Losin' It (1983)

Set in 1965, tough guy (Spider), shy romantic (Woody) and a sex-starved dork (Dave) hit the road for a weekend of debauchery in Tijuana. Lacking the money to cover his "tuck and roll" job for his '59 Chevy, Dave reluctantly allows his kid brother, Wendell, to tag along after borrowing the money from him. Along the way, the wife of an adulterous store owner hitches a ride with them to obtain a cheap divorce. Hilarity ensues, blah, blah, blah...

"Losin' It" is a better-than-average coming of age / teen sex comedy. I keep comparing things to "Porky's", but it truly is the measuring stick for these sort of movies. The similarities are there, characters and situations interchangeable, but not enough to make anyone cry "rip-off". People talk about this movie because it features Tom Cruise's first staring role, but, seriously, fuck Tom Cruise. Fuck him and his one front tooth. Jackie Earle Haley is the reason to see this movie as he steals every scene. He's the Pee-Wee Morris of this film; hyperactive, and sex-starved, too gullible for his own good, his eagerness putting him in situations he has to weasel his way out of. Nearly as good as Haley is John P. Navin Jr. as Dave's little brother, Wendell. There's lots of silly, slapstick comedy, a fair amount of coarse language and a smattering of nudity. The sheriff serves well as the antagonist and the ending was decent. The supporting actors (cab drivers, barkers, pimps, etc) were good in their roles, too.

The 70s and 80s were a strange time for film. Someone decided that in a teen comedy it was acceptable for an older woman to prey on Cruise's character and take his virginity. The same thing happened in "American Pie", but it was Finch who pursued Stiffler's mom in that instance, not the other way around. Had the genders been reversed, people would have been up in arms about it.

There are heaps of movies like this, all covering the same territory. This one is good, not great. Jackie Earle Haley, however, is great in this, so it stinks less than a lot of these movies do. See it for him.

3/5

Walkabout (1971)

A teenage girl and young boy are driven into the Australian outback by their father for a picnic. After inexplicably firing shots at them, torching his car and turning the gun on himself, the two are left to fend for themselves in the harsh conditions. Just when survival seems most unlikely, an Aboriginal teen finds them and helps them back to civilization.

It's a simple set-up, but there's a lot going on in this movie. The father's suicide is never explained, and while the older sibling (played by a very young Jenny Agutter) tries shielding the younger boy (director Nicholas Roeg's son, Luc) from reality, he's aware of the situation and seems to deal with it better than his sister. While the boy takes to the Aboriginal youth (David Gulpilil in his first role) immediately, even learning how to communicate with him, the older sibling makes no effort and communicates with him only through her brother. Sexual tension is made apparent through lingering upskirt shots and fixed gazes at Gulpilil's nearly naked body, but the girl doesn't act on it. Because all of Gulpilil's dialogue is in his native tongue, we can only guess at what he's saying. His attraction is more apparent than her's, though, and in a scene in which I assume he professes his love to her, her lack of reciprocation is quite clear. The closer they get to civilization, the less need she has for him.

This was Nicholas Roeg's first solo directing effort and his last cinematographer job. The latter is superb. The harsh, barren outback has never looked better; everything deceptively beautiful. The aforementioned lingering shots of Jenny Agutter, both in and out of her clothing, caused "Walkabout" to be slapped with an R rating on it's release. Nothing remotely sexual occurs on screen, though, so the ratings board eventually knocked it down to a PG. The shots were particularly pervy, though. That sort of stuff wouldn't fly in American cinema today. Roeg flexed his muscle as a director on this first outing, inserting multiple freeze frames and juxtaposing scenes of Aboriginal hunting with those of a butcher chopping meat in a shop. The number of animal deaths in this film were unnecessary to the telling of the story, likewise the graphic detail in which it's shown, but hunting is essential in surviving the outback. Vegetation is scarce, so meat is all there is. All of the performances were excellent, but especially so from Luc Roeg. How he could act so well at such a young age is a mystery. Nicholas had an eye fit talent, I guess.

This film leaves me with many questions, even after multiple viewings. I've watched this several times looking for an explanation for the suicide, but haven't found one. I suppose it's possible there aren't meant to be answers to those unanswered questions. Who knows? I only know that I've thoroughly enjoyed this every time I've watched it and will watch it several more times in years to come.

5/5

The Snuff Files (199?)

A friend of mine sent this to me unsolicited. I assume it's something he downloaded. I don't really know what this is. There are no credits to be found other than "Club-Dead presents The Snuff Files, staring Christy & Loren", no listing on IMDB and nothing turned up when I Google'd it. If I had to guess, this was something made for the fetish market and there weren't too many copies in circulation. There are "coming attractions" at the end with the exact same actors and set-ups. 

This is broken into 4 segments, the first of which is "The Chase". A woman enters a home calling out someone's name and gets no answer. After 5 minutes or so of snooping around, a grey-haired dude walks up behind her and breaks her neck. He lays her out on a bed (which just happens to be there) rubs his hands over her still-clothed body for a few minutes, then rubs under her clothes before carrying her to his car, depositing her in the trunk and stripping her naked. 

"Exercise Break" starts out with a woman jumping on a hotel room bed for a couple of minutes until a guy breaks in and snaps her neck. The same grey-haired guy from the first scene comes in and is shocked to find her dead, then runs his hands over her still-clothed body for a few minutes before eventually stripping her naked. He positions her on the bed and begins to take off his pants, but hears a noise and runs off. 

In "Ransom", a woman is lifting weights (camera zooming tightly on her crotch) until a guy comes in and pulls a gun on her. He caresses her with the gun, then calls her father demanding a $250,000 ransom. After hanging up, she tells him he's got the wrong person and that her family doesn't have any money. A second phone call confirms this and he decides to kill her instead. He places her in the bathtub and shoots her twice (neither gun shot makes a sound other than the click of the trigger). She moans and writhes in pain before eventually dying. 

The fourth segment, "The Harem Execution", is the strangest of the bunch. A woman dances in a sheer outfit for a long fucking time, shaking her ass to music that doesn't sound one bit Arabian. She strips out of her clothes, then puts them back on before a guy comes in and hands her a letter. She reads it and begins crying, he explains that it is "his duty" and tells her she must die. Her last wish is to dance for him. He grants her wish, bringing on another lengthy dance scene which he ends prematurely by shooting her in the abdomen with a crossbow badly injuring her. She begs him to finish her off and he plunges a sword into her chest.  

This mess was shot on video. There are copious amounts of VCR hum and slow-motion scenes that crawl at a snail's pace with no audio. If I had to guess, at least 20% of this "film" is in slow motion with no audio other than the droning VCR hum. There's no acting to speak of, so it's pointless to go into how bad it was. Numerous times, though, the eyes and limbs of supposedly dead women move on their own. Once, a mouth closes while panning down to her groin. 

Nothing brutal or sexual ever happens throughout the film - just a bunch of groping and a couple of chuckle-inducing special effects. If they wanted this to look like a snuff film, they probably should have skipped the hokey set-ups, ridiculous costumes, multiple camera shots and shitty attempts at video editing. What they ended up with was 65 minutes of shit. 

I doubt you'll find this without going out of your way looking for it. Save yourself the trouble and don't. This is a failure in every way. 

 

1/5

White Dog (1982)

Kristy McNichol plays Julie, an actress who hits a dog while driving home one night. After taking it to the vet, she places ads trying to locate its owner. She decides to keep it and learns that not only is he an attack dog, but a "white dog" trained to attack and kill black people. Rather than have the dog put down, she takes it to an animal trainer in an attempt to have it reprogrammed.

This film was completed in 1982, but Paramount shelved after the NAACP protested it's controversial subject matter. It didn't see a release until nearly a decade later, and then as an edited for TV version or in arthouses. It is an uncomfortable film, I imagine so for both sides, dealing not only with racism in the present, but also with passing down prejudices to future generations. The dog is the face of evil, but in reality, is completely innocent. He's a tool acting on his training, making man the monster. Julie's compassion for the dog is strong, but not as strong as trainer Keys' persistence in reversing his training, even after discovering the full extent of the violence he's capable of. Julie finally gives up on the dog after a pivotal scene in the film and asks Keys to shoot him, but he refuses. His devotion to correcting this racism is undying, claiming "you can't experiment on a dead dog." Can racism be unlearned, though?

This is the only Sam Fuller film I've seen, but I've read he had a history of making confrontational films. He was so disgusted with Paramount's decision to shelve the film, he moved to France. Stylistically, this was fine. There were a few too many slow motion shots for my tastes and the casting of Burl Ives is a bit of a head scratcher, but everything else seems okay. Kristy McNichol did a decent job, though her character was a little underdeveloped. Paul Winfield (Keys) and the dog are the real stars here. There was no need to expand on Julie's character when there was so much going on between the dog and its trainer. The ending is great, no giving it away here. This one's worth seeing. Not a fun film, but entertaining.

4/5

Blow Out (1981)

John Travolta plays Jack Terry, a guy who records sound effects for low budget movies. While recording wind sounds for a film he's working on, he captures audio of an auto accident involving presidential candidate Governor McRyan. After saving a woman from his car submerged in the creek, he examines the tapes and finds it wasn't an accident, but an assassination. This revelation ends up putting both of their lives at risk.

I remember seeing this once as a kid and really liking it. I found it used for $4.00 and seemed to remember there being a Criterion release of this, so I picked it up. It's one of the better DePalma movies I've seen. Often there's something cheesy and dated about his films that drag them down, but this one didn't seem to suffer from that. This is a stylized thriller, almost Hitchcock-like, with an interesting premise, decent pacing and acting. Travolta delivers one of his least annoying performances in this and John Lithgow, surprisingly, is quite believable as the killer. A young (and thin) Dennis Franz is great as a sleazy, cigar-chomping photographer, giving the best performance of the film. Best of all , there were many technical shots of film and sound editing throughout the film. One of the aerial shots of Travolta at work, surrounded by tape machines stood out to me as the best scene in the film.

While it didnt occour to me until much later, my wife spotted the ending from the very beginning. It was effective, nonetheless, and wrapped it all together nicely. Other than Nancy Allen's mush-mouthed dialogue being utterly indecipherable through the first half of the film, there's very little to complain about. If you've never seen this or even if it's been a while, it's worth revisiting.

3.5/5 

The Twelve Chairs (1970)

Though I've been a Mel Brooks fan since childhood, I've somehow managed to miss this one. I went into this thinking that because it wasn't so well known it wouldn't be very good, but I was wrong.

"The Twelve Chairs" (adapted from a Russian novel) is set in the Soviet Union a few years after the Russian Revolution. Vorobyaninov, a former aristocrat in old Russia, learns from his mother-in-law on her deathbed of a wealth of jewels sewn into one of twelve chairs in a dining room set, but not before she tells the priest, Father Fyodor, while giving her last rites. The dining room set was lost during the chaos of the revolution, and so begins a madcap rush to find the chairs. At the beginning of his search, Vorobyaninov encounters a con man, Ostap Bender, who forces him into a partnership after threatening to turn him over to the police. Together they race to find the chairs before Father Fyodor does.

Compared to Brooks' other efforts, this one is pretty straight. There's no talking to the camera, no breaking 4th wall, etc. Dom DeLuise's performance as Father Fyodor is the most over-the-top in the film and it's comparatively tame to what followed in Brooks' later films. The story is predictable, but never boring and the ending was great. Ron Moody is excellent as Vorobyaninov, and after being generally unlikable for a good chunk of the movie, you begin to feel empathy for his character after a pivotal scene. Mel Brooks himself even has a small role in the first third of the movie, marking the first time he's cast himself in one of his pictures.

This is every bit as good as his classic films, just with a different approach. It's really much better than the trailer lets on. If you haven't seen this one, check it out.

4/5

This Is America Pt.3 aka America Exposed (1991)

Somehow this manages to be even worse than Part 2. There's even less juxtaposition, less skin and every single scene looks staged.  The only genuine laughs came from the frat boy lighting his junk on fire and frying an egg on his nuts and the lengthy KKK summer camp segment. It doesn't even make sense to go over the highlights of this film because everything was equally shit. I found myself wanting to turn this off after about 20 minutes. I'm glad this is the last in the series.

1/5

This Is America Part 2 (1980)

For the uninitiated, the "mondo film" is a faux documentary of strange and unusual footage shot around the world. Often times the footage itself is authentic, but the narration is made up to explain what's happening on screen. Just as often, entire scenes are staged for the sake of the shot. Grotesque and shocking scenes alternate with lighthearted or sexually graphic scenes to provide juxtaposition. While a film full of heavy stuff is difficult for most audiences to sit through, a heaping dose of female nudity makes it a lot easier to endure. Gualtiero Jacopetti and Franco Prosperi's "Mondo Cane" (1962) is arguably the most famous mondo film ever made. It was a huge success and spawned scores of imitators who cashed in on the trend shooting even harsher, more brutal footage. The films made by Alfredo and Angelo Castiglioni took the genre as far as it could go, digging deep into primitive man's most bizarre practices and repulsing most of their audiences in the process. There's a reason most of their films are unavailable here in the states, and the ones that are available are heavily censored. Soon, the camera's lens turned on America's seedy underbelly. Whatever we lacked in the grotesque, we made up for in depravity, absurdity and violence. This first movie in this series, 1977's "This is America", is among the greatest mondo films ever made. It was shockingly dark and violent with just the right amount of absurdity mixed in. It's sequel, "This is America Part 2" (1980), doesn't even come close to touching it.

If you're looking for skin, there's plenty of it to be found here. We're treated to a topless car wash, nude female wrestling, topless foxy boxing, strip clubs, swinger clubs, orgies and an erotic bakery with close up shots of middle aged women chomping on the heads of foot long chocolate penis-shaped cakes. There's even footage of Jello Biafra's mayoral candidacy paired with Dead Kennedy's playing his "campaign song" "California Uber Alles". The dark, more serious scenes are few and far between on this installment. There's an obviously staged execution by electric chair, footage of the mole people who live under New York's streets living off of roasted rats and a brief expose about the living conditions of fast food chickens. None of the really "heavy" stuff hits until the final 30 minutes, but at that point we've been beaten about the head with so many exposed breasts that the darker footage seems completely out of place. In order for these sort of films to be effective, the ratio of absurd and shocking should be closer to 60/40. In the case of this movie, it's an easy 90/10.

I was expecting a lot more from this. Still well worth watching and leaps and bounds above other films in this genre, but nowhere near as good as the first movie. I'll go into the 3rd with lowered expectations.

3/5

Young Frankenstein (1974)

I've seen this many, many times, going back into my childhood. Mel Brooks was big in our house and we watched his movies often. We lived outside of the city limits, so cable TV wasn't an option for us. Once our parents divorced, my dad moved in town and would record movies and send them home with us on weekends. We were supposed to watch the movies and bring them back next week so he could record more for us. Tapes with Mel Brooks films never got returned, though. We watched them all the time, running them into the ground. It wouldn't surprise me if one of my brothers was still holding onto a couple of those tapes today.

Here's what I took away from it this time: Gene Wilder is brilliant. He's usually pretty good in everything, but he's best when he goes manic and there's a lot of "manic" in this movie. The intensity in his voice and expression on his face in those scenes always elicit a smile from me. Gene is a great actor, period. I'll be sad when he eventually dies. Marty Feldman steals the scene every time he's on screen. I get the feeling he drifted from the script more often than he stuck to it. Mugging for the camera and breaking the fourth wall usually ruins things for me, but somehow it works when he does it. Normal Fell's Stanley Roper is the only other instance I can think of in which mugging doesn't bother me. Peter Boyle has the funniest scenes in the movie, even without dialogue. The scene with the blind man (with an almost unrecognizable Gene Hackman) is one of my favorites because of Boyle's great performance. Lastly, I've found that my childhood crush on Teri Garr has carried over into adulthood.

This was my first time viewing it on Blu-Ray. I'm still not sold on this whole Blu-Ray business. Most of the time I can't see a difference in picture from DVD. I suppose a black and white movie from 1974 made to look like it was shot in the 30s isn't the best film to deliver the full Blu-Ray experience, though. The picture was sharp and the audio was fine, but it's been a while since I've watched my DVD copy to make a comparison. From memory, it looked about the same. Other than director commentary, there are no special features, but that could be because this is part of a larger set and not a solo disc. 

I realize this is another one of those cop out reviews where I don't talk about the plot at all, but I assume everyone has seen it at this point. It's basically "Frankenstein" with a little bit of "King Kong" thrown in the mix. This is among Mel Brooks' best films, but credit must be given to Wilder who wrote most of the script, as I understand it. Solid stuff all around with plenty of laughs to be had. As funny and as sexy as a PG rated movie can be.

4/5

To Wong Foo Thanks For Everything, Julie Newmar (1995)

Thanks, but no thanks...

Two drag queens tie for first place in the local drag contest and win a trip to California for the national event. Vida (Patrick Swayze) takes pity on another contestant, Chi-Chi (John Leguizamo), and convinces Noxeema (Wesley Snipes) to take him under their wing, trade in their airfare for a beaten up Cadillac and drive to their destination instead. Their car breaks down in middle-of-nowhere Nebraska and sets the stage for this "fish out of water" comedy.

It wasn't very good. I don't think it was supposed to be "good", though. It fails as a comedy in every way with the exception of casting Wesley Snipes as a drag queen. The guy is the personification of masculinity, so his lines are funny. The message of "Drag queens are people, too" is ever present and the town's enthusiastic acceptance is unbelievable. Some heavy issues are dealt with as well, but never in a way that would make you forget this is supposed to be a comedy. It wasn't funny, though, and those in need of this movie's message are it's least likely audience. 

2/5

The Graduate (1967)

I've only seen this once before, decades ago. I liked it okay, but it didn't make an impression on me. Maybe it's because I watched this right after being bored to tears by "Blue Money", but I thoroughly enjoyed it this time.

Dennis Hoffman stars as Ben, a nervous 20 year old fresh out of college. He feels tremendous pressure to make something of his life, but lacks motivation to do anything. At a party thrown by his parents to celebrate his graduation, Mrs. Robinson (the wife of his father's partner at the law firm) makes strong sexual advances towards him letting him know she is available to him if he wanted her. A short while later he accepts her offer and they have a summer fling, ending when he falls in love with her daughter, Elaine.

Hoffman is excellent in this. He plays the role of an awkward, bored and angry 20 year old perfectly. His situation is both funny and sad, and both come across in his performance. His affair with Mrs. Robinson, born out of low self esteem, drives home how unhappy he is. He spends months drifting, doing nothing  (literally, on a raft in a pool), sneaking out in the evenings to sleep with someone twice his age who has no feelings for him at all. These rendezvous' are all he has to look forward to and he experiences them without joy. Only when he finds what he really wants is he truly happy, and then it's out of his reach. Fucking brilliant... Fucking sad.

The acting is great, pacing spot-on and the ending perfect. Aside from a small complaint with the soundtrack, this was wholly enjoyable. I like Simon & Garfunkel as much as the next guy, but they ran "Scarborough Fair" into the fucking ground with this film. A few less occurrences of this song and it would have gotten a perfect rating from me.

4.5/5

Blue Money (1972)

Not worth the paper it's printed on.

I bought this clunker in a set with 11 other movies at Kmart for $5.00. My expectations were low and in no way did this exceed them. This movie sucks. 

The year is 1972 and Jim directs pornographic films. The government is cracking down on the industry and busts are happening all around him. His wife wants him to get out before it's his turn, but he's 2/3 into building his fucking boat and needs to work until it's finished so they can retire and spend their days island hopping. Basically, its the same story line as "Superfly",except with porn. One last big score, then get out before it's too late. Unlike "Superfly", the acting sucks and there's no action to speak of.

Alain Patrick (who also wrote and directed this piece of shit) gives an absolutely wooden performance in the lead role and his French Canadian accent is excruciating to listen to throughout. He sounds like a smug version of Fabio. This could have been an interesting look behind the scenes of the adult film industry, but it's not. No grit, nothing of interest, just Jim and his producer being fucked over by the distributors. There's a moderate amount of nudity, but unless you find a topless woman holding her baby or paid actresses in simulated sex scenes going through the motions exciting, there's nothing erotic going on here. It's the perfect set up for sleaze, but ends up another failed opportunity. The film seems okay on a technical level and the soundtrack is varied and decent, I guess, but that's really not enough to recommend this to someone else. If you have the chance to see this for free, don't. 

1.5/5

 

 

Michief (1985)

As far as cheesy 80s "coming of age" films go, this one is pretty good. This plays like a tamer, less funny version of "Porky's". Both are set in the 50s and center around a nerdy teen losing his virginity. Compared to "Porky's", the pacing is a lot slower and the laughs happen less often, but unlike a lot of movies from this era, it holds up fairly well.

Jonathan is a square teenager in Ohio with no friends to speak of and zero experience with girls. His luck changes when Gene and his father move into a house on their block. Gene is a sexually experienced greaser with a motorcycle and a big city attitude. They form an unlikely friendship and Gene makes it his project to get Jonathan laid. Meanwhile, Gene has eyes for a girl, but has to woo her away from Kenny, the spoiled town asshole, while not getting into any trouble that would get him kicked out of school again.

This movie has less to do with Jonathan's pursuit of sex and more with Gene's troubles fitting in with the locals. He's a fish out of water and people don't like him because of his confidence and bad attitude. Chris Nash isn't very believable in his role of Gene, but delivers an okay performance. It's not his fault if he doesn't look hard enough for this role. The rest of the casting seems okay. Wardrobe and set design seems fairly accurate, I guess, and the music director did a nice job of using songs from this period to punctuate what was happening on screen.

Let's face it, though. The real reason to watch this is Kelly Preston's stunning nude scene. She's beauty personified and her body was perfect when this was shot. Not only do we get to see her perfect breasts *with* erect nipples, we see her lovely backside and full bush, too. Just lovely...

Even without the nude scene, this is pretty good. If you haven't seen it in a while, it's worth revisiting. 

3.5/5

A Haunted House (2013)

My wife brought this home last night, so I watched it with her. I've never been a fan of the "Scary Movie" series, so I wasn't expecting to like this at all. I ended up laughing heartily throughout.

This is a spoof of those "Paranormal Activity" movies, so the plot lines are similar. If you've seen those movies, you know what's happening in this one. Marlon Wayans isn't one of my favorite actors, to say the least. I've really only seen him in "Requiem for a Dream" (which he was decent in) and these Wayans Brothers comedies. He's always playing "the stoner", but outside of Cheech & Chong, drug "comedies" don't work for me. I don't smoke pot, so I can't relate to the humor, but if real life "stoners" are even half as stupid as they're portrayed in movies, I've done well avoiding their company throughout my life. There was one such scene in this movie and it did sort of kill things for me, like they had to insert it "just because", but I laughed often before then and occasionally after. Even Cedric "The Entertainer" managed to get a couple of laughs out of me, and I don't think that's ever happened before. Some of the side players were funnier than the lead roles, but the casting was nice overall. Pacing was nice, too.

Yes, this was stupid, but it made me laugh, so it succeeds as a comedy. Maybe it was just the mood I was in, but other than a few of eye-roll inducing scenes, I enjoyed this. I have no problem giving this my recommendation if you're looking for a fun way to kill 90 minutes. This wasn't "good", but it was funny. Much funnier than the trailer shows. If you're easily offended by racist comments, black and gay stereotypes, this one isn't for you.

3/5

Slade in Flame (1975)

"It's a rock 'n' roll thing. You wouldn't understand it."

In the 80s, my oldest brother won a copy of "Rouge's Gallery" from the local radio station in a call-in contest, but I had forgotten all about them. I couldn't even remember what they sounded like, really. A couple of years ago while in Arkansas visiting my grandmother I bought an AC/DC biography and in it they they listed Slade as one of their biggest influences. In fact, the absence of bands like Slade was the inspiration to form AC/DC. If you've seen the clip of "Can I Sit Next to You" with Dave Evans on vocals, the glam rock influence is strong. 


 
So I read this thinking "that can't be the same Slade, can it?". I downloaded their "Slayed?" album, loved it and eventually picked up a few of their CDs as they were recently reissued.

In an interview that accompanies this DVD, singer Noddy Holder claims their manager followed The Beatles very closely and tried to use their history as a blueprint for Slade's success. After a string of hit songs and best selling albums, it was time for them to make a movie, but the band didn't want to make a slapstick comedy. They knew that's what people were expecting from them, so instead they made a gritty film about the cut-throat music industry and the rise and fall of a band.

The good: I don't remember where I got this notion (probably from my friend, Scab), but I heard somewhere that this movie was terrible. Because of this, I assumed the music Slade provided for the soundtrack was terrible, too. Slade's songs on here are pretty good and there are a few "performances" (all lip-synched, of course) that were pretty enjoyable. Early on in the movie Noddy is performing in a band called The Undertakers singing from a coffin. He was supposed to pop out mid-song to dramatic effect, but a member in a rival band locked him in preventing this from happening. No doubt, this was inspiration for the pod scene on "This is Spinal Tap". Instead of roadies with hammers, The Undertakers' drummer frees him with a fireman's axe. That's where the similarities with Spinal Tap end, though. The rest of this, I assume, is supposed to be taken seriously.

The bad: Where in the fuck are the subtitles? The poor audio track paired with British accents and lack of subtitles made for a horrible viewing experience. Literally, I watched the entire movie figuring out what was going on by context. At least half of the audio was indistinguishable to my ears and it killed the experience for me. More than once I wanted to give up on it, but I stuck it out to the end so that I could write about it. Even without being able to make out most of the dialogue I could tell that as far as "gritty tales" go, this was pretty tame.

2/5

Up! (1976)

Raven De La Croix out on her morning jog.

Made towards the end of his career, "Up!" is the most over to top of the few Russ Meyer movies I've seen. It's also one of three movies co-written by film critic Roger Ebert. It's beautifully shot with lots of great scenery and mountains of exposed flesh.

I started writing a plot summary, but decided it was pointless. Look it up online if you want to, but I'm not wasting my time typing it all out. Plot isn't going to be a deciding factor in watching this. People don't watch Russ Meyer movies for their subtlety and unless you're a 13 year old boy, I can't imagine you're watching them for their masturbatory potential. It's too bad the adult film industry made his kind of films obsolete and eventually forced him out of the game. Meyer himself said he was repulsed by pornography and thought it was too "clinical". Instead, his films glorified the female body and pointed out just how ridiculous sexual acts are. Every single sex act in this film is exaggerated to the point of absurdity. Russ Meyer made fun, sexy films filled with gratuitous nudity, violence and improbable situations. Often the plot didn't make sense, but it didn't matter. Meyer is brilliant with his editing, and the juxtaposition of some of these scenes really works well for comedic value. The violence, too, is piled on in cartoonish levels driving home just how ridiculous this is. People with axes buried in their backs simply yank them out and keep going. It doesn't have to be realistic, this is escapism. I watched this with my wife and she lost interest just after the opening credits. If she wasn't already familiar with my tastes in film, I might have been embarrassed by subjecting her to this, but she just rolled her eyes and went back to her book. She isn't part of his target audience. These are movies for men - beer drinking movies. I like his stuff better when it's a little less absurd, but this was good fun. I'll spare my wife the experience in the future, though.

3/5 

(Normally I'd put a link to the trailer or a scene in this space, but there isn't anything I can link that wouldn't require some sort of content warning on the blog. Sorry, folks. If you search YouTube, you can find the entire film with Spanish language. Chances are you wont be able to follow the plot or figure out what's being said, but there's plenty of skin to see.)

Wanderlust (2012)

My wife is a Jennifer Aniston fan, I guess. We seem to always go to the theaters to see her movies when they're released and they're usually pretty good. I wouldn't consider myself to be a fan of Paul Rudd, exactly, but I've seen him in enough Apatow comedies to watch a movie based on his inclusion. After watching "In the Bedroom", we were in the mood for something lighter and chose this.

George and Linda are a young couple in New York who are in  over their heads. Barely able to make ends meet, they decide to buy a studio apartment. George loses his job the very next day and they sell it at a loss. New York defeated them, so they drive to Atlanta to live with his obnoxious, shithead brother, Rick. Exhausted from the drive, they stop at a bed and breakfast located on a hippie commune, the Elysium, and after a night of partying with the nut-jobs who live there, they continue on the road to his brother's house. Quickly, they find him to be an insufferable prick, so at George's suggestion, the two of them ditch their modern lifestyle and head back to the commune to live there full time. Linda is reluctant at first, but is sucked into the lifestyle and feels at home even after George has had enough and wants to leave.

As a teenager in the 90s there were a shockingly large group of my classmates who smoked dope, wore tie-dye, listened to the Dead and played hackey sac in the parking lot before and after school. The pot smoking I could understand, but neo-hippie culture still confuses the fuck out of me. I got to know these people because I played in a band and they routinely came to our shows. Some I still consider to be friends of mine. I'm well versed in the lifestyle this movie pokes fun at and, trust me, there's plenty to ridicule. This movie was mostly stupid, but there were several genuinely funny moments throughout. More often, though, the scenes either weren't funny at all or dragged on for way too long. Let's face it - Aniston is slumming it in this movie, but did a decent job with what she had to work with and Rudd does a fairly good job as the straight man to the insanity that surrounds him (and there's plenty of it). There was a nice cameo by one of my favorite actors, too.

It certainly wasn't terrible or a complete waste of time, but calling this "good" would be stretching it. If you think Adam Sandler's movies are a laugh riot, this would be up your alley as it's similarly crude. I prefer my comedies to be a little less dumb, though.

Right in the middle, 3/5. 

In the Bedroom (2001)

Frank Fowler (Nick Stahl) is a college student involved in a summer fling with Natalie Strout (Marisa Tomei), an older woman who's separated from her husband, but not divorced. Her abusive husband, Richard, wants back in Natalie's life and isn't happy with Frank's presence, so he takes matters in his own hands and removes Frank as an obstacle. Something terrible happens and what follows is devastatingly brutal 90 minutes of Frank's parents dealing with it.

There really isn't much plot to speak of in this film, which is fine because they made up for it in character development. Where most movies are about what happens in what order, this one is about how people deal with what is thrown at them. Sissy Spacek and Tom Wilkinson's flawless performances as an older couple dealing with grief and their resulting mental deterioration more than makes up for any lack of action. Matt Fowler, once a jovial man with a private medical practice who everyone knew and liked, rapidly shrinks into himself. People now approach him with pity, eager to help, and he resents them for it. Ruth, who has always been cold, grows even more cold and angry. While Matt is wrought with sadness, Ruth is filled with hatred and blame. The two of them barely speak to each other and the tension weighs heavily throughout.

Todd Field's directorial debut succeeds on all levels. It's well acted, perfectly paced, never predictable and gripping until the very end. There isn't a scene wasted in it's 138 minute running time. I enjoyed his second film (Little Children) a little more, but find no reason to give this less than a perfect rating. Already I want to watch it again.

5/5

Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired (2008)

Roman Polanski on his way to court.

This better than average documentary comes from HBO. Years ago I watched one of those "E! True Hollywood Stories" about the Roman Polanski rape case, so a lot of this was familiar territory for me, but this film focuses less on the incident itself and more on the details of his trial and how it was mishandled. Boy, was it ever mishandled...

Again, I don't like to go into too much detail when writing about documentaries. Movies exist for entertainment and it's acceptable to reveal a certain number of plot elements to pique peoples' interest. Documentaries exist both to entertain and to inform, and giving away too many details can cause people to lose interest in seeing it, I think. I'll try to practice moderation and leave plenty of meat on the bone for those that decide to watch this.

Roman had a rough childhood. His mother was gassed by the Nazis and his father was thrown into a concentration camp while he was still very young. Somehow he overcame this, followed his dream and became a success making movies. After proving himself in his native Poland, he moved to London and became a staple of the nightlife. Charismatic and likable despite his short stature and strange looks, Roman did alright for himself with the ladies. After meeting Sharon Tate on the set of one of his films, they fell in love, married and moved to Hollywood because that's where the money was. Soon after, Sharon was brutally murdered at the hands of the Manson family. Polanski fell into a depression and unapologetically dealt with it by plowing through scores of young women. For him, chasing jailbait was a better option than drowning his sorrows in booze. On a photo shoot for Vogue, Polanski drugged and photographed a topless 13 year old girl in a hot tub at Jack Nicholson's house, then had what he considered to be consensual sex with her. She called it "rape", and Roman went to jail.

The bulk of this documentary deals with the trial and how badly it was handled by the judge, Polanski's growing hatred of the media (starting with his wife's murder) and his fleeing the country to make a new life in France. These are the details that made this an interesting film. There were long, in depth interviews from both the prosecution and defense attorneys, both corroborating each other's stories concerning the details of the trial and of Judge Rittenband's inappropriate conduct throughout. Lots of other people weighed in on the subject, too, none boring or making me question their presence in the film (see: Jack Black in any music documentary ever), and there was plenty of archival news footage and interviews that held all of this together nicely.

Overall, this was very well made, informative and entertaining. I only wish I didn't already know so much about this case going into it. Had I known nothing in advance, this would have been even better. I found this DVD at Big Lots for $1.88 and there was a huge pile of them. I figured it would be lousy because of that, but it far surpassed my expectations.

4/5

Searching For Sugar Man (2012)

Sixto Rodriguez: America's Cast Away

Sony's documentaries are usually pretty great. I picked this up hoping it would be another "Devil in Daniel Johnston" (one of my favorite music documentaries ever), but it wasn't nearly as good. I still enjoyed it, though. 
 
It's difficult to write about this film without revealing too much about it, so this will be a short synopsis. The mononymous "Rodriguez" was a mystical folk singer who recorded two albums for the Sussex label in the early 1970s. Both albums tanked here in the states and he disappeared into obscurity. Somehow, a copy of his first album, "Cold Fact", made it's way to South Africa and it spread like wildfire becoming a huge sensation there on par with The Beatles and "bigger than Elvis". This background information is given in the opening lines of this documentary, followed by a matter-of-fact account of Rodriguez dousing himself in lighter fluid,setting himself ablaze and killing himself during a poorly received concert.

One day, while visiting with one of his American friends, Cape Town native Stephen Segerman was shocked to learn that nobody in America had even heard of Rodriguez. He assumed that because he was so popular in South Africa, he must have been hugely popular in his own country, but that just wasn't the case. When Rodriguez's second album, "Coming From Reality", was finally issued on CD in South Africa in 1996, Segerman was invited to contribute to the liner notes. Within those notes he solicited further biographical information, should any exist. It was a long shot and  an open-ended request, but music journalist Craig Bartholomew Strydom was already wondering about the circumstances surrounding Rodriguez's death and got in touch offering his help. People loved Rodriguez's music, but nobody knew anything about him. The cryptic album art and lack of liner notes left only his lyrics as clues. What follows is the search for "Sugar Man".

There wasn't much to work with in making this documentary, I assume. The interviews with the players in Rodriguez's career were interesting, but there weren't very many of them to speak of. The big reveal is given away early on in the film and was predictable from the very beginning. The problem is that it didn't leave much to fill the rest of the running time. This documentary succeeded in introducing me to his music, though, which is terrific. It's my understanding that with the exception of this film's soundtrack, his music has been out of print here in America since 1971. If a CD containing both of his albums in their entirety existed, I'd happily purchase a copy today.

This was entertaining enough, but I wouldn't have bought it if I had watched it first. My wife paid for it and gave it to me for my birthday, so that works for me. If you have the chance, see it, but don't go out of your way to do so.

3.5/5

 (Watch the trailer at your own risk as it gives away more about the film than I have above.)

Little Children (2006)

The great Jackie Earl Haley.

I watched this based on Kate Winslet's performance in Roman Polanski's "Carnage". I was flipping through movies On Demand, saw her name and "pornography addiction" in the description and decided to watch it. It ended up being a terrific movie, and really depressing most of the time. Not quite Todd Solondz-depressing, but along those lines.

Sarah (played by Winslet) is a frumpy housewife with a degree in literature who meets Brad (Patrick Wilson) while taking her daughter to the park. The other women at the park were too stuck up to speak to Brad and chose instead to admire him from afar. Sarah's dislike of the other mothers drives her to introduce herself to Brad in an attempt to one-up the others. They hug and kiss as a joke to forever shut up the other mothers, but both of them have a hard time forgetting about each other after that day's kiss.

They meet every day at the city pool, become good friends and find that they're both better parents while spending time together. Brad is a stay at home father, a failed law student who had his youth stolen from him when his parents died. He feels emasculated by his wife's professional success and constant hen-pecking and puts no effort into passing the bar exam. Sarah feels like she's failing as a parent and resents her husband because he works in advertising and makes his living telling lies. On top of this, he has a pornography addiction that prevents him from covering his parenting duties at home. Their shared dissatisfaction of their home life is their common bond and, over time, their friendship evolves into a fling.

All of this takes place in a quiet little town which is the home of a sex offender just released from a two year prison sentence for indecent exposure. The citizens are outraged and Larry (an ex-policeman who plays on Brad's night football league) takes it on his own to create a committee for decency to make everyone aware of who their new neighbor is. Ronnie (played by the great Jackie Earl Haley) moves back into his elderly mother's home and is constantly under attack with flyers baring his face hung everywhere, his house spray painted, late night drive-by's with megaphones warning the neighbors of his presence and even knocking on his door trying to coax him outside to fight - all at the hands of a drunken ex-cop who, too, is a failure in his own life. The movie's most tense scenes are with Brad and Larry, and the end result of Larry's merciless tormenting is too good to give away here.

So who's more detestable? The creepy sex offender doing his best to be good and keep to himself, or the selfish, adulterous "normals" who throw away their lives for another chance at happiness at the expense of their families? Every single person in this movie is unhappy, and all instances of joy are fleeting and at someone else's expense. Damaged characters make for great movies, though, and this was no exception. There was a sinking, hopeless feeling in my stomach for most of this film and I haven't been able to push it out of my mind since it finished. There was a little bit of an Robert Altman-like quality to the film in the way the characters' lives intertwined, but not in an annoying or forced way like in "Crash". There wasn't a bad performance in the entire film. Kate Winslet was especially good and Jackie Earl Haley was brilliant in his first film in 13 years. It would be unfair to give this anything less than a perfect rating as it's heaps better than the movies I've given 4 star ratings. It's the best movie I've seen in a long while.

5/5

The Goode Family (2009)

Poor Che...

I admit without shame that I am a Mike Judge fanboy. I love the guy and, for the most part, think his work is brilliant. I thought "Idiocracy" was a slight misstep when I saw it the first time, but it got way better on subsequent viewings. Mike Judge is great with creating believable characters and a genius with dialogue. People are still quoting "Beavis and Butthead" in 2013 because he so perfectly captured that generation. The "King of the Hill" detractors disliked it because of how slow it moved, but I imagine life in Texas moves at a snail's pace. There were so many believable situations that occurred on that show, even on the more ridiculous episodes, all made believable through great writing. The guy's a brilliant satirist.

"The Goode Family" aired for one season on ABC in 2009 and I somehow managed to miss every single episode. The buzz on the Internet was that it wasn't very good, but that's not what kept me from matching it. Seriously, who in the fuck watches ABC? Who in the fuck makes plans to watch ABC? I missed it because I don't watch network TV, period. Luckily, in a time where great, classic TV shows are only seeing a few of their seasons released on DVD before the studios halt production leaving us in limbo for years (goddammit, release the rest of those "The Bob Newhart Show" seasons, you fuckers!), the entire run of "The Goode Family" was released on one 2DVD set. I'm not complaining because I finally got to see it, but why did this failure of a TV show see a release when so many others don't? Regardless, I snatched this up when I saw it at Best Buy and watched all 13 episodes over the course of two days.

Meet The Goode's, an Earth-friendly, green, ultra-PC bunch who do everything they can to make everyone happy, but ultimately are met with obstacles at every turn due to ever-changing public opinion: 

Gerald (voiced by Judge and sounds exactly like Mr. Van Dreissen) - works at the community college and is a doormat his superiors walk all over, too big of a pussy to stand up for himself.

His wife, Helen - spends most of the series in direct competition with her "friend" Margo in a contest of who can be more PC.

Bliss - their rebellious teenage daughter who agrees with their core values, but wishes they'd tone it down a bit.

Unbuntu - their adopted, African son who just happens to be white because they forgot to check a box on the adoption form and ended up with a South African baby.

Charlie (voiced by Brian Doyle-Murray) - Helen's pig of a father who is always around, mocking their lifestyle and trying to corrupt Unbuntu into being "normal".

Che -  the stick-thin, meat-deprived family dog forced to eat vegan dog food, but who terrorizes the neighborhood eating every animal he sees. Che has all of the funniest scenes, salivating over steaks, seeing red and continually deprived of what he lusts for.

Overall, this wasn't as funny as Mike Judge's previous efforts, but I think he was just a collaborator on this series. His humor is definitely there and there are a lot of genuinely funny moments that made me laugh out loud, but I had a hard time relating to these characters because I don't know anyone like them in real life. The animation is slick with a bright color palate and the pacing seemed about right for what this was. There were some nice side characters that kept the episodes interesting, like the overweight, mullet-topped lesbian couple who Gerald and Helen befriend simply because they think they should and "Cranky" - a restauranteur who gets progressively more angry each year he loses the chili cook-off, but the on-going competition between Helen and Margo was irritating after the 3rd episode. It felt very "chicky" because of it, like it should have aired on WE or Lifetime.

I wasn't crazy about "King of the Hill" when I first saw it, either. Maybe this will grow on me like it did, but I can't imagine watching it again anytime soon. I had fun watching it, though, just not as much fun as I had hoped. This was Goode, but not great.

3.5 / 5



 

Thursday's Game (1974)

Once a week for 4 years, a group of people got together to play poker. One of them decides the stakes aren't high enough, so they play for more money. After all but two lose a considerable amount of money, a fight breaks out and they decide they aren't playing anymore, but Harry (Gene Wilder) and Marvin (Bob Newhart) decide they enjoy their one night a week away from home too much to give it up, so they agree to keep meeting on Thursdays to do whatever they want without telling their wives otherwise. Harry and Marvin weren't friends before this, but over the next three months they form a solid friendship. While Marvin has recently found success in the garment industry, Harry is fired from his job as a television producer after his ratings have been steadily slipping. Both of their marriages, however, are falling apart. While Marvin is shallow and spends all of his energy finding a way to leave his older wife, Harry's unemployment causes him to slip into a depression that pushes his wife away from him to the point of separation.

This was a made for TV movie filmed in 1971 that finally aired on ABC in 1974. Written by James L. Brooks, this film is at once funny and depressing. The budding friendship between Harry and Marvin is interesting to watch unfold. Together they talk about their marriages, employment problems, etc, but neither of them spend any time with their spouses discussing their problems at home. It's all very relatable, and the set-up is as good as any to deal with this mid-life crisis business. The best scenes are with Harry and his wife, Lynne (played by Ellen Burstyn). All of her attempts at consolation are batted away and she reacts as one would expect under those circumstances. As this was made for TV, it's loaded with television stars (Bob Newhart, Cloris Leachman, Valarie Harper, Rob Reiner, Norman Fell), all delivering solid performances. Thankfully, Gene Wilder has a few scenes where he loses it and goes manic, as he does so well, but his brooding, darker scenes are just as great. James L. Brooks is a great writer, and this cast does a decent job with his work.

You wont find this on DVD, but I found a copy on VHS here at a secondhand shop. Someone's uploaded the entire thing on YouTube, so it's there if you want it. Nothing life changing, mind you, but you'll likely find something of yourself in this movie somewhere. Recommended. 

3/5

 

Dead End Drive-In (1986)

Making an exit with style!

Not exactly a post-nuke movie, but set in the not-so-distant future after total economic collapse. The government sweeps go-nowhere youth off the streets and imprisons them in the local drive-in, sort of a concentration camp, but with all of the luxuries lazy, unmotivated teens could want: free movies, junk food, drugs, etc. Despite being patrolled by armed police and kept in by electric fences, everyone is complacent. Nobody has any desire to leave. Nobody but Crabs, that is. Crabs just wanted to take his girl to the movies in in brother's '56 Chevy, but was imprisoned in the process. He spend the entire film trying to get back out, butting heads with the owner/warden of the drive-in and with other punks who themselves have surrendered to their new lifestyles, but are irritated by Crab's refusal to accept the situation.

This takes place in the future, in 1990, but the costumes, music and everything else about this movies is 1000% of the 80s. It severely dates this film, but also provides it with most of it's charm. It's fairly cheesy, but fun because of it. There weren't any subtitles on the disc, so I struggled with some of the dialogue as the Australian accents were quite thick at times, but I understood most of it. Crabs was a likeable enough character, maybe the only likeable person in the film. While everyone else was stupid, vapid and lazy, he just wanted to get his tires back so he could go home. As with a lot of Aussie films I've seen, there's some great stunt work involving car smash-ups. There's a decent fight scene, more than one pair of exposed breasts, a sex scene, shower scene and some neat-o explosions. There's even a side story involving Aussie racism against Asians that sets somewhat of a moral tone, but it's quickly interrupted by gun fire and giant fireballs before it goes anywhere.

This was a fun way to spend an hour and a half. Nothing mind-blowing, mind you, but enjoyable. I'd have no problem with drinking a few beers and watching this one again.

3/5

Uptown Saturday Night (1974)

"I get mean when you mess with my green!"

Sidney Poitier and Bill Cosby star in this 1974 comedy about two working stiffs looking for a good time. Wardell (Cosby) convinces Steve (Poitier) to cut loose for a night of his vacation and pay a visit to Zenobia's, an illegal night club. While there, the place is held-up and everyone's money, jewelry and personal effects are stolen by masked men. The next morning Steve recognizes his winning lottery numbers in the newspaper, but remembers his ticket is in his wallet that was stolen the night before. The rest of the movie is one madcap adventure after another in an attempt to get his wallet back from the thieves who stole it. 

Poitier isn't known for his comedic skills, but he had a lot of support in this movie by way of Richard Pryor, Flip Wilson, Harry Belafonte, and of course, Bill Cosby. Cosby steals the show, not surprisingly, but the single scene with Richard Pryor was the stand-out of the movie for me. Poitier directed and produced this movie as well, and at a time when most black movies were mostly low budget blaxploitation affairs that did more harm than good to the people involved. It was because of Poitier's success he was able to make a movie like this, though, and the roles could have easily been switched out for an all-white cast with similar results. This isn't a comedy for black people, it's just a comedy with black people in it. There were a lot of funny scenes, but it also felt really "clean". A little more grit would have made this more enjoyable for me, but then we'd be moving right into the stereotypes Poitier was trying to avoid. In general, PG rated movies aren't my thing.

I liked this, but it's probably not something I'll ever want to see again. As a result of watching this, I'd be keen to see more of Cosby's work from the 70s, though. With the exception of "Mother, Jugs & Speed", this is the only pre-"Cosby Show" movie I've seen.

2/5

Cut and Run (1985)

"Come give Daddy a kiss!"

I picked this up here at a local shop because Rugerro Deodato's name was on the cover. I had never heard of it before then, but the synopsis on the back looked like it might be okay. It ended up being way better than I expected it to be.

There's a short introduction at the beginning of the disc from Deodato himself explaining that this film was his answer to people begging him to do a sequel to "Cannibal Holocaust". While he liked working in that style, he wasn't interested in making a sequel, so with what he felt was the right script (written by Wes Craven) he made something he thought would satisfy audiences. He goes on to explain that the Italian market demands more violence in their films than the Americans prefer, so there were scenes shot specifically for the Italian release that we're never available here in the states. Because the original English audio doesn't exist for those scenes, they were re-inserted with Italian language and English subtitles.

To put it bluntly, this script is a mess, but I'll do my best to outline the plot. A string of grizzly, drug-related murders in the United States draws the attention of a cable news company. Fran, a reporter, recognizes one of the people in a photo she finds at a crime scene as Jim Jones' right-hand man at Jonestown and convinces her boss at CVN (Cable Video News) to fly her and a cameraman to Columbia in hopes of finding him and gaining access to an interview. He agrees, as his son (played by Willie Aames) ran away yeas ago to join the cult and he hopes to find him in the process. It's never clear how this new cult came to be or what the connection to Jonestown is, if any, but the members are held against their will and are being used to manufacture cocaine for sale in America.

The guy from the photo is Colonel Horne, a reclusive Colonel Kurtz-type character that just wants to be left alone. Horne runs another drug operation deep in the jungle and sends out his army of native Indians (led by the deformed dude from "The Hills Have Eyes") to kill his competition. Apparently, his family of killers extends to America and he's responsible for the massacres CVN is reporting on. Why he and his followers would need millions of dollars in drug money deep in the jungle is never explained.

The plane carrying the news crew arrives at the camp at the tail end of a massacre and the pilot is killed by Horne's' savages forcing the Fran and Mark to run for safety. They find a sole survivor from the camp, Ana (played by the yummy Valentina Forte), and together they take off on foot for the nearest camp thought to be 20 miles away. In the process, Ana is killed by Horne's men and the other two are captured. Horne vows to kill the reporters, but grants them their interview anyway. Help comes in the form of CVN's CEO to rescue them before they are killed.

Let's face it, we watch these kinds of movies for the blood and gore - not the plot. Deodato had quite a bit of money for this film, and it's evident in the results. The actors all seem to have had prior experience, the locations are visually stunning and the gore effects imaginative and well executed (pun intended). "Cut and Run" does a nice job of blending the cannibal/jungle genre with action/adventure, and there's even a side story about a father trying to locate his estranged son. It doesn't have the same impact as "Cannibal Holocaust", but I didn't expect it to. On a technical level, though, "Cut and Run" is leaps and bounds above Deodato's most famous film. There were so many terrible jungle films released to cash in on the success of just a couple, I was expecting this to be a total failure. Save for Willie Aames atrocious performance as Tommy, this was really enjoyable, but every time Tommy was on screen I wanted to punch him in the face. Fuck that guy. Just make sure you're getting the "hard" uncut version from Anchor Bay when you watch this, because without all of the blood, guts and rape scenes you're left with just the story, and the story itself isn't all that interesting.

3/5