Impulse

William Shatner, for all his ego and arrogance, always seemed comfortable being the butt of a joke.  His career outside of the Star Trek franchise was a bumpy road of corny TV shows and enjoyable B-movie dreck.  But he never delivered anything less than 100% “Shatner!”  Like 1974’s Impulse, a regional drive-in quickie directed by William Grefé (Stanley, Mako: Jaws of Death) that casts the once and future Captain Kirk as a psychologically troubled con man whose childhood trauma leads to a string of murdered women. 

After dumping the body of his last victim in a Florida canal, Matt Stone (Shatner) is on the prowl for another financial windfall, this time using a phony investment scam to entice Ann (Jennifer Bishop) into a romantic relationship.  But when Ann’s daughter, Tina, is witness to the murder of his business associate (Harold “Chop Top” Sakata), Matt has to clean up his tracks and speed up his escape plan.  That includes silencing Tina…and whoever else gets in his way.

 

Taking his usual low-key horror approach, Grefé knows his biggest asset here is Shatner.  And he makes sure the audience gets their money’s worth, parading the actor around in bright polyester leisure suits and ridiculous hats that almost certainly came with a free bowl of soup.  As the emotionally unbalanced – yet physically irresistible - Matt Stone, Shatner sinks his teeth into every scene…and a couple fingers or two!  It’s an unapologetic performance that takes advantage of the actor’s blissful unselfconsciousness.  Shatner is so impressed with himself that no role is too small; he stretches them all into a perfect fit.

 

The plot itself circles back to 1949’s noir-thriller The Window which co-starred Ruth Roman as a killer scheming to murder the 10-year-old neighbor who witnessed her crime.  And, in a pleasant twist, Roman pops up here as a wealthy neighbor who refuses to believe Tina’s story until it’s too late.  Impulse feels cheap and dirty in just the right way.  Even the new 4K restoration doesn’t quite scrub the grime out of its twisted narrative.  But it’s a treat to finally get this one out there so everyone can see Shatner shine!

 

Grindhouse Releasing has put together a lovingly restored Blu-ray created from rare archival film elements. Beyond the main feature, extras include a 15-minute Making Of, Shatner Q & A, crew interviews, director’s commentary, alternate soundtrack, behind-the-scenes odd and ends and an entire second disc devoted to Grefé’s business tactics (industrials, shorts and investment films) that exposes the less glamorous – and more financial – side of the industry.  Fascinating stuff!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tormented

Image
The west coast always struggled to create a creepy atmosphere on screen.  All that southern California sunshine just doesn’t lend itself to ghostly apparitions or gothic castles.  But  Tormented  (1960) gives it a good try, staging its opening scene in an abandoned lighthouse where blackmail turns into murder - and one cover up leads to another.  Director Bert I. Gordon, better known for his giant-sized - but low-budget - monster movies, works well at this level, turning in a film that delivers small scares but perhaps his most  professional finished product. Tom Stewart (played by genre regular Richard Carlson) is a fairly successful jazz pianist whose impending marriage to Meg Hubbard (Susan Gordon) will put him in an entirely new tax bracket.  Trouble is his old flame, Vi (Juli Reding), isn’t taking this lying down.  After  allowing  her to fall to her death in the opening scene, Tom is haunted by disembo...
Read more

All Ladies Do It / Frivolous Lola

Image
Every semi-professional review of erotica probably starts off with the same question:  what’s the difference between porn and art?  The internet age has essentially done away with foreplay; sex is merely the act of completion itself, minus the threat of any malware or suspicious browser activity.  But the work of Italian director Tinto Brass, for all its leering upskirt shots of derrieres and pubic hair, still communicates something that websites like Pornhub never will:  the art of seduction.  All Ladies Do It  (1992), a breezy sexual adventure, follows Diana (Claudia Koll) whose marriage is threatened by her fantasies of dalliances with other men, stories her husband believes are nothing more than exciting role play.  But her loose definition of adultery inspires plenty of promiscuous hook-ups, taking advantage of any (ahem)  loophole  that provides a quick thrill.   Flirting with some hardcore sequences (there...
Read more

The Cat and the Canary

Image
My favorite directors have always been showoffs:  Hitchcock, DePalma, Spielberg (when he’s feeling frisky) and gonzo auteurs like Sam Raimi.  There’s just something about their cinematic ambition, constantly reminding the audience that, yes, there actually  is  someone behind the camera calling the shots.  And that directorial discontent shines through even in the early days of the medium, such as Paul Leni’s 1927 adaptation of  The Cat and the Canary .  While the rest of the industry was still learning the basics of visual language, Leni fills his frame with tracking shots, POVs and dramatic lighting that set the standard for every spook show to come!  Gathered for the reading of the last will and testament of eccentric recluse Cyrus West,  the potential heirs meet up in his decrepit mansion to discover who will inherit the estate and family jewels.  Predictably there is some petty jealousy when young Annab...
Read more