Movieline Online

On paper, Jess Franco is one of the most prolific directors who ever picked up a camera. He's shot over a hundred films under various pseudonyms, worked around the world, collaborated with Orson Welles and even picked up a Goya Award, Spain's highest artistic honor, in 2009. But it's the kind of films Franco made that has relegated him to the sidelines when it comes to critical recognition. After all, 50% of his work is made up of soft-focus shots of women's genitalia (the other half is unforced zoom-ins of the the same...I kid!). To most serious cineastes, he's a hack. But to a select few, those with the courage to sift through the dreck and go with the flow of counter-culture headtrips like Venus in Furs , Franco catalog offers a world of obscenely forbidden pleasures. What makes Dorado Films latest release - a double feature presentation of The Silence of the Tomb (1972) and The Sinister Eyes of Dr. Orloff (1973) - so interesting is they catch the di...

If there's anything the modern blockbuster has proven it's that spectacle translates well into any language. Even early all-star disaster epics like The Poseidon Adventure and The Towering Inferno inspired international copycats seeking to make a quick buck using the trendy Hollywood formula. 1975's The Bullet Train was Japan's go-for-broke attempt with a bomb planted aboard the super-sleek mass transit vehicle set to go off if its speed drops below 80-kilometers per hour. Yep, it's Speed on a train...20 years before Speed was even a thing! At 152 minutes, the film certainly drags some extra weight. But it uses the time wisely to expand upon the motivations of the bombers themselves, led by Tetsuo Okita (Ken Takakura) a former small business owner whose failed business and marriage puts him in a destructive funk. His partners hop aboard out of loyalty, politics and profits, planning to punish the government than put them in such a tough spot; but wit...

It's only as we get older that we start to appreciate time spent with family members during their "golden years." Suddenly, all the annoying habits and petty arguments are so much water under the bridge and just spending a couple extra hours together becomes deeply satisfying experience. The same can be said of Phantasm: Ravager , the final entry in a franchise many horror fans grew up with, which concludes with a surprisingly heartfelt meditation on family, friendship and memory wrapped inside a corny direct-to-video shell. One could be forgiven for not keeping tabs on Reggie, Mike and Jody in their fight against the Tall Man (played by the late Angus Scrimm), a dimension-hopping slumlord who steals the bodies of the recently deceased and ships them to another world to provide slave labor. After the homespun success of the first film, subsequent sequels attempted to broaden the scope and fluff the franchise into something more than just a coming-of-age fever dream. ...

Clive Barker was once hailed as “the future of horror” by none other than Stephen King...and coincidently, both authors tried their hand at feature film directing. While Maximum Overdrive is tucked away in some dark corner of Netflix, Clive Barker’s Hellraiser still impresses as a uniquely twisted form of gothic horror story, dabbling in spiritualism, S & M and necrophilia. Of course, his signature demonic creation, Pinhead, has been pimped out for countless sequels, diluting the power of the original with each direct-to-video installment. But Arrow Video's limited edition Scarlet Box, which collects the first three films in the franchise, should resurrect some interest in Barker's directorial debut and the flawed by fascinating sequels that followed. Looking back at the first film – sporting a new 2K restoration – it’s easy to find fault; from the amateur acting of newcomer Ashley Laurence to Barker’s own neophyte directorial decisions (the hobo turns into a skeleton drag...

As a movie Phantasm is almost impossibly hard to describe. More of a coming of age tale with close ties to sci-fi stories like Invaders from Mars and Dune , believe it or not, that didn’t stop it from entering the pantheon of must-see ‘70s horror films right alongside Halloween , The Hills Have Eyes and other drive-in ready shockers. Yet unlike his fellow filmmakers, Phantasm ’s director Don Coscarelli never turned that success into much of a career (unless you count endless repeats of The Beastmaster on TNT). And watching the latest 4K incarnation, Phantasm Remastered , a subtly touched up version shepherded by J.J. Abrams' Bad Robot team, it's easy to see why. Phantasm is a home movie at heart; its flaws obvious but endearing. The cast of amateur actors look and dress like authentic hippies working for free beer and a bag of weed. Not to mention the script, which skips scenes and adds characters with the kind of free-form surrealism borne from budget constraints an...

While Roger Corman gets most of the credit for popularizing the "Women In Prison" genre, producers as far back as the 1930s knew they had a moneymaker on their hands. But it was the end of the Production Code that allowed filmmakers to push these seedy stories to their full potential, overtly wallowing in the sexual tension and brutal torture that previous productions only hinted at. Director Jess Franco pursued this angle in several films throughout his extravagantly creepy career, beginning with 99 Women , which is actually the most polished and professional production of the bunch. Working with frequent collaborator Harry Alan Towers, the pair concoct a relatively classy story about a fortress-like mountain penitentiary lorded over by the diminutive Thelma Diaz (Mercedes McCambridge) with frequent visits from the equally corrupt Governor Santos (Herbert Lom) who runs the men's prison on the other side of the island. The script picks up with the addition of a trio o...

Film doesn't lend itself to the rock 'n roll aesthetic very easily. It's too controlled, too collaborative, and too artificial to have the same kick as Ramones song. But there are a few directors who seem tuned into that musical language and have a rare ability to translate it to film: Martin Scorsese, whose slow motion entrance of Robert DeNiro in Mean Streets set to Jumpin' Jack Flash is a revelatory moment in cinema, is one. Abel Ferrara, whose eclectic career is full of highs, lows and plenty of cinematic filler is another. Ferrara, who only chose film after failing make it as a musician, really made a mark with his second feature, The Driller Killer (1979), which earned a spot on Britain's list of Video Nasties and was banned until 2002. Of course, any attention is good attention when you're a struggling filmmaker and the controversy gave Ferrara enough traction to move on to more polished pictures like Ms. 45 , Bad Lieutenant , and King of ...

Certain movies make a collection complete. We're not talking romantic comedies or dime-a-dozen superhero flicks, although they have their place. There is always a specific case one pulls off the shelf when it's time to impress another jaded collector; and Lone Wolf and Cub is it. Originally released in the U.S as Shogun Assassin , a cut-down version of the first two films in the series, all six original Lone Wolf films are now available from the Criterion Collection in one magnificent box set. Based on Kazuo Koike's Japanese manga series first published in 1970, the films retain the same premise and hyper-realistic visual style accomplished the geysers of blood and flying body parts. Yet somehow none of them ever become a parody of the samurai genre, riding on the stoic shoulders of star Tomisaburo Wakayama as Itto Ogami, a former Shogunate Executioner framed as a traitor who sets out on the "Demon Path to Hell" along with his equally stoic toddler as a ...