Rear Window (1954)

Ever sit home with nothing better to do then stare out the window? Well when ever I feel this way I like to sit home and watch James Stewart stare out his window in what is probably my favorite Alfred Hitchcock movie.

James Stewart (Vertigo, Rope) plays a magazine photographer who broke his leg on the job. Now he sits home in his cast and watches his neighbors fight, make love and bicker from his Rear Window. The things he sees from his apartment is probably better then anything that is playing in the movie theater unless of course if the newest Hitchcock film is out. Things get really crazy when Mr. Stewart starts piecing together a murder from his very own apartment. The beautiful Grace Kelly is Jimmy Stewart's best girl and it is not long before she is pulled into the mystery. "We must be two of the most horrible ghouls I have ever seen".

This movie really has a little bit of everything in it. Its got the romantic stuff between our two stars, suspense, drama, an excellent story, great acting, great camera work, mystery, bikini clad blond babes and of course it also dishes out a fair amount of the expected Alfred Hitchcock dark comedy. I personally relate this one best to Rope. Not so much in the plot department but more so how it was executed. Hitchcock has a way of taking a very simple premise and making it the most interesting thing you will ever see. Rope takes place almost entirely in one room and in that one room there is a world of interest. The Rear Window is very similar although there are many more exterior shots in this one. Still the idea is simple. A man looks out a window. A man sees something. Then the man reacts. This is basically done over and over again for 112 minutes but every single second of it is brilliant not to mention very interesting.

The Rear Window is one of those movies that never gets old. Just as James Stewart can never get enough of watching his neighbors I can never get bored of the movie. I first saw this one as a young kid with my parents and it blew my mind. All these years later I was taken back to that first experience when I was recently lucky enough to catch this thing in the theater. Seeing it on the big screen was everything I expected it would be. The detail, the cinematography, the Technicolor. It was all there. The Rear Window is a must see for anybody who digs Psycho or The Birds. It is one of the many faces of Hitchcock and in my opinion it is one of the best.

The Omega Man (1971)

My mother first showed me this movie when I was about ten years old. It scared the living shit out of me and has remained a favorite of mine for decades.

Taken from the 1954 novel I Am Legend, The Omega Man is the second film adaption of the book. The first being The Last Man On Earth with Vincent Price. There would be many more adaptions and remakes to follow of the years including Danny (Trainspotting) Boyle's 28 Days Later and of course the 2007 shit-fest I Am Legend with television loser Will Smith. Out of all of them, The Omega Man remains my favorite. It is action packed, creepy and has a social message to go with it.

Charlton Heston (Soylent Green) plays Neville, a scientist who survived a plague with the help of an experimental vaccine. Neville is the last man on earth. That is with the exception of an evil cult who walks the night in dark cloaks, trying to kill the scientist. The cult or "the family" as they like to call themselves blame science for the plague that shook man off the earth. They view Neville as the last living memory of an evil scientific world and they must kill him before he kills them. Neville is outnumbered hundreds to one but he does have a few advantages. The plague has affected the family members in such a way that they can not go out in the day time. They are overly sensitive to light in a similar way that a vampire would be.

Neville has another big advantage over the family that outnumbers him. He has the use of electronics and machines. This being everything from automobiles to guns. Since the family blames science for the end of civilization they are dead set against any modern machinery. They use primitive weapons such as make shift knives, spears and flaming torches. "Fire will cleanse the world". "We will kill that thing. That creature of the wheel".

Eventually Neville learns that there are some other survivors who have been hiding in the mountains, away from the family and Neville who they viewed as equally dangerous. When they learn that Neville has the answer to the plague they join forces with him but they consist of one man, one woman and a bunch of children. Neville sees this as a hope for the future but realistically they will probably just slow him down.

The Omega Man offers up plenty of shoot-em-up scenes, a creepy cult with rotten faces and crazy eyes, some 70's style interracial love making (complete with female nudity), explosions, corpses in the street, a typical 70's downer ending and a very good story. The acting is mediocore depending on the cast member but this doesn't slow down the entertaiment factor at all. Its a timeless cult classic and it comes highly recommended from yours truly over the many other retakes from the 50's novel.

The Fearless Vampire Killers (1967)

I have never been the worlds biggest fan of vampire movies and I'm not to fond of most horror comedies but considering this is an early example of Roman Polanski's work and it stars a naked Sharon Tate I figured this one was worth a go.

To say the least The Fearless Vampire Killers wasn't exactly my bag of sleaze. Its only redeeming values were the slick camera work and of course the scenes of a pre-forked Sharon Tate bathing in the nude. The cinematography is very interesting with unique camera angles and Polanski really shows off his directors eye in a scene that takes place at a vampires ball. The camera pans between a very long and perfectly choreographed dance scene with the vampires. Other then this the movie is way to long. The Fearless Vampire Killers clocks in at 118 minutes and we all know that this is just to long for a movie about vampires. It becomes boring and repetitive. I'm sure there are some who might get a few laughs from this sort of thing but I found the jokes and gags to all be pretty dry. I think I am going to stick with Polanski's more serious stuff like Repulsion from here on. Looking back at Repulsion and The Fearless Vampire Killers the two films came out only two years apart but the style, mood and outcome couldn't be more different. Repulsion is hands down the better film. While The Fearless Vampire Killers certainly has a bigger budget the cinematic experience does not compare.

This one doesn't work so well for lovers of exploitation movies. I think its safe to say that The Fearless Vampire Killers plays better for more mainstream movie goers. So if you are into movies from mars, you might want to just skip this one all together, unless of course if you can not resist some bare breasted Sharon Tate action.

Cyclone (1978)

I picked this one up, thinking it was going to be a Mexican Jaws ripoff. I was surprised to learn that its more of a natural disaster type film then an all out shark attack flick. I was even more surprised at how well it was executed.

When a tornado strikes an airplain full of passengers comes crashing down into the ocean. The survivors are left stranded in the middle of the sea. They are pulled onto a boat filled with more stranded victims of the storm. Naturally the boat runs out of gas and it is a race against time. Will they starve to death? Will the injured bleed to death? Will they be eaten by sharks? Or will they be rescued? Cyclone plays like an exhausting drama. The men, women and children aboard the boat are dieing of starvation and dehydration. They are forced to do things that go against their moral and religious standards in order to survive.

The victims slowly start to turn against each other and they seem to be hanging on to life by a thread. One scene in particular stirred up some controversy when one of the men on the boat slits a dogs throat out of survival instinct. If they eat dog in Thailand, why not in Mexico? Apparently some were outraged by this scene and while it was done very realistically the blood looks more like that 70's Dawn Of The Dead blood then anything real. Either way it makes for a very memorable scene and for me personally it makes the film well worth owning. Aside from the doggy meal we are treated to a bit of cannibalism and eventually the shark attack massacre.

Cyclone was directed by Rene Cardona Jr. who's father was responsible for such delights as Night Of The Bloody Apes and various Santo & friends Lucha Libre films. Cardona Jr. would go on to do more Nature Gone Wrong films such as Beaks and Tintorera : Killer Shark which I hear plays more like a true Jaws ripoff. None the less Cardona Jr. makes a realistic and believable drama. He combines natural disaster stock footage with nicely executed staged storms. We see land slides, violent tidal waves, electrical storms and some really nice under water photography. Still Cyclone is not without flaw. The film tends to run a little bit to long. In its uncut form it clocks in at 118 minutes but thanks to the decent budget and the believable actors (Hugo Stiglitz) the running time is not unbearable.

Cyclone is one of the more entertaining natural disaster films. It has a hint of exploitation to it and is far superior to something like Open Water.

The Deadly Spawn (1983)

I think my friend described this movie best when he said its a very "wet movie". This statement couldn't be more true. There's rivers of blood, buckets of monster slime and it is always raining. Its a wet movie!

The Deadly Spawn is the perfect example of a mindless 80's gore film. It doesn't ever take its self to seriously. Instead it relies on splatterific special effects and a fun, fast pace. Leaving behind a classic, campy gem that can be watched over and over again.

The plot is as minimal as can be. Aliens from outer space are spawning in a families basement. First dad will have his head eaten. Next mom will have her face ripped off. Lucky for us the real man of the house is an eleven year old monster movie fanatic. This kid is awesome! His room is plastered with posters for classic monster movies and he spends most of his time pulling pranks on his family. Monster-kids always lighten up any 80's horror movie for me. Perhaps because I can relate to it. I also drove my parents crazy by running around my house in gory Halloween masks all year long.

Another thing that makes this movie so unique is how good the special effects are, especially considering how small the budget was. It is more then apparent that The Deadly Spawn was in fact the spawn of genuine horror-hounds. The love for the genre really shows through in scenes of graphic violence and gore. Some of the treats that this one has in store for us is decapitation, severed limbs, a vegetarian massacre, an alien autopsy, exploding monsters and many many more gory delights. The Deadly Spawn pays homage to movies like The Blob and gives it that gooey 80's touch. Keep an eye out for all the cool posters. Monster On The Campus, The Green Slime, King Kong etc. They even manage to mention The Mole People and It The Terror From Beyond Space. A must see for all gore-freaks born in the 80's.

The Devils Sword (1984)

So, whats your genre of choice? Fantasy, sci-fi, horror, kung fu, romance or Bollywood type song & dance flicks? The Devils Sword blends all of the above into one big chaotic package and has something in it for anyone and everyone. That is providing of course that you don't mind a little insanity and anarchy with your movies.

A village is attacked during a wedding ceremony by an evil warrior who makes his entrance on a flying rock. He kills just about everybody in sight except for the groom who he was sent to kidnap and the wife who is a bad-ass kung-fuing bitch. We are treated to a giant massacre with severed limbs and decapitation. Indonesian cult icon Barry Prima or (for those familiar with the cannibal flick Primitives) as I like to call him Berry Prima shows up a day late and a dollar short. He makes it just in time to see the whole village bleeding to death and his arch enemy running for the hills or in this case the caves with his captive groom.

Berry Prima seeks out his master who also got his ass kicked by the evil warrior and is left a bloody mess. Naturally Berry cuts his masters legs off to prevent infection from spreading. Once his master regains his strength he informs Berry of the evil queen and the worlds evil warriors who have band together to help her find The Devils Sword. It is up to Berry to beat them to the punch and get to the mystical sword before they do or else "This will be the end of the world as we know it". Berry takes the kung fu bride with him on his quest for The Devils Sword. Along the way they fight alligator men (not to be mistaken for the 50's monster movie), skeletons, evil witches and statues that shoot laser beams from the eyes. The unstoppable force that is Berry Prima also proves that he can shoot lasers of his own from the palms of his hands.

Berry does find The Devils Sword but has to fight and kill a giant cyclops monster before becoming the rightful owner. He takes to the evil queens cave where he becomes hypnotized and takes part in the queens perverse orgy. Unfortunately with the exception of a mans asshole and testicles we do not get any other nudity but that's okay because the film has just about everything else you can think of from flying guillotines to cannibals. Bodies are split in half and then rejoined with weird magical powers. Heads explode and limbs go flying. The saw wielding alligator-people are weird enough on their own but when you add all of these elements together you are in for one hell of a crazy ride.

Blood and gore. Kung fu and monsters. You know you want to see it at least once.

Fiend Without A Face (1958)

Fiend Without A Face is one of those movies that starts off a little slow with invisible monsters roaming about the country side and killing off the townsfolk. We all know and love the 1933 classic The Invisible Man but how much fun can a 50's monster flick be when you can't see the monster? Fear not my demented minions, before long these things take their physical form and they are amongst the coolest looking monsters of all time.

While the monsters are still invisible they seem to be almost vampiric. They wrap themselves around the victims neck and put two puncture marks in the back of the neck but a military autopsy shows that these things are actually sucking the brain and complete spinal column from these holes. When the monsters take their visible form they are in fact nothing more then a brain and a spinal chord and guess what. These things can fly. Since they are nothing more then a flying brain with a spine and antennas these little killers are actually highly intelligent. They even use weapons and in one of the best scenes one of these killer brains actually picks up a hammer.

These fiends were thought up by a mad scientist who used nuclear power to help separate a single thought from a human being. Once free from the human mind, the thought becomes more and more powerful with the help of the nuclear power plant which is right in the back yard. Its not long before the human race is in danger from the deadly grips of The Fiend's without A Face.

Eventually the military steps in and goes to war with the flying brains. We get plenty of really cool 50's stop animation complete with exploding brains and lots of black and white gore. While the soldiers are having fun playing target practice with these things the civilians board up the house in true Night Of The Living Dead fashion and arm themselves with pitchforks and axes. In one of the most memorable scenes an axe is buried into the twitching brain and blood spurts out across the floor.

Fiend Without A Face is pure 50's monster-rama fun. It's campy, its bloody and its just plain crazy. This is a must see for anyone who digs these old monster flicks and luckily for us Criterion has added The Fiend Without A Face to their collection. It looks better then ever and is well worth the purchase for the average brainless fiend.

The Omen II : Damien (1978)

The Omen 2 is one of the best horror sequels ever made. It certainly is better then any of the Exorcist sequels and it always makes for an entertaining watch.

Damien is now thirteen years old and we all know that when a boy hits the age of lucky 13 he starts to act a little crazy. Well the same thing goes for the son of the devil. For those familiar with the first film, Damien killed off his parents by the end of the movie. Now adopted by William Holden (The Wild Bunch) Damien has a whole new family to kill. In some of the more memorable moments we see a man get split in half in an elevator, a woman has her eyes plucked out by a bird in what seems like an Alfred Hitchcock homage. A man meets his end under the ice while ice skating, another is crushed between two train cars, we have a stabbing and death by explosion.

The thing that makes this sequel so interesting is that Damien is now learning who he is. He has had followers and enemies since his birth but when he hits the age of thirteen he becomes aware of his awesome power. Anyone who stands in his way will meet their end by Damien's super natural force. Amongst his followers is Lance Henricksen (Terminator, Pumpkinhead). Henriksen has a way of making sequels better doesn't he? Remember him in Piranha 2 : The Spawning? Lance Henrikesn informs Damien that one day the whole world will know who he is but until then he must remain quiet. He tells Damien to read the bible, chapter 13, revelations to have a better understanding of who he really is. Once Damien figures it out he doesn't exactly remain neutral. He poisons all of his classmates, he mentally destroys his teacher and even goes as far as to kill his best friend and stepbrother. There would be three more Omen movies and even a remake in the series but none of them can touch the first two films. The Omen 2 comes complete with a driving musical score, some pretty good acting and some unique death scenes.

This one tends to play on television a lot as we near Halloween. Of course they leave some of the brutality out as far as the man being split in half in the elevator and the women being run over by an eighteen wheeler truck. Check it out for some fun with Satanic children and killer birds.

Wake In Fright (1971)

Ever get the feeling that you are trapped in your own personal hell? Like the rest of the world are living and your dead end town is going to be the death of you? Wake In Fright also known as Outback is exactly that. It deals with a discontent school teacher who leaves his life behind. The school, the kids, and the hell-hole he calls home.

On his way to the big city he stops in a small town called The Yabba with the intentions of staying over night before getting back on the road for the big city. Well lets just say his plans fall through and there just might not be any way out of this town alive. The townsfolk insure the school teacher that The Yabba is the greatest place on earth. Perhaps one mans paradise is another mans hell. Personally The Yabba seems like a place that I would want to call home. It consists of insane alcoholics whom really have no ambition in life rather then having a drink, having a fight and just living like there is no tomorrow. From the time the teacher arrives in The Yabba till the end credits everything is one big nihilistic drunken blur. Is this a nightmare or is this reality. Its just The Yabba... The greatest place on earth.

Donald Pleasance plays a former doctor who left his profession in the big city for a life of drunken insanity in The Yabba. This is possibly Donald Pleasance's greatest role. His acting style is so intense in this movie it takes stamina to just sit and watch him. Pleasance found a free life in The Yabba, devoid of all care. He lives for free, drinks for free, fucks for free and finds pleasure in standing on his head (literally) and drinking. He is also good for a fight here and there and he also takes the audience on what has to be the most insane hunting trip in cinematic history. Pleasance and a group of friends take to the barren lands of The Yabba and kill kangaroos for sport.

The Kangaroo massacre is disturbing and maddening at the same time. The surreal images of these men plowing through the upright animals with their car and unloading shotgun shells into their bodies is intense on its own but a real Yabba-man will fight these things with his bare hands. They slit the Kangaroo's throats with knives, they punch, kick and strangle the animals and these marsupials are as big as 14 feet tall. It is completely twisted set piece that has to be seen to be believed. However Wake In Fright is not just here to shock you. There is a sort of philosophical moral tale to be told, which I will not give away.

This Australian flick was thought to have been long lost. With no vhs or dvd release and is currently circulating through the bigger cities. I was fortunate enough to catch a screening of this thing in New York City and the audience seemed to have the same reaction that I did. Now I await the dvd release of this 70's classic and only hope the company that puts it out is worthy of the title. I highly recommend going out to your nearest arthouse theater and seeing this thing for yourself. Its crazy!

Messenger Of Death (1988)

Here we are getting near the end of Charles Bronson's career. With the exception of Kinjite and Death Wish 5, from this film on Bronson was pretty much reduced to doing made for television movies and with that said Messenger Of Death really is not all that bad.

Of course M.O.D. doesn't compete with the mean spirited 70's stuff like Death Wish but it still manages to tell a decent story and is much better then some of Bronson's other movies from this time such as the wretched Assassination and in my personal opinion this is due to the films director who has some great credits to his name such as the early 80's slasher Happy Birthday To Me and one of my all time favorite Bronson flicks Ten To Midnight. Don't get me wrong, Messenger Of Death is far from being flawless. The acting is a bit horrendous and despite its {R} rating it is a bit on the soft side. One wouldn't guess it due to the harsh subject matter which deals with psychopathic religious fanatics and child murderers.

In the films opening an entire Mormon family is brutally murdered. While the man of the house is away, his three wives and six children are shot to shit by a madman with a shotgun. From here on we watch Bronson suffers from the mindless religious ranting of Mormon madmen and he gets caught in the middle of their gun fire. We also have some rich bastards who are trying to kill Bronson.

This movie is just like real life. Religion, police and rich scum-bags are the bad guys and Charlie Bronson is the one who has to wipe them out.

No Country For Old Men (2007)

The Coen brothers are amongst the most interesting filmmakers in Hollywood today. While that isn't saying very much because Hollywood film has gone to complete shit over the past 30 years or so. This makes the Coen brothers work stand out even more.

The Coen bros. seem to have followed a formula that has worked for them even from their earlier works with movies like Blood Simple. It is good story telling which is pieced together with a fair amount of action and some what graphic violence. While the story is generally interesting and holds the attention the films seem to have a certain mysterious element to them as if they purposely leave out certain bits of information from the original script. Whether or not this is actually done purposely I am not sure but for me this what what makes the films of the Coen bros. worth a watch.

No Country is unique in its own sense. With a minimal score and not even to much dialogue. The silence to the film almost gives off a 70's vibe. For me No Country almost plays as a throw back to a time when cinema had a lot more going for it.

We have interesting characters, a nice screenplay and enough violence and bloodletting to give the movie some replay value.

A drug deal goes bad (people die), a man finds the money (people die), a ruthless serial killer wants the money (people die), and the police want the money (people die). Its one big game of cat and mouse and did I mention people die?

No Country For Old Men is an exception to the rule that movies from the 2000's are a complete waste of time. I'm looking forward to the Coen brothers next release.

Inside Deep Throat (2005)

This documentary takes a look Inside Deep Throat, "The most profitable film of all time" and the scandal that followed.

Ground breaking director Gerard Damiano would go on to do a whole slew of XXX porno movies in the 70's and 80's. He is considered to be amongst the most artistic and talented directors in the adult industry. Known for legendary greats such as The Devil In Miss Jones and Odyssey. Deep Throat is the one that started it all. "Shot for $25,000 and grossing somewhere over six million" and the cast and crew would leave the film virtually penny less. There is probably no other film in history that suffered a tragedy as great as Deep Throat. From the legal end to the involvement of organized crime. Inside Deep Throat takes us through the films legacy up until today.

Hollywood favorites such as Jack Nicholson and cult icons such as John Watters and Harry Reems as well as court attorney's, right down to projectionists help share some light on Deep Throat and its affects on society.

For many, Deep Throat was a symbol of freedom. A last staple in the sexual revolution and for others it was pure smut and was used as an example of moral decay in order for the politicians to censor Americans and keep adult material off of the streets. With every police raid and court trial the film grew stronger and would make that much more money in another city. Actor Harry Reems faced up to five years imprisonment for nothing more then acting in the movie. Ignorant women's activist groups fought the film, the church fought the film and middle class Americans fought to have the right to see it. This amazing documentary serves as a great time capsule to a time when the fight for artistic freedom could very well put you behind bars or even in the ground.

Inside Deep Throat is the perfect watch for anyone who holds the golden age of porn close to their immoral little hearts.