Movieline Online

Back in the day, there were enough  Gremlins  rip-offs to fill up an entire wall of the local video store.  From  Critters  to  Spookies  to  Munchies  to  Trolls , it’s more than a little ironic that these copycats wound up producing dozens of sequels while the original film could only manage one.  Courtesy of Empire Pictures,  Ghoulies (1984) was first out of the gate, shot concurrently and released the same year as Joe Dante’s original.  Producer Charles Band was keen to design a low-budget studio system that could share talent – and resources – to crank out genre films with signature appeal…on a rubber stamp budget.   After inheriting a mansion from his deceased parents, Jonathon Graves (Peter Liapis) moves in with his girlfriend Rebecca (Lisa Pelikan), who’s more than a little trepidatious about the place.  And with good reason!  The basement was used for satanic rituals by Malc...

There’s no doubt we’re living in the glory days of classic martial arts film releases…and even  not-so  classic.  It’s getting to the point where it’s hard to separate the “must-buys” from the “maybe-laters.”  1981’s  The Prodigal Son  was a big evolution for Sammo Hung as a director, not so much in terms of story (it uses a familiar slapstick comedy-action structure) but in the scope of his ambition.  This time around Hung pays just as much attention to his camera as his performers, elevating the film – and his career – to the next level. The self-proclaimed “Kung Fu King” of Foshan, Leung Chang (Yuen Biao) has actually been living a lie; all of his matches have been fixed by his rich family.  When the truth comes out, Chang begs to be taken under the tutelage of Lam Yee-tai (Lam Ching-ying), a member of a touring opera troupe whose skills are masqueraded by his effeminate costume and mannerisms.  The duo attracts th...

There are literally millions of stories to tell within the context of the Holocaust, one for every personal tragedy of loss, pain or survival.   The Only Way  (1970), a Danish production set during the German occupation of 1943, uses this framework to highlight the lesser-known effort by Danish citizens to help their Jewish friends and neighbors escape Nazi persecution.  The Stein’s are a Jewish family who hardly consider their religion worth mentioning.  Denmark’s concession to German occupation – that its Jewish residents remain unmolested – finds them living under the specter or war, but not imminent danger.  That is, until things change overnight with an about face in policy, sending Jews scrambling to escape to nearby Sweden.  Ordinary residents risk their own lives shuttling friends aboard boats and trains – or hiding them in apartments and hospitals – in an act of moral self-defense.   It's certainly an inspiring story and th...

Lucio Fulci, the maestro of Italian gore, had several nauseating set pieces to his credit already by the time  City of the Living Dead  was released.  A mix-n-match of Romero-style gross-out effects and Lovecraftian atmosphere, the film is more a collection of scenes than a true coherent narrative.  But despite that (or maybe  because  of it),  City  is the epitome of over-the-top Italian horror. After a priest’s suicide opens the gates of hell (the original American title, by the way) a journalist and psychic make their way to the small town of Dunwich to stop the evil from spilling over.  Competing for screen time are a local therapist and artist who notice the town is going to hell…quite literally…zombies are popping up and property values are going down.     Fulci’s emphasis on gore always put him in the “hack” director category. But the first thing you’ll notice – particularly in Cauldron Films' new 4K ...

Although director Dario Argento is synonymous with the  giallo  - that uniquely Italian category of sexually violent thriller - there's still an ongoing debate as to which particular film is his best.  And most opinions seem to revolve around which  particular  Argento one ran across first.  Was it the methodical, controlled artist behind  The Bird with the Crystal Plumage and   Deep Red ?  Or the anything-goes, heavy-metal madman responsible for  Creepers  and  Trauma ?  1982's  Tenebrae  actually combines both hemispheres of the director's twisted mind to create a giallo that happily veers off the rails from time to time, yet remains relatively logical throughout. American crime novelist Peter Neal (Anthony Franciosa) is on a publicity tour of Italy when he's questioned by police about the vicious murder of a female shoplifter whose mouth is stuffed with pages from Neal's latest book,  ...

Christina Linberg, whose starring role in the rape-revenge roughie  Thriller: A Cruel Picture  made her a cult icon, gets top billing here in writer-director Adrian Garcia Bogliano’s  Black Circle  (2018).  And deservedly so.  Her performance as a gifted mentalist whose self-help vinyl LP purges listeners of their bad thoughts and feelings - only to create a deadly Ethereal Double – is the glue that binds this confusing amalgamation of psychic realms and altered states together.  Celeste is floundering at life when her sister, Isa, presents her with a mysterious record she claims will lead to instant success.  After listening, the results are as amazing as promised; but the side effects are more unexpected.  Celeste has nightmarish visions of a fetal version of herself and when Isa shows up claiming she’s being followed, the pair decide to track down Lena Carlsson (Lindberg), the woman whose recording unleashed this psychi...

More often than not, passion trumps resources when it comes to filmmaking.  And the direct-to-video market during the ‘80s was a free-for-all that produced hundreds of titles competing for shelf space with the major studios.  Bret McCormick’s  The Abomination  (1986) is a Super-8 lensed regional effort that delivers orgiastic amounts of blood and guts mixed with some clever puppetry to bring its cosmic creation to life.   A coughed-up tumor slithers into the mouth of a local mechanic, evolving into a voracious eating machine that forces him to provide more bodies for its insatiable appetite.     Shot with a cast of family and friends, McCormick’s amateur epic is like a low-rent cross between   Brain Damage  and   Little Shop of Horrors , although the humor here seems largely unintentional.     The post-dubbed dialogue and overblown foley effects (every footstep is like a cannon shot!) are just part of the charm. ...

Essentially a one-album wonder,  The Stone Roses  launched a short-lived second British Invasion…at least on college radio.  And it’s easy to see why.  Their sound, a mix of ‘60s jangle pop and psychedelica, was catchy and accessible, a guitar-solo idolized version of what Brit Pop would eventually become.  And the Roses themselves were the ultimate arrogant Brits, confident in their skills and superiority enough to wait out five years of legal trouble before releasing their sophomore album.  But karma is a bitch, and the band never capitalized on their early success.   That said, the music still speaks for itself.  And  Sally Cinnamon , originally re-released from Revolver as a Record Store Day exclusive red vinyl, was the band’s second single…and the first to really capture the sound they would perfect on their self-titled debut.  Kicking off with one of John Squire’s signature riffs and a solid vocal perf...

Based on a rather ruthless character from an O. Henry short story, the Cisco Kid became a heroic figure in a string of movies, radio dramas and long-running TV show for more than three decades.  Several actors took turn under the sombrero but Gilbert Roland and Duncan Renaldo are  the most recognizable, with the latter cementing his reputation during the 156-episode TV run.  VCI entertainment has collected 13 movies across 5 dvds as the  Cisco Kid Western Movie Collection , organizing the material by “Kid,” with seven films from Renaldo and the remaining from Roland.  Before the advent of television, movies made their own  episodic  installments to capitalize on hot intellectual properties.  And The Cisco Kid bounced between several mediums, landing on the big screen in short features running just over an hour in length.  Monogram Pictures first post-war adventures starred Duncan Renaldo, a Romanian born actor who pas...

Personal anecdote time.  Way back in the dark ages of my aborted screenwriting career our group class gathered around to discuss the merits of  Independence Day , which was dismissed by pretty much everyone.  I screwed up the courage to come to its defense in terms of structure: the clever buildup to the aliens’ arrival and the admirable way all of its cheesy parts came together in just the right way.  It wasn’t so much the film itself that impressed me, but the mechanics that made it work. What the hell does that have to do with  Taxi Hunter  (1993), a thriller that pretty much defines the adrenaline-fueled Hong Kong genre blending of the era?  Well, Herman Yau’s film is another of those beautifully designed mousetraps that lures audiences in with a can’t-miss combination of vigilante justice and high-octane action scenes.  It’s a movie with no spare parts and a 100% satisfaction guarantee!   A successful salaryman b...

In one short year Radiance Films has managed to become quite a tastemaker.  Entering into a crowded field of cult, exploitation, foreign and art house cinema, their Euro-centric output has reflected a uniquely intellectual approach to curation, turning almost every release into a reliable blind buy.   A Moment of Romance  might be their most “accessible” title yet, building off the already large fanbase of Hong Kong action aficionados looking for a little sweetness and light amidst the traditional gang warfare. Wah Dee (played with smoldering intensity by Andy Lau) is a low-level hood whose ethics get in the way when he’s ordered to kill a teenage hostage, JoJo (Chien-Lien Wu), after a jewelry heist.  Instead, the pair develop a relationship despite their diametrically opposed lifestyles.  JoJo’s falls hard for Wah Dee’s bad boy persona, even refusing to identify him to the police.  But Wah Dee’s struggles against the mutual attract...

Streaming music killed the mix tape.  Digital movies made  staff picks  obsolete.  So, is there  an  upside to the “everything, everywhere, all at once” existence we find ourselves trapped in? Yes…yes there is.  It’s called  curation  and it’s filling a need that even the most insatiable info-junkies can’t provide themselves: discrimination, a service that culls the most worthwhile material for our overwhelmed minds to appreciate and enjoy.  And niche companies like Radiance are leading the way, their latest accomplishment being three mafia-themed collaborations between director Damiano Damiani and star Franco Nero into a box set entitled Cosa Nostra :   Three Mafia Tales . The Day of the Owl  (1968) – released in the U.S. simply as  Mafia  – follows a game of cat-and-mouse between Captain Bellodi (Nero), an honest northern cop pitted again Don Arena (Lee J. Cobb), a beloved mafioso who l...

Saddled with a title that sounds like some sort of obscure experimental art film,  Unman, Wittering and Zigo  (1971) is nothing less than a tense, gripping, fascinating piece of filmmaking for ¾ of its running time.  That’s no small feat; most movies can’t even manage a good first act.  So we should all makes allowances for director John Mackenzie’s British prep school-set thriller – based on a 1958 radio drama – that pits an idealistic teacher against a classroom full of students who may or may not have murdered their previous instructor.   As a mid-year replacement at the Chancery School, John Ebony (David Hemming) sees the opportunity as a big break in his teaching career.  That is until the students refuse to cooperate, confessing to the murder of his predecessor and threatening him with the same fate unless they can come to an “arrangement.”  Ebony’s attempts to report the alleged crime fall on deaf ears – even his wife do...

Let me just put this out there:   Weird Science  is a hot mess!  Obviously, it has its good points (Bill Paxton) and has earned a vocal fan base, but as the missing link between John Hughes'  The Breakfast Club  and  Ferris Bueller's Day Off , the movie seems like the product of a completely different director.  Its defenders use that as a rallying cry.  But the uncomfortable premise of two teenage boys creating a living sex doll on their computer is a tough tightrope to walk...and Hughes' film comes precariously close to plunging to its doom. Gary (Anthony Michael Hall) and Wyatt (Ilan Mitchell-Smith) are a pair of horny nerds who fantasize about a life of parties, girls and popularity.  They get all that and more after they create Lisa (Kelly LeBrock), an all-powerful computer girlfriend who instructs the boys in the finer points of sex, drugs and rock n' roll.  But Gary and Wyatt's new identities are far ...

Stop-motion animator Phil Tippett earned some belated buzz with the release of his long-gestating epic  Mad God  (2021) which premiered on Shudder last year.  The grotesque post-apocalyptic project might have been a hard sell  commercially , but as a piece of adult-oriented, almost experimental, sci-fi / horror it was unique in its field.  But maybe not as unique as you think… Takehide Hori’s  Junk Head  (2021), set in a very similar dystopian underground of monsters, mutants and the remnants of mutant mankind, is a more accessible take on the same material.  Expanded from a 2017 short, Hori’s lets his imagination run wild, but grounds the experience with manga-style fight scenes and a (semi) traditional narrative that makes his hero’s journey easier to follow…and easier to root for.   Dispatched into the underworld to uncover the secret of sexual reproduction, which Man has somehow lost, an unnamed heroic android falls into th...

There have been plenty of regional horror superstars.  But nobody hit the jackpot quite like Sam Raimi with  The Evil Dead  (1981).  A loyal Michigander   whose film, although shot in Tennessee, would likely win the prize for official state movie, the director not only stands by his  fans  but by the cast and crew that brought him success in the first place.  And one of those contributors, make-up and visual effects artist Tom Sullivan, is now the subject of his very own documentary:  Invaluable: The True Story of an Epic Artist . One of many Raimi collaborators recruited to help shoot their first full-length feature - after the Super-8 short,  Within the Woods ,  drummed up financial investors - Sullivan by most accounts was the most creative and level-headed of the bunch.   An amateur stop-motion filmmaker, accomplished artist and movie nerd, his skills were put to work crafting Rami’s cluttered ...