…if it really was suicide. After a family confrontation, Francois is committed to a private mental institution under the care of Dr. Varmont (Pierre Brasseur) whose old-school techniques ensure the patients are kept removed from polite society. Francois’ only hope lies in Dr. Emery (Paul Meurisse), a progressive expert in the field, and Stephanie (Anouk Aimee), a spontaneous love interest wh...