Category Archives: Reviews: Movies

Movie Review: The Pack

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The Pack (1977)
Directed by Robert Clouse
Written by Clouse, based on the novel of the same name by David Fisher (1976)
Starring Joe Don Baker, Hope Alexander-Willis, Richard B. Shull, R.G. Armstrong, Ned Wertimer, Bibi Besch, Delos V. Smith Jr., Richard O’Brien, Sherry Miles, Paul Willson

Seal Island is just off the coast of Maine and seems to be a tiny place where some people vacation for the summer. It seems these vacationers have a tendency to bring dogs to the island only to leave them there. And because of this, we eventually have a pack of wild dogs that start to take over the island, threatening the few locals that live there all year round. Joe Don Baker stars as a marine biologist that works on the island and takes charge to try and get rid of this deadly threat.

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Movie Review: Dead End Drive-In

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dead-end-drive-in-blurayDead End Drive-In (1986)
Directed by Brian Trenchard-Smith
Starring Ned Manning, Natalie McCurry, Peter Whitford, Wilbur Wilde, Dave Gibson, Sandie Lillingston, Ollie Hall

Can you say ’80s? Set in the future (at least the future from 1986), the world lives in chaos. At least apparently in Australia. There’s isn’t too much explanation given here, but somehow a drive-in theater is turned into sort of a short term prison, or something to that effect. Not just criminal, but more like the dregs of society. Our young hero named Crabbs and his girlfriend go on a date to the theater and wake up the next morning realizing they are now trapped. Actually, it takes a while for him to get the idea. Then the rest of the movie is about dealing with others there, as well as trying to figure out a way to escape.

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Movie Review: Francesca

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francesca-posterFrancesca (2015)
Directed by Luciano Onetti
Written by Luciano and Nicolás Onett
Starring Luis Emilio Rodriguez, Gustavo Dalessanro, Raul Gederlini, Silvina Grippaldi, Evangelina Goitia, Juan Baustista Massolo

Over the last few years, there have been a few filmmakers out there that are trying to recreate the look and feel of the ’70s giallo films from Italy. Hélène Cattet & Bruno Forzani’s Amer (2009) and The Strange Color of Your Body’s Tears (2013) come to mind, as well as the more recent film The Editor (2014), by Adam Brooks & Matthew Kennedy. Each of these films capture the look and feel of the sub-genre, though The Editor really seemed like it was more concerned with making fun of it than paying tribute. But that’s for another review.

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Movie Review: The Beyond

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The  Beyond (1981)
Starring Starring Catriona MacColl, David Warbeck, Cinzia Monreale, Antoine Saint-John, Veronica Lazar, Larry Ray, Giovanni De Nava, Al Cliver, Michele Mirabella, Gianpaolo Saccarola

The first time I witnessed a Lucio Fulci film was seeing it under a completely different title, the edited American version called Seven Doors of Death. Even the director’s name had been modified, here listed as “Louis Fuller”. This played at the theater I worked at and I remember being very puzzled at just what the hell was happening on screen. I had heard of Zombie, and remember it had been playing at the local drive-in, but I wasn’t driving at that time and couldn’t get anybody to take me to see it. But even then, I had no idea of the connection between the two films. That would definitely come later though.

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Movie Review: Slugs

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slugsbannerSlugs (1988)
Directed by Juan Piquer Simón
Starring Michael Garfield, Kim Terry, Philip MacHale, Alicia Moro, Santiago Álvarez, Concha Cuetos, John Battaglia, Emilio Linder, Kris Mann, Kari Rose, Manuel de Blas, Frank Braña, Patty Shepard

Ahh…the late ‘80s….when gore was running rampant and thought provoking storylines were nowhere to be seen. As horror fans, If the movie was outrageous enough, we didn’t mind the absurdity of the plot. We didn’t care if the dialog was hilariously bad. As long as we got some well done and outrageous gore we were happy. Which is probably why the 1982 film Pieces, from director Juan Piquer Simón, was such a success, since it is probably one of the most enjoyable ‘bad’ movies ever made. It had a ton of over-the-top gore, outrageous dialog, and a plethora of wacky and fun characters. It is one that is enjoyed even more in a large group of like-minded fans.

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Movie Review: Beast of Blood

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Beast of Blood (1970)
Directed by Eddie Romero
Starring John Ashley, Celeste Yarnall, Eddie Garcia, Lisa Belmonte, Bruno Punzalan, Beverly Miller

This is the last of the famous Blood Island trilogy and is a direct sequel to Mad Doctor of Blood Island, starting right where the last one left off. While on the boat leaving the island, it seems that our favorite chlorophyll-blooded monster had stowed away. It comes out and starts attacking the crew members, causing a fire to start. The boat blows up, with star John Ashley being thrown overboard. After recovering in the hospital, Ashley decides to return to Blood Island to once again, find out what’s going on there. Joining him on this trip is a reporter, played by Celeste Yarnall, who is in search of a story about the infamous Blood Island after the events from the last film. She knows she’ll get it too, especially once they arrive back on the island and find out “the green men have returned.”

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