Movieline Online

There are two kinds of people in the world: those who miss the latex-bursting, neon goo-filled days of movies like Street Trash (1987) and those who say a little prayer every day in hopes that nothing like it ever gets made again. Here’s a pop quiz that will tell you which side of the fence you’re on. Do you enjoy: Necrophilia? Playing keep-away with a dismembered penis? Setting hobos on fire? If you answered yes (or even chuckled) at any of the following then you’re in the “maybe” camp. To be sure, Street Trash isn’t the most offensive movie ever made. In fact, there’s an undercurrent of playful cinematic innocence around the whole thing. But it’s interrupted by moments of bad taste that are best left to those predisposed to it. Did I mention a cop sticks a finger down his throat to vomit on top of the guy whose ass he just kicked? Well, he does. The actual story revolves around a dozen or so homeless characters fighting for their place in the local junkyard and drinkin...

For a company that specialized in period horror movies it’s odd that Hammer Films never made a Jack the Ripper picture until 1971; and then they made two of them! Both Hands of the Ripper and Dr. Jekyll & Sister Hyde deal with the famous serial killer in unusual ways. The latter is a gender bending twist that approaches the story from a purely fantastic perspective. Hands of the Ripper ’s “possession” angle may be no less plausible, but its psychological underpinning makes it a bit classier in approach and execution. Opening with the Ripper himself on the run from an angry mob of torch bearing citizens, his young daughter witnesses her notorious father stab her mother to death. Flash forward some years later where the orphaned girl, Anna (Angharad Rees), is now working for a medium as a conduit to the spirit world. But her past returns to haunt her. Bright light puts her in a trance-like state, opening the door to spiritual possession by the Ripper who uses her hands to ...

Directors like Mario Bava are the reason cult movie fans exist. Working under miniscule budgets with fly-by-night foreign producers who distributed the final product under a seemingly endless amount of alternative titles, often just tracking down the muddy lineage of Bava’s work is a genealogical case study unto itself. But it’s the thrill of the chase that fans enjoy most, sifting through the pseudonyms and cinematic dead-ends to unearth something truly special from a man who was 40 years ahead of his time. Black Sabbath is an anthology film (think Creepshow or the more recent V/H/S ) and begins with Boris Karloff as a Rod Serling-style host of a trio of horror tales. (Those in the know might remember Karloff hosted his own similar TV show called Thriller in the mid-‘60s…but I digress). Karloff also stars in the middle segment as The Wundalak ; sort of a vampiric zombie that kills only those they love. A fascinating combination of classic Universal horror, Hammer-style gore ...

For a while there in the ‘80s, kids stopped dreaming of being wizards, superheroes or astronauts. Thanks to pop culture, there was only one thing most 10 to 14 year-old boys aspired to be when they grew up: a ninja! The black-clad Japanese assassins were everywhere, from comic books to cartoons to their own major network TV shows. Heck, you could even find plastic throwing stars in most major supermarkets! Inappropriate? Maybe. Unlike traditional Samurai, the ninja were killing machines with no honor. Not exactly a role model. But that was exactly the appeal to pre-teen imaginations. And few films were as blatant about it as Ninja 3: The Domination (1984), a bizarre bump-in-the-road sequel to Enter the Ninja (1981) and Revenge of the Ninja (1983), a trio of barely related martial arts quickies produced by the Cannon group who specialized in fast, loose, action flicks. While Ninja 3 was laughable at the time of its release, it’s even more laughable now as a retro relic ...

By and large, werewolves always play second fiddle to vampires in movies. They’re not sexy (except maybe that Twilight guy with the abs), not seductive, can’t speak, and have serious self control issues. We’re talking about poor, tortured souls who have a lousy time each full moon then can’t even remember the good parts! That’s not the case in 1980’s The Howling , which features a communal wolf pack that can shapeshift at will…and have a great time doing it! Director Joe Dante, who would go on to great success in the ‘80s thanks to the Steven Spielberg produced Gremilns , Innerspace and Twilight Zone: The Movie , really found his groove with this down and dirty werewolf tale that skillfully jabs the California hippie movement, pays homage to past film classics and adds a few classic scenes of its own into the cinematic lexicon. Scripted by the legendary John Sayles (who also has a bit part), the fact that the story isn’t hard to second guess doesn’t detract from its enjoyment one...