Movie Review: Common Law Wife & Jennie Wife/Child

June 23, 2024 by Jon Kitley in Reviews: Movies and tagged Annabelle Weenick, Ballyhoo Motion Pictures, Beverly Lunsford, C. Courtney Joyner, Common Law Wife, Eric Sayers, Film Masters, George Edgley, Jack Lester, James Landis, Jennie: Wife/Child, Jim Reader, Lacey Kelley, Larry Buchanan, Libby Hall, Robert Carl Cohen, Swamp Rose, Tender Grass | Leave a comment

Common Law Wife (1961)
Directed by Larry Buchanan & Eric Sayers
Starring Annabelle Weenick, George Edgley, Max W. Anderson, Lacey Kelley, Bert Masters, Libby Hall

Jennie: Wife/Child (1968)
Directed by Robert Carl Cohen & James Landis
Starring Jack Lester, Beverly Lunsford, Jim Reader, Virginia Wood, Richard Cowl

When I read about the announcement of the latest release from Film Masters, a Hicksploitation double feature, I was going to pass, since it’s not really in the horror genre. Then I realized that one of the titles, Common Law Wife, was partially directed by Larry Buchanan, a favorite cult director of mine! So, I figured I had to take on the assignment of reviewing them anyway because I just couldn’t pass up anything that Buchanan was involved with. I am so glad I did.

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Movie Review: The Sadist (1963)

January 15, 2019 by Jon Kitley in Misc. Ramblings, Reviews: Movies and tagged Arch Hall Jr., Don Russell, Helen Hovey, James Landis, Marilyn Manning, Richard Alden, The Sadist, Vilmos Zsigmond | Leave a comment

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The Sadist (1963)
Directed by James Landis
Starring Arch Hall Jr., Richard Alden, Marilyn Manning, Don Russell, Helen Hovey

One of the things that always set low budget filmmakers apart from the big studios is that they were always willing to take risks and tackle subjects the bigwigs wouldn’t touch. In 1958, Charles Starkweather went on a killing spree, taking his 15-year-old girlfriend Caril Fugate along for the fun. When it was over, they had murdered 11 people, including Fugate’s own 2-year-old step-sister. At that time, Hollywood wouldn’t dare touch a subject like this one. It wouldn’t be until 1973, when Terrence Malick would direct the film Badlands. But in 1963, only after 5 years since those tragic crimes, James Landis wrote and directed a film inspired by this murderous rampage. The film was called The Sadist.

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