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In the comic book universe, horror characters had their own niche.  Although sometimes shoehorned into the overarching superhero storylines, these narrative misfits mostly kept to themselves, portrayed as misunderstood monsters struggling to maintain some semblance of humanity.  Marvel had  Werewolf by Night, Ghost Rider  and, yes,  Morbius .  While DC stuck mostly to anthologies like  House of Mystery  and  Weird War Tales  that pulled material from the E.C. Comics formula.  But there was one exception to the rule:   Swamp Thing . Gorgeously illustrated by Bernie Wrightson, the books had a distinctly gothic look born from the story’s setting and Wrightson’s own distinctive style.  The origin story? Alec Holland is transformed into a half-man / half-plant mutation after a villainous rival, Arcane, sabotages his lab, dousing the scientist with chemicals and tossing him into the swamp. ...

There’s no shortage of stories to tell about male-female power relationships.  And there’s probably no better setting for such material than a business that focuses on the world’s oldest profession.  Dutch filmmaker Marleen Gorris’ second feature film,  Broken Mirrors  (1984), takes place in an Amsterdam brothel which employs a score of women desperate enough to “rent” themselves out for the right price.  But while the money rolls in, the psychological costs keep adding up.  Diane (Lineke Rijxman) is the newest recruit, who learns the ins-and-out of the job from Dora (Henriette Tol), a callous but kind mentor suffering from her own emotional crisis.  Ellen (Coby Stunnenberg) manages the business with as many safety precautions as possible, but the male owner is always willing to compromise to make a quick buck.  In a split narrative, the film also follows the exploits of a faceless serial killer who kidnaps unsuspecting ho...

One of two competing sequels to Bruce Lee’s 1972 Hong Kong classic,  New Fist of Fury  (1976) has a bit more legitimacy by bringing back the same director (Lo Wei) and several supporting characters.  But it’s biggest claim to fame today is the casting of Jackie Chan in his first major role in a widely released motion picture.  Of course, this was during the thick of the  Clones of Bruce Lee  era in which Jackie was only one of many being groomed to take over the martial arts crown.  Which means the tone of the film is a far cry from what he’d later be known for.   Forced to flee to Taiwan, members of the Jingwu martial arts school find the Japanese occupation is just as insufferable as it was in Shanghai.  The local community is either too scared or corrupt to put up much of a fight, until the death of a respected kung-fu master rallies the rebels to form a new school.  Ah Lung (Chan), a petty thief, is inspired ...

My favorite movies are those that drop you down a rabbit hole completely unprepared for the world they create.  And  Magic Cop  (1990), the fifth film in the Hong Kong produced  Mr. Vampire  franchise, fits that description to a tee.  Blending Chinese folklore, martial arts, special effects and physical comedy, director Stephen Tung’s film races along on an amphetamine level of energy to save its skeptical characters – and the audience – from magical threats sent from a spiritual plane they didn’t even know existed.  Retired police officer Feng (Lam Ching Ying) doesn’t just protect citizens from typical criminals.; he’s also a Taoist monk trained to destroy supernatural entities who cause trouble in  our  world.  Here he’s roped into a case involving a drug-running witch using zombies as mules to move her merchandise.  Paired up with two naïve detectives and his beautiful niece, Feng offers up his mystical jade a...

The movies made  The Three Stooges  famous.  TV made them immortal.  Once Columbia sold off the classic shorts for TV syndication in the late ‘50s and entirely new generation had the opportunity to practice face-slapping, eye-poking and head-thumping right in their own living rooms!  After that, Stooge-mania never slowed down, keeping the character’s voices and likenesses alive in everything from T-shirts, bath towels and Scooby-Doo episodes (you can still watch them every Saturday on retro TV network MeTV).   While nothing compares to genius of the original shorts themselves, if you need a crash-course in all things Larry, Curly, Moe, Shemp (not to mention Joe and Curly Joe) you couldn’t do better than  Stooge-O-Rama , a new three-disc Blu-ray set that collects over 8 hours of rare clips, commercials, interviews and live performances from the classic comedy team.   Things kick off with the expanded, remastered and HD updated versio...

Horror mythologies can be as complex, fascinating and ridiculous as anything dreamed up by the Greeks.  But fans always appreciate the effort.  That’s why it’s tough to dismiss  What the Waters Left Behind: Scars  (2022) – a sequel to the 2017 Argentinian original – as nothing more than a metastasized re-occurrence of the short-lived French New Extremity wave…which itself owes a big debt to ‘70s grunge horror like  Texas Chainsaw .  Director Nicolas Onetti doubles down on backstory and scales back the gore to produce a second chapter that outdoes the first entry…if only by a bloody hair or two. On the last stop of their tour, five English rockers are lured to the town of Epecuèn by a suspiciously horny local girl.  Blindsided by the other members of her family, the group is imprisoned, raped (both males and females), and prepared for the big barbecue…in which they are to be the main course!   First off, Epecuèn is a real place;...

While certainly not the most  influential  of the ‘50s sci-fi classics ( Forbidden Planet  and  This Island Earth  would win that competition), director William Cameron Menzies  Invaders from Mars  (1953) is easily the most memorable.  Told with surreal, dream logic, the film was one of the first to bring the perils of alien invasion right in our backyard.  While  Invasion of the Body Snatchers  would take this idea to the next-level a few years later, Menzies’ film is particularly disturbing by virtue of its focus on a child protagonist whose helplessness only amplifies the feeling of a waking nightmare. David (Jimmy Hunt) is a scientific-minded adolescent whose small town just happens to be the site of a hush-hush government project.  And that’s exactly what lures the titular invaders to the sand pit in his backyard, burying themselves beneath the earth and luring important adults (including David’s parents) fo...

There’s more to spaghetti westerns than Leone’s   Dollars   trilogy.     Even casual fans know that.     But it seems like there’s new release of the “essentials” every year – international versions, extended versions, 4K versions – all wonderful and appreciated.     But there are   soooo   many more titles that need to be brought to light.     Like those included in Arrow Video’s   Blood Money: Four Western Classics Volume 2 , which gathers a couple of   Django   clones, a   Magnificent Seven  inspired rescue mission and one over-the-top   El Topo­ -like   oddity that will simply blow your mind! The first of the   Django   rip-offs out of the gate,   $10,000 Blood Money   (1967) stars Gianni Garko (doing a serviceable Franco Nero impression) as a bounty hunter whose pursuit of the almighty dollar – and a valuable outlaw – winds up costing him more than he bargained for. ...