Reviews

David De Couteau who did so very good low budgeted made for video B movies in the 1980's and who did such cult classics such as CREEPAZOIDS, SORORITY BABES IN THE SLIMEBOWL ROLLARAMA & most especially NIGHTMARE SISTERS comes up with a real crapper of a movie, if you want to call this atrocity a movie. Here DeCouteau reunites with the three most famous scream queens of the 1980's, Linnea Quigley, Michelle Bauer & Brinke Stevens all who appeared in both Sorority Babes & Nightmare Sisters(which were much better films made by DeCouteau) in a film with virtually no plot, looks like it was made in just one day(DeCouteau in his audio commentary says that he shot all scenes with his three leading ladies in just 6 hours in one Day!) and chock full of scenes from De Couteau's previous homo-erotic horror films made by his company Rapid Heart.The film is a total waste of time and it's even worse than DeCouteau's previous reunion movie with Quigley, Stevens & Bauer:1313 COUGAR CULT! The three stars are even filmed in HD Digital in a very unflattering manner that makes them look much older than the three of them really are!

FURY OF THE DRAGON is the second film compilation of the short lived but memorable 1960's TV series THE GREEN HORNET starring Van Williams as the Green Hornet and Bruce Lee as Kato. The first film compilation released in 1974,THE GREEN HORNET was a much better edited and carefully constructed film compilation of the TV series released by 20th Century Fox who chose rather carefully the best episodes of the series to make a slightly cohesive 90 minute feature film. Unfortunately,that is not the case for this second film compilation which was released by an independent film company and not by Fox and it definitely shows in it's shoddiness in editing the various episodes of the show just to showcase Lee's fighting scenes and not to try to establish some kind of story cohesiveness in the film itself. Some 15 episodes of the show are used in this compilation,even footage from the four episodes that was used for the first film compilation of The Green Hornet that was released in theaters two years earlier. As a result,the film makes little sense at all compared with the first film compilation of the Hornet TV series and for that reason,FURY OF THE DRAGON is much more exploitive of Bruce Lee in the way it was shoddily made and rushed in it's production compared with the more watchable first film compilation,THE GREEN HORNET.

In 1974,a year after Bruce Lee's sudden death at age 32 at the apex of his popularity from ENTER THE DRAGON,film producers around the world were scrounging for any existing footage starring Bruce Lee to release in films to capitalize after his death. 20th Century Fox who produced THE GREEN HORNET TV series during it's one year run back in 1966,decided to pick among the 26 TV episodes of the series,the best footage to re-edit them in a feature long film but with more emphasis on Lee who played Kato the sidekick to the Green Hornet. Four episodes of the show are featured in this 1974 feature film version: "The Hunters & The Hunted","Invasion From Outer Space Part I & II" and "The Preying Mantis" which features a classic but short kung fu battle between Lee & Mako. Even though the film doesn't have a coherent story line per se, but this film is at least better crafted that it's sequel,FURY OF THE DRAGON that is really a badly edited podgehodge of about 15 episodes of the TV series that is an absolute mess to watch. As it is this film is a great way to see Bruce Lee at the beginning of his stardom and in the role that he is most remembered for.

I have just seen the recent French DVD release of OSS 117 LOST IN RIO this weekend and I found this second cinematic installment of the new OSS117 film series as good as the first one but not better either. Comparing this film to it;'s predecessor is like comparing IN LIKE FLINT to the superior OUR MAN FLINT. Of course Dujardin is still great in his very humorous and hilarious portrayal of Hubert Bonisseau De la Bath aka French Secret Agent 0SS117. I find that Dujardin's comedic style similar to Peter Sellers in which he plays OSS117 in the same way Sellers played Clouseau. I might even say Dujardin would make a better Inspector Clouseau than Steve Martin. Some of the jokes work while others feel labored and forced but Dujardin's amusing performance as well as the on location Brazilian cinematography is great. I especially liked the fact that the Nazi top villain Von Zimmel had two Mexican masked wrestlers named after Blue Demon and Santo, the famous masked wrestlers of 60's Mexican Cinema. Even with it's weak spots, this is a fun sequel to the original.

I just came from the world premiere at NYC's Kraine Theater of this Anthology Horror Film called LATE FEE produced by video company Media Blasters/Shriek Show, John Sirabella and co-directed and written and co-directed by John Carcietta & Carl Morano. Unfortunately this indie horror film can't hold a candle either acting-wise, production-wise and even direction-wise to similar anthology horror films like the recent TRICK OR TREAT & TRAILER PARK OF TERROR. The film in itself has a basic good premise in which two twenty somethings go to a video store to rent horror films on Halloween night but the seedy & weird owner of the video store warns the couple to return the DVDs before 12 midnight or literally there will be hell to pay since the video store has an unusual way to get payment for late fees. But the two films the couple see which are THE PICK UP & DAMNATION which are the 2 stories of this anthology film, promise more than they really deliver, since the stories are predictable, unfunny and not scary at all! Especially when the acting is so over the top and amateurish & even the gore and makeup effects in the film are not up to par with the kind of films Media Blasters usually releases on DVD. On the production side, the film looks so cheap that it looks like it was virtually filmed in Media Blasters' backyard in New Jersey where the company is located and even the company's video store Rare Flix in NJ doubles for the ominous video store of the film. In my opinion after seeing this tepid film, Media Blasters/Shriek Show should quit making their own movies and keep on releasing Italian , Japanese and Spanish genre films like they were doing in the first place, since LATE FEE, which will be soon released on DVD in October 2009, is not even worth a video rental.

I have just seen the Unrated & (so called)Unedited DVD version of ANGEL OF DEATH starring stunt actress Zoe Bell in her first starring lead acting role, since Ms. Bell basically played "herself" in the Quintin Tarentino mini movie, DEATH PROOF, as part of the GRINDHOUSE double feature of 2007. While I consider Ms. Bell as the best stunt actress alive, her acting talents are still quite limited and is still a work in progress. The film which is really a compilation of mini episodes shown on the Internet based on a script by comic book writer, Ed Brubaker(Marvel Comic's Captain America)lacks a cohesive plot with credible and believable characters, especially the main female lead that remains as cyphers thruout the film, which really lasts only 78 minutes. The plot as it is, a combination of TV's ALIAS and LA FEMME NIKITA, has Bell as a hit woman working for a crime syndicate, who suffers an almost fatal blow in the head by a knife during a botched assassination attempt and then because of that blow, she suffers a change of heart in her profession and then decides to go after her bosses. The action scenes, especially with Ms Bell herself doing her own stunts & fight scenes, are quite good, but every time Ms Bell tries to act in the film with scripted dialogue, the film goes downhill, since she is obviously out of her league, especially acting with pros like Lucy Lawless(ZENA), Ted Raimi and Doug Jones(HELLBOY). Ms Bell here commits the same error as another favorite stunt actress/ martial artist Cynthia Rothrock,who is also great in her own fight scenes but can't act or deliver dialogue convincingly. It also streches credibility when the lead character suffers a knife blow to the skull with a seven inch knife, but suffers no serious motor trauma to the brain, except for some minor seizures. The film as directed as such, has a TV movie, made for video quality to it and doesn't work as a theatrical feature. The film just ends when it's reaching it's climax and leaves the door wide open for a sequel, but unlike Tarentino's KILL BILL, which this film unsuccessfully tries to emulate, the viewer doesn't have enough sympathy for Zoe Bell's character in the same way audiences felt for Uma Thurman's character or Anne Parillaud's character in NIKITA or Jennifer Garner's character in ALIAS. My sincere advice to Zoe Bell is to continue doing bit parts in film and TV to be able to fully develop her acting skills before trying another lead role in a film again or her career will end up just like Cynthia Rothrock and Mimi Lesseos doing Grade Z action flicks released straight to video.

EXPOSE ME, LOVELY is a porn movie version of the 1941 film,LADY IN THE LAKE in which Ras Kean plays private eye Harry "Frosty" Knight,a NYC private eye in the tradition of Sam Spade, Phillip Marlowe and Mike Hammer,who must find a missing young man who is heir to a fortune from his politician father, but Kean finds out soon enough that the missing person case is more than that,since he finds himself framed for murder. Of course being a 70's porn film, the plot is secondary to the explicit sex scenes, but director Armond Weston who also wrote the script, directs both the plot which has many scenes from the point of view of the private eye(just like LADY IN THE LAKE) with flashbacks and the many sex scenes in a very artsy film noir manner that makes this film in my opinion,an almost perfect adult film for couples and not only for horny males. If you expect a wall to wall sex film or a Johnny Wadd type film, you'll be disappointed but if you want some good plotting with decent acting(except for Kean) with your sex,then this film is right up your alley. The best sex scene is Kean with porn legend Jennifer Welles(the original MILF) whose scene also reveals the answer to the mystery. Other porn stars in the film are Annie Sprinkles, Jody Maxwell(the Singing Fellatrix), Catherine Burgess( here as Cary Lacy), Bobby Astyr and 70's transsexual star Eve Adams. In my opinion, this is Weston's best XXX 70's film and don't believe the bad review given by the first reviewer on this board, who obviously likes the kind of wall to wall raunchy XXX sex films that are being made today. Do yourself a favor and take a chance in seeing this porn classic from the Golden Age of Porn.

I Was A Teenage Mummy has the genesis of a great idea:the spoofing/homage of the popular 1950's teenage monster movie cycle started by AIP's I Was A Teenage Werewolf & I Was A Teenage Frankenstein, but the final product is a dismal mess and something of a disappointment, both as horror film and a spoof. The acting of all the participants in the film is abysmal and so is the script, nonexistent editing, camera-work and direction. The only good thing in the film is the 50's type of rock and roll music performed by the A-Bones and the makeup of the female Teenage Mummy and thankfully the movie isn't more than 48 minutes. There was another independent film version of I Was A Teenage Mummy made in 1962 with a male Teenage Mummy and that film has got to be much better than this mess of a film! Another poster on this board said that this film is better than The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra, but in my honest opinion, I sincerely digress. since Cadavra is a much more enjoyable homage to 50's horror films than "Teenage Mummy" and it succeeds in what it sets out to do, even with it's small budget, while the other film doesn't.

Back in the 1960's most of the countries in the world had their own Film version of James Bond 007 during the mid 1960's Spy Spoof Film Craze and Mexico was no exception. Down South of the Border, there were various Spanish spy spoof movies made in the 007 mode. One was the Santos(the Mexican Masked Wrestler) and Jorge Rivero spy films, Operation 67 and The Treasure of Moctezuma. But the other Mexican spy films were the "Alex Dinamo" films staring Julio Aleman as the Mexican version of 007. The first one was S.O.S. Comspiracion Bikini made in Ecuador with Aleman and a beautiful bevy of Mexican female stars(dressed in bikinis of course!) There's lots of spy action done with tongue in cheek humor, similar to the Matt Helm and Flint films. There was a sequel to this film which was "Peligro! Mujeres En Accion!" also starring Aleman as Alex Dinamo.

Good but not great sequel to "S.O.S. Conspiracion Bikini" with Julio Aleman as secret agent Alex Dinamo, Mexico's answer to James Bond 007. The film benefits from great location shooting in Mexico, Panama and Puerto Rico and really beautiful Hispanic women, but suffers from formulaic plotting and too many anticlimaxes, contrary to the first film that had a much more linear plot and less characters. Still it's fun to watch. and too bad the series didn't continue after this film. For more Hispanic secret agent films, check out the two spy films Santo(the Mexican Wrestler) did with Jorge Rivero in 1967, which were El Tesoro de Moctezuma and Operacion 67

I just returned from seeing a midnight preview screening of the new Transporter 3 film starring Jason Stratham as Frank Martin, the transporter. Although I enjoyed the film somewhat, I personally found it an okay but not great sequel to the previous two Transporter films. Jason Stratham is great as always as Frank Martin and so is Francois Berleand as Martin's good friend, Inspector Tarconi, who has more screen time in this sequel than in the previous film. Unfortunately the bad guys and the femme fatal in this sequel are really not up to stuff compared to the two previous films in the franchise. Robert Knepper(Prison Break) makes a very weak villain in this sequel and is seriously no match as a menace neither physically or intellectually to Stratham, especially in the disappointing final fight confrontation scene at the end. Also lead actress Natalya Rudakova as Valentina, can't act and is totally annoying in this film with no chemistry either sexual or otherwise with Stratham. Compared to Ms. Rudakova, Olga Kurylenko of QUANTUM OF SOLACE is a much better and sexier actress. Jeroen Krabbe(The Living Daylights) is totally wasted in his role as Valentina's important executive father. There are very few fight scenes between Stratham and the baddies in this film and those fight scenes are way too sped up and incoherently edited just like in QUANTUM OF SOLACE. The car chase sequences are well done at least and there's a lot of them in the film. Unfortunately director Megaton tries to return to the "seriousness" of the first Transporter film and that's a big mistake, since there are very few fight and action scenes with Stratham in this 100 minute film, the longest in the franchise. It's not really a bad film and a okay time filler, but it's the weakest of all three Transporter films.

I got to see this rarely screened film in a one-time free special screening here in NYC and it's worth the wait. It's in the great tradition of those really spooky Horror anthology films that Amicus Films did so well in the 60's & 70's and reminds one of such classic TV shows and movies like TALES FROM THE CRYPT, CREEPSHOW & TALES FROM THE DARKSIDE. The film has four Halloween themed stories that are interwoven on one Halloween night with a mysterious masked "kid" named Sam linked with the stories. Great performances by Brian Peck and Anna Paquin and a very ghoulish sense of humor together with the scares. It's a real pity that Warner Bros. changed it's mind & gave up on this film just before it was supposed to be released in theaters last Halloween and has not even released this very good and well directed & scripted film either in theaters or on DVD. Halloween and horror fans should seek out this movie if Warner Bros does decide to release it on DVD or theaters. This is certainly one horror film that should be seen with an audience!

I finally got to see the American remake of REC which is QUARENTINE in a special screening here in Manhattan, NYC. I really expected worse, since I have already seen the great original version, REC on which this remake is based on. But I was pleaseantly surprised that this film didn't suck and was for the most part, almost as good as the original. The remake is an almost exact scene by scene copy of the original, but based in Los Angeles than in Barcelona, Spain where the events of the original REC happened. The only major differences in the remake are that there are more tenants than in the original, the cause of the virus is not supernaturally based as in REC, but a mutant strain of rabies; there is no Medieros girl in the climax in the attic but a very skinny and scary man in the attic played by Doug Jones(Hellboy) and the ethnic composition of the tenants in QUARENTINE is different than the one in REC and there are also about three new scary scenes in the remake that are not in REC such as the"elevator" scene. John Erick Dowdle and his brother,did a very good job adapting the original REC's story into the remake and there are some effectively directed scares in the film. My opinion about this fiim is that QUARENTINE is a good remake but not superior to REC, just like THE RING is a good remake of the original Japanese RINGU but not superior to it as well.

Pirates: Stagnetti's Revenge is the long awaited sequel to Digital Playground's previous big budget pirate porn epic, Pirates made in 2005. As with all sequels, DP has spared no expense to make this film more bigger, sexier and action packed than the previous film. There are more CGI effects in the sequel than in Pirates, with demons, sea-monsters, monstrous creatures and even the return of the skeleton warriors of the first movie, this time with their own pirate ship. There are much more longer sex scenes here than in the first film, which could be considered a bit of a minus for a couples sex film such as this, since some but not all of the sex scenes tend to drag on a bit(especially the orgy scene in the middle of the film), putting the film almost to a halt unlike the first film that had it's sex scenes evenly put out together with the non sex scenes. But there are two sex scenes that really stand out in the sequel which are the scene between Jesse Jane & Belladonna and the scene between Jesse Jane, Katsumi and Tommy Gunn. The best performances in the film are Evan Stone, Belladonna, Katsumi & Steven St. Croix while Jesse Jane, Tommy Gunn, Shay Jordan and Jenna Haze are much better in their sex scenes than acting their roles in the movie. Also the film is 15 minutes longer(135 minutes) than the previous film(120 minutes) which also could possibly be a detriment in enjoying this film. But as a sequel to Pirates, I find it just as good, but not superior to the first one and the ending of the film leaves the door open to another sequel to Pirates, where our heroes may encounter again the villainous Captain Stagnetti. I recommend this great sex film for couples as well as for Jesse Jane, Katsumi and Belladonna fans.

I went to see a sneak preview of MIRRORS, the new horror film from French director Alexandre Aja, who also gave us HAUTE TENSION(HIGH TENSION) and the remake of THE HILLS HAVE EYES.It stars Kiefer Sutherland(24) as a former New York City cop, working as a security guard in a burned down department store that is being reconstructed. There he discovers a sinister demonic force inhabited in the mirrors of the store that not only endanger him, but also his family and friends. Sutherland must discover and stop the source of the evil that are in the mirrors before harm happens to his family. The film has the usual shocks and gore coming from director Aja and Sutherland plays the lead with same determination as in his role as Jack Bauer in 24 and the rest of the cast like Amy Smart give solid performances. There are a couple of effective shock sequences in the film, especially in the beginning sequence and in a nasty bathroom scene involving Amy Smart, but the film is predictable, especially in the way the film resolves itself in the ending. The audience I saw this film with, kinda guessed how this film was going to end. But even with it's predictability, the film is an OK crowd pleaser that might satisfy today's horror film fans.

TOKYO GORE POLICE is a great gory over the top Japanese homage to the 80's & 90's Sci-Fi films made by Paul Verhoven, especially ROBOCOP & STARSHIP TROOPERS that satirize the near future and it's effects on Law Enforcement and the Military. Made by the same team that made the outrageous THE MACHINE GIRL( the Japanese Special Effects man on that film Yoshihiro Nishimura, is the film director for TOKYO GORE POLICE), it stars Eihi Shiina of AUDITION as Raku, the top female police agent of the TOKYO GORE POLICE in a future where the Tokyo Police are a private corporation(just like the future Detroit cops in the ROBOCOP series) She hunts down "engineers", which are genetically mutated humans, who can regenerate their lost or decapitated limbs into brutal weapons, During the film, we get outrageously satirical TV commercials on seppuku, samurais who cut themselves with their own swords and Japanese teens cutting on their own wrists as well as over the top gory Tokyo Police recruitment TV commercials( just like as in STARSHIP TROOPERS) But the focus is on Shiina's character, who must deal on her trauma of seeing her own policeman father brutally killed by an assassin and finding out that the people responsible may be in her own police force. The action is constantly outrageous, with the usual Japanese over the top gore with satirical jabs at Japanese pop culture The film's only flaws are a longer than usual running timt(109 minutes) when it would have been perfect at 90 minutes and the nihilistic ending which puts aside any final resolution or insight into Shiina's character. But for fans of gory Japanese Sci-Fi Horror, they won't be disappointed by this film. As in states in the film's end titles: MORE GORE COMING SOON!

This is the 7th and last musical film starring popular Spanish singer Raphael which was not directed by either Mario Camus(his best director) or Vicente Escriva and was his second and last film made in Mexico with a completely Mexican cast and crew. Raphael once again plays a singer in this film as usual, married to his manager played by Mexican sex symbol Isela Vega(BRING ME THE HEAD OF ALFREDO GARCIA & DRUM) who plans a publicity stunt that goes array, when Raphael shoots a rival singer with a gun supposedly filled with blanks, but finds out that the singer was killed with live ammo. He then goes unto hiding with his wife and tries to find out who framed him. The film is too talky and melodramatic, but it has great songs composed by Raphael's usual composer, Manuel Alejandro, who hasn't composed for Raphael since EL GOLFO(1969) and it has a better than usual cast, Isela Vega, Veronica Castro, Hector Suarez and Armando Silvestre)

This second film musical starring 60's Spanish singer Raphael and the second of three films directed by Spanish director Mario Camus is a watchable and enjoyable film, although not quite as good as Raphael's first starring film, CUANDO TU NO ESTAS. Rahael plays a popular singer who suffers a nervous breakdown that adversely affects his career and makes him lose his popularity. But with the help of a devoted female secretary(who secretly loves him), Raphael makes a comeback. The film tries to be something more than a usual musical vehicle for Raphael but the plot has too many psychological overtones and Raphael is more a singer than a serious actor. But the film has great songs and score by Raphael's best composer, Manuel Alejandro and is well directed by director Camus.

This is the first and best in my opinion of the Spanish musical films starring Spanish singing sensation, Raphael in his first starring role and the first of 3 Raphael film musicals directed by Mario Camus, who would be one of Spain's top film directors in the 1970's. The film is slightly autobiographical in the film's first half which Raphael playing himself, is trying to find fame and fortune as a popular singer in Spain until he teams up with an up and coming Spanish composer( whose character is based on Raphael's real life composer and musical collaborator, Manuel Alejandro) which helps him become a popular singer in Spain, But then the film goes into LOVE STORY territory when Raphael meets a young girl named Laura, who harbors a deep dark secret which isn't revealed until the film's bittersweet ending. But anyone who has seen films like LOVE STORY, will guess the tragic outcome of the romance between Raphael and his leading lady, Margaret Peters way before the movie ends. But the film has Raphael performing great songs (written by Manuel Alejandro) in his own inimitable style and this film is especially recommended to all of Raphael's fans.

This is Raphael's fourth starring film and his first film made in Mexico and directed by Vicente Escriva, instead of his usual and best director, Mario Camus. The novelty is the casting of Shirley Jones who is an Academy Award winning actress(for ELMER GANTRY) and singing star of CARROUSEL, OKLAHOMA & THE MUSIC MAN as well as TV's THE PARTRIDGE FAMILY, playing a non-singing role in this film musical in her role as a spinster!!! vacationing in Mexical and falling in love with a young gigolo/con man played by Raphael who is badly miscast in the role(Can you imagine a Spaniard like Raphael playing an Mexican native who is part Aztec by heritage? I don't think so.) But the film has great score and songs by Rapheal's best composer, Manuel Alejandro including Spanish versions of Paul Mauriat's LOVE IS BLUE, the pop song I THINK I'M GOING OUT OF MY HEAD and a not bad version of HAVA NAGUILA in Hebrew no less! It also has great location cinematography in Acapulco, Mexico and New York City and as such, I consider this movie, the last good Raphael film.

This film is the third and last Raphael film directed by Mario Camus(CUANDO TU NO ESTAS & AL PONERSE EL SOL) with great music and songs composed by Raphael's main composer, Manuel Alejando and the first Raphael film made outside of his native Spain( It was a co-production with Argentina and was filmed there) and his first film made in 70mm Panavision compared with his 2 previous films. Raphael plays a singer on tour in Latin America, who arrives in Argentina to see his long lost older brother who's supposed to be a famous concert pianist. But when he arrives there, Raphael only finds his brother's female secretary who refuses to reveal the whereabouts of Raphael's brother and then Raphael decides to find him. Raphael looks more comfortable in his acting in this third film although he's playing a singer which is not much of an acting stretch in his case. But Raphael's fans should enjoy this movie.

Sin Un Adios which is the 6th film starring Spanish singer Raphael and the third Raphael film directed by Vicente Escriva, turns out to be an unofficial remake of Rahael's first and best film, CUANDO TU NO ESTAS directed by Mario Camus. Raphael, once again, plays a popular singer who must go on a 3 day publicity trip with one of his teenage fans, played by the very young Leslie Anne Down who was 17 at the time this film was made. They fall in love but Raphael's manager's intervene and then something tragic happens, just like it did in Raphael's first film, CUANDO TU NO ESTAS. The film is a slight improvement over Raphael's previous film, EL ANGEL, but once again there is no songs by Rapheal's best composer, Manuel Alejando in this film and this film has Raphael singing THIS IS MY LIFE( a Shirley Bassey standard) in English very badly. The only good song in this film is BALADA DE LA TROMPETA which Raphael does in clown face!