Maneater - 1969

Also known as: Shark!

I'd long heard that Indiana Jones might have been played by Burt Reynolds. Burt was on the list for possibilities and Harrison Ford got the role instead. By the way, I'm trademarking the name Harrison Fold for my origami team.

Maneater is a weird weird film. Italian and reeking of it, Maneater is a dirty smudged celluloid treasure of yesteryear looks like it was filmed on stock covered in rum. The actors in this are dirty, hairy, sweaty, and look like dry fish.

Burt Reynolds walks around this port town, looking for cash or drinks. He bumps into a thieving kid, he begins to romance this local woman, and he gets drunk plenty. Eventually he gets connected to this plot to go into a sunken shipwreck and get out gold bars that were in the ship and remain unclaimed.

The idea I guess is that with the sharks around and the thrills coming from there, this was a action adventure thriller? A pre-Jaws shark thriller, and bringing some of the 70's action to the scene? There is basically no horror in this, although when you see the sharks and the humans interacting, it looks friggin' sick. Hey guys, the word sick? It's coming back.

Hm. Dunno. I will say, the ending was pretty cool. Spoilers here but I like the anti-ending idea quite a bit. The girl double crossed the guy and they had a confrontation and when it all comes down to it in the end, she takes the money and goes off, leaving him on a stranded ship. She wins instead of our hero. I love it! How many movies truly end with the good guy not winning? It's crazy how uncommon that kinda film is.

I'd say this was ok. It was what you expect, maybe a little more or less sometimes. I'll give it a solid 3.

Critters 3 - 1991

The library held my reserves for me as they advertised online. When I walked in, I nodded to the Hawaiian shirt wearing guy in glasses that normally checked out my rentals. He nodded back in silent approval, "That guy is back."

The three titles on hold stood out on the shelf, but I wanted more. I went through the rows, discounting the Criterion usuals I might have picked up, instead picking up a James Dean movie randomly. Would I finally get around to watching Rebel Without a Cause? I also landed on Critters 3. Critters 3 on the DVD case said boldly "Leonardo DiCaprio's first major role!" I figured what the hell.

Critters 3 picks up where the others left off, which in this case is unknown. I'm not going to watch them, and I don't care. Either way there is some flashback footage early on in the film, and we gather that unknown weirdo Charlie has been hunting the Critters. The Critters get onto a RV that's heading home from a camping trip and soon enough the Critters are infesting a rat-ridden fleabag hotel in New York...or somewhere I guess.

The movie takes a while to get to the building and then wears out it's idea quick. There is some tiny critter violence, there's a few clever moments I guess, there's some bad comedy. DiCaprio is the landlords stepson and hence he is involved in the plot. There is a girl he's into and there is the critters around, and overall it's fast paced enough.

The overall takeaway here is that we're three sequels in and this one isn't bad. It's not scary though, and it's not funny, so instead it's just a unfunny unscary movie trying to be something it's not. Which is to say, I guess, that it fails? Technically? But it's aight. 2.5 stars.

Body Double - 1984

I was collecting VHS nonstop and watching it regularly before I got super sidetracked listening to podcasts. Instead of watching a movie in bed I started listening to podcasts in bed, and though I do not regret this, I do need to get back into VHS so I can fucking get rid of some of them.

I bought Body Double in some 6-VHS-for-$1 deal at the local thrift store. I had heard of it before, meaning I had likely heard the title and knew little else. I am not super familiar with Brian DePalma as a director either. I don't actually know if I have seen Scarface, I probably have, but it's been a super long time and I don't remember it. I have seen Carrie, again years ago, and I have seen Mission Impossible and some of his recent works. That said, he is well known and well regarded and an award winning director.

Body Double stars Craig Wasson as Jake, a regular dude and somewhat successful actor living in LA having a normal life. In the beginning of the film, he finds his wife cheating on him, which puts him in the place of finding somewhere else to stay. He bumps into Sam, a genial man who puts Jake into a house he's watching, and shows Jake the neighbr next door, a sexy girl who strips nude every night. Jake watches this girl and become tansfixed with her, soon enough spotting another man that is watching her, a bizarre looking "Indian" guy who seems to want to cause harm to the woman...

It's a weird plot, it's a weird movie. I was listening to a podcast again today and they described DePalma as "weird" and all the sudden I realized, maybe this is how others see him too? The plot is very strange, and the movie is outworldly. It's such a cross-genre weird piece, with weird stars and a weird atmosphere I'd almost call it experimental if it didn't also feel so Hollywood.

What is weird? Well first of all, the movie is a mystery, a thriller, and a drama. Those elements are all present, and you'll be in it for the mystery aspect. But then there's this MTV 80's feel that goes beyond just the "timeliness" of the piece. There is a porn subplot, a music video part, there is frankly racist dialogue and makeup that exist, and later when there is kills, there's a 80's-slasher inspired extremity and vulgarity which feels completely out of nowhere. There is also so much nudity and straight up sexist views at times that again, one cannot dismiss it simply as a "Product of it's time". No, there is drive there. They are trying to do something with that.

All this said, those aspects and others make it extremely entertaining. It's so popcorn that the VHS or DVD should come coated in butter. This is a movie for the 20-somethings who were stoned in the theater, and it's proud to be there. But it's clandestine in that it is dressed up as an adult film and must've been regarded as such in certain circles. You know what it is? It's a mid 20's dude with a successful career but he's still secretly going to college parties and smoking dope on the side.

Massively unsuccessful, divisive, this film dabbled in excess and experimentation to be sure, and shows exactly how strange a big studio film can be at the right time in the right place with the right lightning strike. Who knows. This is one I would rewatch and define as the modern view of a "cult film" and I'd highly recommend it.

Andrei Rublev - 1966

Well, huh. I'm not done. I have yet to see The Streamroller and the Violin. Once I see that I'll have seen every full length Andrei Tarkovsky film.

Andrei Rublev is a 3.5 hour epic about a famous Russian artist. Tarkovsky wanted to make a film about not just the artist but the change and times the artist was surrounded by. Hence we get many years, many happenings, many details.

Tarkovsky is one of the modern artists that a whole movement is named after. Films are described as " Tarkovsky-esque" and I believe this film is one of the births of that term. It's a fucking 3.5 hour black and white slow moving philosophy film about a painter. If that's not Tarkovsky I dunno what is.

So.... we have a lot. A lot and also nothing. Tarkovsky, bro. We follow people, saying things, doing things. Talking about well known artists. Talking about Rublev. We see poetically captured life, both imagined and real sufferings. We see harsh climates, conflicts, hate and love. And when we meet queer, quiet, meek and searching Rublev, we follow him on his search and perusal through the Russian history in this film.

I won't say I loved this. I think one is supposed to know Rublev and his lore, is supposed to know the characters and the events. I think these things because the movie sure doesn't explain anything. Who people are, what their deal is, even their relevancy is unknown. Rublev himself is similar. He is unknown and we project ourselves and our innocence on him, which works, but not in the case where he was real and he played a part in things around him.

The film was ahead of its time in portraying nudity, violence, and loss. We can see brutality not presented as such but instead as a fact of life, an ingredient, a necessary and common occurrence. We see change in a society and a time. Through the years, people, places, things and ideas change, whilst others do not. These ideas are all given space and freedom, putting none above the other in gravity and importance. These are the moments that make this film unique.

I gather that Rublev was misunderstood, unappreciated, and lived in a tumultuous time. If this is untrue who knows. At least that seems to be what the director wanted me to think.

I doubt I'd watch it again, it needs some fucking editing, but it's still a 3.5 star film.

Mill Creek's Pure Terror 50 Movie Boxset

Way back when I began Mill Creek's Sci Fi Invasions, I had no plans to watch other boxsets. These sets had always intrigued me when I'd seen them in person. 50 movies?! What kind of shit could be contained between those plastic padded walls? Well, now I know.

Sci Fi Invasion was what I thought it would be. I liked it, overall, and despite never rewatching any of those since I think it ended up leaving a pleasant taste in my mouth. It was a bad idea, and I knew it, to go from that to the 70s and 80s set. I was gifted these sets, and I wasn't going to not watch them, so I did, and I lived through it. I was surprised about how many dramas were in those, and that actually elevated them ever so slightly.

Anyways, I am glad to say this set was a lot of fun and I think ratings wise it will be the highest rated. It felt like a breeze to get through, I had seen a lot of these already and that helped, but overall I think it was the horror genre and the presence of newer films, Italian films, and some weird other ones that helped.

So anyways, the reviews.

The Amazing Transparent Man - Watched before the set, this concerns a criminal who gets turned invisible by a doctor. Obviously this plan goes wrong and soon invisible baddie is tangling with cops and the invisibilty is wearing off. 3.5 stars.
Anatomy of a Psycho - A dramatic film about a young criminal who gets in over his head. Good acting, and despite an Ed Wood script it's fine. Fine dramatic acting elevates it quite a bit. 3 stars.
Blood Sabbath - A Vietnam vet has a crazy interaction with a water nymph and some witches in this light T&A tease. Hypnotic and bizarre 70's experimentation is cool, but bare bones of a plot. 2.5 stars.
Bloody Pit of Horror - Marquis de Sade influenced Spanish thing about a guy in a luchadore costume torturing people in a castle. It's by the numbers, but it could be seen a slasher in some lights. 3.5 down to 3 stars.
Crucible of Horror - Michael Gough is a tough patriarch in this very British thriller, and once he's killed he returns from the dead! It's a slower film, but it's pretty good Hammer style. I rated it 2, raising it to 3 stars.
Curse of Bigfoot - a 1958 horror film not about Bigfoot got turned into a Bigfoot movie with some extra footage, and this is it! Campy fun, ridiculous looking monster. It's fun and 70's, 3.5 stars.
Death in the Shadows - a mystery always grabs me, especially when it stars a well acted pretty woman and is produced in Europe. This film from Holland has all that and when a girl has her mother killed it opens up a whole twisted mystery. 4 star film.
Death Warmed Up - Cult film from New Zealand where a cop joins a bike gang and then (probably) something or other happens. Supposedly has a huge cult following I guess. Hard to follow but fun, 3 stars.
The Devil's Nightmare - Creepy castle is the home of a succubus where people come...it's one of the few films with nudity, and lots of it. Because of the nudity I gave it 3.5, probably deserves 2.5.
The Devil's Possessed - A medieval sword and sandal swashbuckler story, I was bored stiff by this one. Some of these were simply too by-the-numbers. I gave it 1 star, don't remember it now but I'll stand by it.
Doctor Jekyll and the Werewolf - Doctor Jeyll uses the Hyde formula on a werewolf in this crossover film. The beginning is great with tons of intrigue and atmosphere, but it slows down. 3 stars.
Don't Answer the Phone - A killer is terrorizing a town somewhere by calling and harrassing people and a radio station. I didn't rewatch this one, don't remember it, but my review speaks highly of it and I gave it 3 stars.
Double Exposure - stylized 70's thriller about a photographer having violent dreams and perhaps they're related to real life killings? Good cast, keeps you interested. Well made/acted, 4 stars.
Dungeor of Harrow - I clearly watched and reviewed this drunk with faulty internet, but I'm not rewatching any more, I am too far gone for that. I believe this was yet another Marquis De Sade something-or-other. No stars.
The Eerie Midnight Horror Show - Exorcist rip off with Italian chick fucking a statue and all sorts of other fun random shit. Has a air of uncertainy and doesn't make a lot of sense, but I loved it and gave it a 4.
The Embalmer - A guy kills people, there's a lot of talking, I didn't pay much attention. I think this one had a similar plot to another on the set, two restaurants doing creepy things to food on one set! 2 stars I'll lower to 1.
Evil Brain from Outer Space - Starman fights villains in this signature difficult to follow Japanese translated TV series. It's weird but sorta fun if you're high, 2.5 stars seems enough.
Fangs of the Living Dead - Anita Ekberg stars in this bizarre Italian schlocky film with lots of promise and no payoff. This needed a hook, whether it was violence or nudity, instead it has neither and just drags. 1.5 stars.
Frankenstien 80 - A super 70's update of the Frankenstien story for a "modern" audience, people get killed and crazy stuff happens in this insane nudity-filled romp. Italian giallo style late entry. 4 stars.
Grave of the Vampire - Faux Cameron Mitchell stars in this bizarre story of a woman who is raped by the undead, gives birth to a monster baby that drinks blood, it grows up and turns good, and battles it's father. Fun, fun film. 4 stars.
Green Eyes - 1934 murder mystery whodunnit with stuffy Inspector Crofton questioning people. Meh, 1.5 stars.
Guru the Mad Monk - super amateur Z-movie with guys in terrible costumes saying awful dialogue. I'm sure some like the movie. 1.5 stars.
Hands of Steel - This Terminator ripoff suffered from being too low budget, but the acting is solid. Good cast tries hard to make you like it, but it suffers from some bad pacing. I liked it despite the lag in the middle, 3.5 stars.
Horror Rises from the Tomb - Paul Naschy wins the most titles award on the set! I don't remember this, but I gave it 3 stars.
The House by the Cemetary - Lucio Fulci makes an appearance on the set in this uneven but ultimately great film. Weird noises are heard in a new house, could it be haunted? The end will leave you loving it, 4 stars.
The House that Screamed - Edited for TV proto-Giallo film with some great stylized kills and erotica. 4 stars.
It Happened at Nightmare Inn - A young girl comes to a hotel looking for her friend, and the innkeepers have something to hide. A boring and disjointed film. Blah, predictable, 1 star.
Keep My Grave Open - A predictable plot about a crazy woman and her unseen brother. You know how this is going to go. Violence isn't even going to make this one better. 1.5 stars.
Manos: The Hands of Fate - Well, I sat through Manos without the MST crew. This is a now notorious bad movie, and it is likely the most amateur thing I've ever seen. It has a bizarre charm and a weird watchability though, and I gave it 4 stars.
The Manster - A classic 50's monster movie where the guy grows two heads. Japanese production and black and white cinematography lends gravitas to a cool movie, a true 50's feeling fun film. I might even rewatch this one, 4 stars I'll bring up to 4.5.
Monstroid - I'd previously seen this with the name Monster. John Carradine in a lake creature monster feature that is very campy. It's somewhere between bad and ok. I gave it 3 stars.
Mutant - Wings Hauser and brother come to a small town where everyone is evil. I saw this is 2015 and liked it, 3.5 stars.
My Mom's a Werewolf - From the 80's set I believe, this was a comedy about a suburban house mom turned into a werewolf. It succeeds with what it tries to do, but you're not going to rewatch it any more than I did. 2.5 stars.
The Night Evelyn Came Out of Her Grave - Convoluted Italian overstuffed turkey about a girl and a BDSM dungeon and a ghost and whatever else. 2.5 stars for the parts I understood.
Night of Bloody Horror - Much like the House that Screamed, these are twins practically except this one is more zany. Some fun technique and a short movie. 3.5 stars.
Night of the Blood Beast - Corman style black and white 50's classic horror, but it's the boring type where you never see the monster. Instead of that cool stuff you get: Talking! 3.5 stars.
The Oval Portrait - Edgar Allen Poe provided a 3 page story, some writers provided the rest in this ghost story about a dead woman portrayed in the portrait. Yawn. No stars.
Point of Terror - Peter Carpenter vanity project in which he is a brilliant successful attractive guy mixed up in a vague plot. The least "Pure Terror" on the set as it has basically no horror in it. 2 stars down to 1.
The Sadist - Arch Hall Jr is a crazy villain in this small scale realistic film. I remember being in love with it, and recently I actually told a friend about this one. I might rewatch one day. I gave it a 4.5.
Satan's Slave - opted not to watch this one again. Michael Gough plays a mystery uncle at a mystery house where a young girl comes to claim her inheritance. Evil is afoot though. Slow, written before my rating system, I give it a 3.5 I guess.
Scared to Death - Bela Lugosi is in this story of an evil hypnotist and a bumbling idiot cop. I hated a large part of it, especially the poorly written and acted dialogue. I opted not to rewatch it, gave it 2 stars.
The Tell-Tale Heart - Edgar Allen Poe again, this time in an actually well done film with eerie effects and good acting. Classic story of a murder and a guilty conscience. 4 stars for this one.
Terror-Creatures from the Grave - Whooo, reading that review is a blast. Well, I'll stand by it. I called it a "sad mess of black and white with a unfollowable plot." 1.5 stars.
Terror in the Jungle - A kid's plane crashes and he is kidnapped by an Amazon tribe that worships his golden hair. Dad comes to the rescue. Some unintentionally funny parts were great. I give this one 3 stars.
They Saved Hitler's Brain - If this doesn't have a huge cult following, I will give you $15. This is a classic, and it's so wonky and stupid it deserves to be seen by everyone. 4 stars.
The Thirsty Dead - Cute kidnapped girls try to escape some evil underground lair in this boring, stupid movie. Half a star.
The Undertaker and His Pals - Guys are killing people and butchering them to serve as meat in their shitty restaurant. Dirty, ugly, stupid, not scary or interesting. Bad horror comedy. 1 star.
The Vampire's Night Orgy - People come to a town that is inhabited solely by vampires, but they don't know it yet! I couldn't hear it, but I'm not going to sit through a rewatch 3 stars.
The Werewolf of Washington - A horror comedy where a presidential aid gets the werewolf curse. It is sometimes funny. I liked it despite the dumb idea, 4 stars seems high, maybe 3.

So yeah. I did it, again. As I do. Like I said, this boxset was a lot more enjoyable. Likely because it was the horror genre. Also, of all the movies I'd previously seen, most of them I did not rewatch I had previously liked at least a bit and had given 2.5 stars or more.

That brings us to ratings. The quick perusal here shows.... 34 movies rated 2.5 stars and above. That's insane. There were no 5 star films on this set, 4.5 being the highest ratings with The Manster and The Sadist. Those are both classic films for me, I didn't rewatch either one and I sorta want to rewatch The Manster whilst stoned. We'll see. Maybe it'll get us a blog bump later here in the year, if I'm really bored and in the mood for something black and white.

The movies here were great. The majority of them were 70s, which we all know I love. I'd say that elevates the total rating of the boxset itself to 4 stars. I feel like it's only a small step away from being a five star boxset.

The bad movies here were not anything worth writing about. Overall, they were simply boring. The Thirsty Dead, The Undertaker and His Pals, Terror Creatures from the Grave, Scared to Death, Point of Terror, The Oval Portrait, Keep My Grave Open, It Happened at Nightmare Inn, Green Eyes, Guru The Mad Monk, Fangs of the Living Dead, The Embalmer, The Dungeon of Harrow and The Devil's Possessed. And I will say of these films, several did try, which is something. Fangs, Thirsty, Oval, Guru, these films put out what they had, it just didn't happen to be enough or strike me the right way.

So... Yeah, that's it. I liked this set. But I did notice that I immediately put it in the donate pile at my house. Then again, I am going to donate a lot of films, so don't look too much into that.

Night of Bloody Horror - 1969

Okay, I am getting a lot of these titles mixed up in my head. There are a lot of super generic titles on this set. The words Night, Blood, Devil, Nightmare, Horror, and Dark are all over this set.

This movie feels a LOT like the previously reviewed The House that Screamed. Several overlapping elements include following a unreliable narrator young woman main character, some bodies piling up killed by an unseen killer, and then eventually a twist in the end and a unveiling of "the big surprise killer."

This one did not have the tense moments of Screamed, instead it is replaced by a few fun scenes of zany 70's style flourishes of style. Weird dissolves, "groovy" and/or wonky filters and editing happen a few times, and that makes this movie feel fun and very much a product of it's time.

Overall, I feel like I have less to say about this, maybe it's because it's so similar to Screamed, but either way, this is a fun film and it's less horror and more silly. It's 77 minutes long and it won't hurt, I give it 3.5 stars.

The House that Screamed - 1969

Here is the soon to be answered question: is this the last movie on the boxset? I think at this point I have opted not to rewatch Don't Answer the Phone and Night Fright. Night Fright would be the most likely, but eh, I'd rather call this set done.

The House that Screamed is sort of a proto-Giallo horror film. Dario Argento has said this was an influence in his work, and given he was a forerunner to the genre, this is a major Italian horror influence in general. I can see why. The House that Screamed was a wonky and slightly uneven horror film, and when the deaths and creepiness happens you can really see the influence others drew from this film.

The film plot revolves around a boarding school of some sort for young girls. They are tortured by a cruel headmistress, getting whipped and subjected to degradation at her hands. While this is a major plot point, I believe I must've been watching an editing for TV version because there was clear cuts-to-black many times throughout the entire film, and the nudity is avoided. That really sucks, cause I think this would have been a really sexy movie. Another influence right there, nudity and S&M influence in the film.

The cruel headmistress has a son that lives in the boarding school and he is seeing one of the girls. They are having a little romance and the mother has a creepy incestuous desire for him, as we see in one scene. As this goes on, a few different girls decide to try and escape the boarding house. They end up getting killed by an unseen, unknown assailant. Hence, the horror.

I liked this. With enough kills, enough cool editing, and enough characters, this felt well defined. To be honest, it has all the ingredients of what would later be called a "slasher" except in the later interpretation of that, we usually knew who the killer was. Isn't that interesting, the 80's slashers we all known and love usually show us exactly who the killer was. Albeit behind a mask, but still, interesting to think about when it comes down to it.

This is probably essential for Italian horror film buffs, but also for 80s slasher fans. I would say it's a four star, great film.

Keep My Grave Open - 1977

SF Brownrigg was previously seen on the blog with the Don't series that I think I never truly finished. He is a minor footnote in the horror genre and a low-budet baddie with only 5 films to his name. With this film having been watched, I have now seen 3 of those 5.

Keep My Grave Open feels much likehis in that previous paragraph. Is it worthy of being mentioned? Barely. If I was making a horror book or if I wrote a horror blog, and if it wasn't on my boxset, I would choose to not mention it or it would be a minor, short entry. Welcome to this post, y'all.

So yeah. In this movie, you have a glacial plot movement of a psycho woman who is obviously the killer. She has her house broken into early in the film by some unknown fat guy who steals her meat and wine and is later killed with a sword. Then we got back to the house and we have annoying, badly acted Lesley puttering around, making coffee, talking to her unseen brother Kevin. Seriously, the amount of times the name Kevin is spoken in this. Do a shot for each and you'll die, guaranteed.

Eventually we get to the last 20 minutes where it picks up a tiny bit and the whole plot is unveiled, and its a dumb payoff but it's better than nothing I guess. Stephen Tobolowsky played a small role, I didn't notice him. I give it 1.5 stars.