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john-852
Reviews
Dinamite Jim (1966)
Average western with above average Rosalba Neri
The plot about smuggling gold and double crossing thieves is old hat, and Dynamite Jim is one of those laid back, sarcastic quipsters. In the middle, playing off all sides, is Rosalba Neri's character Margaret. She gets to wear a couple of nice dresses and look pretty great, and while the role is hardly taxing, it's all good fun for Neri watchers. She's out for herself and wants the gold anyway she can get it. It's a decent role and she manages to stay alive past the 30 minutes mark. Fernando Sancho is second billed but has few scenes. Some of the fight scenes ( as well as Jim's one liners ) have comic sound effects added The is minimal violence and no blood during shootouts. The full screen video I saw looked like 16 mm and had muffled audio, and was brutally cropped and panned and scanned. Not ideal in the A/V dept.but could have been worse, and 2.35 widescreen remastered DVD would be a far nicer way to evaluate this one. Rosalba's star would far brighter the same year in JOHNNY YUMA, but this is also well worth a look for fans of the Euro goddess Neri
My Name Is Earl (2005)
You gotta be kidding me. This SUCKS!!!
OK, I did not watch the first two episodes but I watched the third one tonight. It was not funny. It is absurd and the situations were so far from anything near reality that I was groaning before the first commercial. Two lines were amusing. The pawn shop lady saying she'd step on Earl's sweaty teabag and Jamie Presley falling on her knees and saying she'd opened up her rug burns. The rest was flat out stupid and absurd, and humor is supposed to come from the characters and the situations. The characters are comic stereotypes and the situations would be ridiculous in a cartoon. There was not one single action a character took or a situation they were in that had anything to do with humor. I had heard good things about this so I watched, and now I know it is as bad as anything on television today. Good grief, there is no way this show will last.
Something to Hide (1972)
US video version runs 86 minutes
I really like this movie but am distressed that the US video SHATTERED runs 86 minutes while the film should run 99 min. The video box claims 100 min, so something is clearly off with the Media release. I have no idea what is missing from the US version but there are scenes that cut off abruptly and the ending also seems tampered with. Peter Finch gives a mighty performance as a man who is hanging by a thread. His involvement with a young pregnant girl seals his fate as he gets sucked in over his head and then makes a very poor decision about how to dispose of unwanted refuse. If anyone has seen a version other than the US video release I would love to hear some details.
'Gator Bait (1973)
Down home southern fun
Seems a lot of viewers really don't get movies like GATOR BAIT. It ain't great but it does deliver some back woods fun, with a low budget charm and terrific swamp locations. I'd say the acting is pretty good, especially the redneck family. The film's biggest failing is having Claudia Jennings the star and then mess her all up and never get her clothes off! The nudity comes courtesy of Janit Baldwin and she never looked better than she does here, although her outfits and hair style are completely out of place in the swamps. Also some comments mention rape, well, there is an attempted rape that never gets started before it is halted. This does result in a very unpleasant sequence, but no one gets shot in the stomach ( it's nastier than that ). While the movie has it's flaws ( the screenplay, Jenning's Cajun accent ) it is solid drive in style fun with an authentic, mud strewn setting and crazy, inbred southern rednecks fighting for their lives against an enraged, revenge seeking woman.
Crescendo (1970)
CRESCENDO is worth a look if you can find it
This is a thriller from England's Hammer studios and not a TV movie as some comments have suggested. A woman arrives at a country estate to write a thesis on a dead classical composer. While she's there, she becomes involved in a twisted tale involving infidelity and murder and finds her own life in jeopardy. Warner Brothers released this uncut and rated R but later cut it down to PG and used it on double bills with Dracula AD 72 and WHEN DINOSAURS RULED THE EARTH. WHEN DINOSAURS was cut down to a G rating and seeing as Warner's is releasing Dracula AD later this year, maybe they can get around to their other remaining Hammer properties. It would be great to see CRESCENDO AND DINOSAURS get uncut R1 DVD releases.
La tarantola dal ventre nero (1971)
Hard to see in it's original version in English ( spoilers )
Maybe its so hard to see uncut in English because this movie was released here by MGM is a cut down R rated version. MGM hacked out all the gore as well as a few other expository scenes. If you see a print with no gore in the murders of Barbara Bouchet and Barbara Bach, it's cut! The only complete print I have seen hails from Japan and its full screen and looks horrible, but it is uncut. It is also in Italian with Japanese subtitles, so English viewers will be frustrated. There is a new release from Spain that has Italian and Spanish language tracks, but no English. This print is also heavily censored and features English credits with a MGM copywrite. This release has been subtitled and put out on the Alfa Digital label. I think this is a very good giallo with some gorgeous women and features a nice, realistic look at the inspector trying to crack the case. Not top shelf but a notch below. Some of the murders are blood free, while some are very nasty, and a little more gore would have helped a bit. Seeing as Warners own this in the US it's safe to assume we'll never see a decent R 1 release of this, and the Spanish release is a botch job, we'll be very lucky if this ever gets a decent release.
The Great American Girl Robbery (1979)
One of the worst ever
Outside of some gratuitous nudity, there is precious little to recommend this. This was made by some of the people involved with FLESH GORDON and ALICE IN WONDERLAND, the two mid 70's porno films. Both were released in a hard version and then re-cut and played for years in toned down R versions. CHEERLEADERS features Kristine Debell ( who played Alice ) and Jason Williams ( who played Flesh, and who co-wrote this disaster ), the only other cast member of note is Marilyn Joi. The movie veers wildly between dumb T & A and a ridiculous kidnapping plot, never finding any stable tone or providing any laughs or thrills. In fact, the plot is so ridiculous it's not even worth touching on. The acting is poor all around and the direction is laughable to non existent. Kristine should be the sole reason to watch this but the film fails miserably on this level as well. While top billed, she's barely in this, has very little to say or do, and never gets naked. A huge let down as Kristine was so beautiful back then. She was involved with producer Osco for several years following ALICE and perhaps that relationship allowed her to participate in a T & A film without showing any skin. She would go from this to MEATBALLS and onto bigger things, but her career never caught fire.
Murders in the Rue Morgue (1971)
Restored to it's original 98 min length for US cable
AIP cut this and added color tints to the flash forwards and flashbacks and changed the ending. This has run on the Encore Mystery network since Feb. 2002 in a restored 98 min version...11 minutes longer than the AIP hack job. A dvd should follow sometime in 2003.
Cry of the Banshee (1970)
Restored version ups the nasty level ( mild spoilers )
This film gets a bad rap for having unlikable characters...that is one of the things I like about it! Vincent Price is as evil as his WITCHFINDER GENERAL character here and does a great job. This was trimmed of nudity and gore by AIP to get a GP rating and the original R rated cut now exists on video, and the R version is even nastier and cruder. I also like the way the supernatural element is handled here with the witches being real witches, and not just some innocent, powerless victims.
The Strange Affair (1968)
Gritty police drama with a georgous Susan George
The film opens with British copper Pete Strange (Michael York ) being sent off to prison in disgrace. We then flash back to his first day on the job and find out why he ended up such a loser. Detective Pierce (Jeremy Kemp ) is tipped off to a drug shipment being delivered to Quince ( Jack Watson ) , head of a London crime family. The criminals are in turn tipped off by the corrupt Inspector Evans ( Arto Morris ) and they are not caught. Pierce knows Evans blew his case and is determined to get Quince. Meanwhile, Strange meets Fred March (Susan George ) on the job and while attracted to her, he won't date her as she is weeks away from legal age ( 16 ). Fred persists and Strange agrees to a date and meets her at her aunt and uncle's house where she is staying. Unknown to Strange and Fred is the fact that auntie and uncle are pornographers who aren't against using their under aged niece in their underground business. Strange is seduced by Fred and their tryst is secretly caught on film. Later, Strange is viciously assaulted by the Quince family, but can't ID them as they wore masks. Pierce attempts a second drug bust but is outwitted by Quince and is subsequently demoted. Frustrated beyond reason, Pierce coerces Strange to help him plant evidence that will convict Quince by threatening to expose his affair with a minor. Strange reluctantly agrees, leading to the downbeat finale. Directed by David Greene, THE STRANGE AFFAIR mixes several differing elements with ease. Corrupt police, brutal British gangsters and the youth movement all figure prominently and Greene blends them deftly. Greene ( THE SHUTTERED ROOM, GODSPELL ) worked mainly in television, working on the Twilight Zone and other programs before graduating to features in the mid 60's. He went back to TV in the 70's and directed 2 of the most popular mini series ever, ROOTS and RICH MAN POOR MAN, and remained in television for the rest of his career. Michael York was fresh off of ROMEO AND JULIET and is well cast as the young idealist who joined the force to help his fellow man. Jeremy Kemp is very effective as the angry and humiliated Detective Pierce. He would appear with Ms. George in SUDDEN TERROR a few years later. Jack Watson's Quince is a fine study in evil who delights in thwarting Pierce at every opportunity. A great British character actor, Watson appeared in PEEPING TOM, KONGA and TOWER OF EVIL among many others. Susan George is the real surprise here. Her presence brings the film to life and it is a treat to see this early unaffected performance which no doubt led to her first starring role in the Charles Bronson drama TWINKY ( 1969 ) / LOLA ( 1973, US ), ironically also detailing an under aged affair. Released by Paramount, THE STRANGE AFFAIR has never had a US home video release and remains hard to find. Only cut pan and scanned prints have played on cable, making this a fine candidate for dvd release and subsequent rediscovery. The cast here is quite strong and George and York still have an active fan base. Seeing as this is held by Paramount, this may take a while to surface...but there is always hope.
La bestia uccide a sangue freddo (1971)
watch out for censored versions
This is another one of those movies that got cut up where ever it played. ASYLUM EROTICA is the most heavily cut, stay away from this! SLAUGHTER HOTEL is less cut but still is missing bits of sex and violence. The only complete copy I have seen comes from France and is the only widescreen version available worldwide that i am aware of. Truly a classic sleaze film, this begs for remastered DVD release ASAP!