Rawhead Rex - 1986

Always a fan of the obscure even in the days of modern “everything is online” norms, it makes sense that I actually cannot find some of these movies online. So I had to pull a Rottweiler and watch this in another language without English subtitles. 

I think I added this when I found a cool sounding monster movie and then further saw the name Clive Barker was on it. In the life of this blog I have watched "the other two Barker directed films" Nightbreed and Lord of Illusions, I even revisited Hellraiser (although I guess I did not review Nightbreed, sorry).   And hey while I'm at it, Candyman 2 and 3.

Rawhead Rex I watched in French, and I gleaned that a church somehow summons the titular monster, which looks in some strange clash somewhere between comic book super villain, cheap Halloween werewolf(?) costume and prime 80s rubber suit film monster.  Its about 65-80% silly depending on the mood you're in, and I think there's at least part of this that's intentionally having a laugh, if you will, with it.

The rest, well, is pretty minimal and scope, and basically what you'd expect.  There's certainly a slightly heavier church angle in here than some horror films, and the monster is terrorizing this family, eventually revealed at the request and under the control of the pastor.  Our main character and his family are on the run, and there's a couple cool sequences like the one in the car that stand out.

Almost most interesting - in a bad way - was watching it in another language and trying to follow, as well as the bad quality of the video, which dropped sound completely for a few minutes, and then later had a little jaunty song come in instead of the film's soundtrack.  Look, this isn't that bad, it seems like I've given just about every other Barker film about a 2.5 besides the "big two" and this will join that list, it's just kinda that is a mild disappoint given how much I love the original Candyman.

Night Train to Terror - 1985

 In my list of stuff to watch I have Night Train with the note “retro looking thriller”. What did I mean by this? Meaning 70s kinda a throwback? Cause boy was that wrong. 

This was likely added from me watching horror trailers on YouTube, something I used to do a lot that I really don’t do any more. I don’t think I knew this was an anthology, don’t think I knew it had not one but two bizarre interstitial stories as wrap arounds. And def did not know it RULED. 

As said before I do love an anthology. In the start of this one, god and satan are on a train discussing horrifying events. Cut to another train car where an 80s band sings the recurring song “Everybody But You” which is a fine slice of the era when this came out. 

Story one involves a hospital patient who has accidentally killed his wife.  He is taken to this evil hospital and used by the evil staff there to lure in people who will be killed and used for organ donation.  There's these insane moments in this of butchering where they just show torture rooms covered in blood and bodies and it fucking kicks ass, there's also nudity, and its edited in a way where nothing makes sense but not in a bad way.  Just feels like a uncontrollable ride.

Segment two is a lurid and disturbing tale of a woman forced into pornography acting.  Her film shows at a creepy men's club that I'd literally kill to be invited to, and one of the guys there forms an instant fascination with her.  There's something about claymation in a seance scene where this rad insect is there, and I'm pretty sure has nothing to do with the plot.  Anyways, the guy tracks her down and eventually it leads to a Edgar Allen Poe-esque badass ending I loved.

Segment three has a Nazi guy as a satanic messenger, with his main interest being a very 70s guy who is publishing his book God Is Dead, about the nonexistence of god.  Satan dude is naturally very interested in this, and meanwhile Cameron Mitchell as the old detective guy is involved, mostly by trying to figure out what satan man is up to.  Definitely the longest and most linear story.

The first two had bizarre claymation and complete nonsense happening at random times.  The third one is more of a story, and you might even want to pay attention.  But with the god/satan train sequences and of course "Everybody But You" rockin', you're going to have a blast with this no matter what.  I loved it.  Especially the first 2/3 of the thing, before what is a small slow down for segment 3.  5 stars though.

Don't Look in the Attic - 1982

 Also known as House of the Damned.

I like movies that Wikipedia doesn't have a plot synopsis for.  Wikipedia presumably watched this poorly filmed dreck and gave it the same collective shrug I am currently giving it.  When it came to plot, Wik here said "I mean there was something about an attic maybe vaguely once or twice but really wasn't this just sort of about nothing?"  Skipped the section entirely.  Good call.

From IMDb:  "A couple inherits a mansion, but when they move in they discover that it is haunted by the murderous spirits of people who have died there."  There is at least one scene where someone approaches an attic, whether the attic was truly that threatening I don't think was the case.

Added, quite obviously, when I was going through what I was calling the "Don't" series, Basement House Park Christmas and Look, I think there's more but I'm lazy and I don't remember.  Why I didn't watch this at the time is anyone's guess, but my assumption is that I thought I had seen it already, and this whole time watching it now I also kept thinking the same thing.

If I haven't said it clearly, this film is near incomprehensible.  I had no idea what was going on.  There was a kill outside early on (not in an attic) and there was a few weird happenings in a house, but really there was mainly a few deaths and I don't really know what else.  

No nudity, no effects, no cool sequences, poorly shot.  Ugh.  A chore.  Half a star.

Weasels Rip My Flesh - 1979

 You name a movie the same as a Frank Zappa album, it sounds like a killer weasel movie, you are an underground cult sounding oddity, you’re gonna get added to the list ok? You’re just going to, fact. 

This movie is 67 minutes long and the first ten are just cold open basically, not unconnected but almost. So we have an under hour long flick here, and how bad can it be? 

Weasels Rip My Flesh is made on a budget of supposedly $500 by high school students on Super 8 filmstock.  It features a plastic shark they supposedly found in the trash, cardboard and trash bag monsters, and nothing even close to a real plot or effects or anything of the sort.

Amateur Z grade normality for the most part, we've seen it before.  This specifically reminded me of The Milpitas Monster, a similar low budget 70s curio that begs the question "how did these get any distribution"?  It truly seems like if something was made, period, it would eventually get to that level of being shown.  I mean...does that not define a certain measure of success?  

Sure no one made money or a career out of this, but someone is still watching this 47 years later, so say what you will about low budget trash made for no one for no money.

The Washing Machine - 1993

 Its interesting as I go through these and I write out the reasons why they were on my list, a lot of the reasons are similar.  This is on there for the same reason as From Hell it Came.  These are both "they made a movie about killer x?  what does that look like?"  In that case the tree monsters in this one a killer washing machine?

But no, it doesn't have a killer washing machine, spoiler alert.  Yeah, pretty sure I thought this had a killer washing machine in it ala Death Bed: The Bed that Eats, a movie I certainly watched during my time writing this that I guess I did not review.  Unfortunate.  There's a few of those movies that you watch and stick with you and that is one of them.  Eh, maybe I'll rewatch.

The Washing Machine isn't one you watch that sticks with you.  This is a Giallo that comes as late as 1993 and doesn't try anything really new except putting the bodies in a washing machine at a few points.  Its a jilted lover plot with plenty of nude women flashing breasts while people kill them, and its about as next level as that makes it sound.  Not to slam it or anything.  Its just, you know, only that.

It has a great soundtrack and it has some great nudity and it works on a few levels, so I give it like a 2.5

Nudist Colony of the Dead - 1991

 I’m writing this down because of the high chance this movie never tops its first joke. A fake THX sound and box appears and it says “the audience is squinting” before it gives its own Super 8 logo. Honestly…brilliant. And hilarious. 

Again going to me trying to find hidden gem underground cult movies and dialing up Troma or Full Moon adjacent “stuff” that I add to the list.  I think part of this whole cult movies thing is sort of a custodian-ship.  To be the guy that introduces friends to fun movies, super unheard of underground trash that's great to dial up when y'all are staying up til midnight crushing PBRs.  So this is likely part of an attempt to find fun watches, and like I said before my solo enjoyment of these has always been limited.

If they're fast paced enough, especially a comedy that still works is going to be a decent enough time.  Also this era is usually less meta than things would get later, so that's giving them an advantage right off.  Guys, lets end meta okay?  As a culture?  Can we, please?

Of course, comedy has always been specific, and this movie reminds me of a style that is just not around anymore. It’s been taken over both by culture and by different styles. What I mean is there used to just be a "standard joke" that you would get across the board in many things - think of the joke of a woman's eyeshadow forming rivers when she cries - that type of joke that you would just see everywhere and everyone agreed "that was comedy" and it was funny, and equally low brow or highbrow could have it - that type of thing is just gone.

 Similarly, but different is the comedy song. Some parody or jingle, and some self-aware medium energy very simple lyric song that was accepted as one of those things that was in everything whether it be Monty Python or The Simpsons, all the way to Richard Cheese or South Park.  It was a testament to the writing of a thing, "could they do a song?' and its fascinating how many different things attempted it and then how dead it is now.

This movie certainly follows the trend of older comedies by having lots of the "standard jokes" and many of its standard jokes it does time and time again, driving it absolutely into the ground.  It wastes probably 50 or so minutes of this 90 something minute movie on comedy songs, which are like, you know fine, but not incredible or anything. For a movie called Nudist Colony of the Dead there's not a lot of nudity and there's barely any scenes with zombies even, instead we just follow our plucky heroes singing a lot.

Its completely "fine" and "unremarkable" both, I'll give it 2 stars for the light energy time stamp that it is, but this is not like a fun movie really.  Its just sorta a uniquely bizarre thing.

Rottweiler - 2004

 Look, not all of these are streaming or at the library.  The thing about my taste is that it ranges towards obscure sometimes, and some C tier SyFy level dog movie is not going to be the hot item, ever.  So I watched this in Russian with no subtitles on some sketch website.

Added at a time when I was into Stuart Gordon and Brian Yuzna.  I was describing to my girlfriend, this has always been an interest of mine to see where these guys ended up, and goddamnit if this is not part of the reason why right here:  discovering as I did just now that Stuart Gordon's second to last movie Edmond was a movie that played at my theater when I worked there?  What?!  I never discovered that before?  Also did not know Stuart Gordon passed away in 2020, rest in peace to a great director.

Brian Yuzna appears to be retired after working more recently as an Exec Producer and such, and I think he willingly does not make movies anymore.  With dregs like Rottweiler being probably what was offered to him, it's easy enough to see why. 

Rottweiler has the "oh so intelligent" idea of having a robot-infused-dog chasing after a guy, and that is simple but it takes about 45 minutes to get there.  We see strung out looking Dante as he shoots a dog with a shotgun, which is then returned to life and given robot teeth by Paul Naschy.  Queue an oddly long scene where nude Dante runs from the dog and we almost ALMOST see dick many times.  

For a movie with a dog with robot teeth, this thing is so boring and just does not have any fun to it.  It sounds good on paper, cybernetically enhanced dog in early CGI area.  They got a real dog and they did what they could I guess, but it just sits there.  Its not fun.  There are tits and there is a dick briefly and watching it in Russian was kinda fun, but this movie is not good.  I give it a 1.5

Phantasm - 1979

 My girlfriend joined me for about the last third of this movie (which is a great time to hop in) and I again relayed a thought I've had often.  This is such a bizarrely unknown movie and series of movies, and director, I really don't know why this isn't up there in the same breath as at least the Pinheads, the Leatherfaces, the maybe slightly B tier of horror icons.

I do think this is undersung and underdiscussed.  I had vaguely heard of it in my late teens or twenties, and I think I eventually watched this about 15 years ago on a one off rental.  I was expecting something kinda bad, because I was never that big of a fan of Bubba Ho-Tep and I really disliked both the book and the movie of John Dies at the End.  I was completely blown away by Phantasm though, and I really enjoyed it.

I think Phantasm was on this list before I watched the first one, but then once I watched the first and didn't watch the sequels, this has been on the list.  Phantasm 5 came out about 10 years ago, and as proof this series is undersung it didn't even play in theaters.  So anyways, that's this series history on my list.

A sex scene ends with the woman killing her lover and transforming into The Tall Man.  We follow Mike as he spies on his brother and discovers The Tall Man as well, leading to the first major development:  a flying metal sphere that will drill your brains out!  This is one of the many weapons both physical and not that The Tall Man possesses and now Mike and his brother are set against him.

This movie is a great class in world building if nothing else.  So much of this seems instantly iconic and instantly makes you want to know more.  What is this, where did it come from, how did it work?  These questions abound as you watch decent actors and cool dark scenes in a fast paced horror sci fi flick that is sort of like nothing else.

It's interesting to have a legit long running series that I haven't seen and I'll watch all of.  I mean, I guess I've done it plenty on here, but I'm hopeful and I'm going to be chock full'o takeaways.  Excellent beginning, 4 star horror sci fi premise here.

The Hideous Sun Demon - 1958

 This is likely not the same as From Hell it Came. This is more probably the result of “I do actually like 50s monster movies, here’s an obscure one”.

This is sorta a bucking of the trend for 50s monster movies, and atypical in its execution. Sure, having the monster not in most the movie is common. But this movie is short the old guy character, is short the casual friendliness, is short the stuffy coffee drinking scenes. It’s just short overall really. 

We hop right into it with scientist Gilbert getting exposed to some new type of radiation he's working on.  He goes up to the roof and sits in the sun, soon enough he turns into the Hideous Sun Demon!  He scares an old lady and runs off.  Now he's hyper sensitive to the sun's rays.  To console himself he goes to a bar and meets singer and performer Trudy, a woman who he hits it off with and now he's dragging her in too.

"Yes, with extra anchovies...it's his favorite topping."

The effects are decent, and there was a darker tone to this movie which was fun and different.  The scientist thinks about suicide, he kills someone, and there's a noir element to it that matches well with this genre.  Yet its still 50's as ever with schlocky monsters and a damsel in distress.  An interesting blend and a unique one.

I opted to watch the Rifftrax version, which wasn't their best outing, but hey it's free.  I give it a solid 3.

The Ghost Galleon - 1974

Also known as: The Blind Dead 3, Horror of the Zombies, Ship of Zombies, The Ghost Ship of the Swimming Corpses and The Ghost Ship of the Blind Dead.

This was the third in the Blind Dead series, which so far I have been a giant fan of.  This entry concerns some supermodels being sent to International waters and "floating around hoping to be seen by passing ships" for advertisement purposes(?)  While they're out there, a heavy fog rolls in which brings the Ghost Galleon which has the blind dead templars on it.

Every shot on the boat is full of atmosphere and is shot very well.  The dead appear and they look badass as all hell as usual.  Butttttt....  We don't see any of them until literally over 35 minutes in.  Yeah this one is wastin' time as much as it possibly can, just floating around (literally, get it?) and twiddling it's fingers in the meantime.  Character and dialogue aren't this movies strong suits either so that's pretty dull.

The thing about this is that it truly is more slow, less atmosphere, way less templars, and definitely less horror /blood /action.  The ship moments are the highlight, and the rest is pretty much non-existent.  And like I said the boat parts are so much less interesting...  They don't even have the cool echo-ey sound effects, it doesn't have the chains and the crabs and none of that awesome shit.

I haven't looked this up at all but it made me wonder about this series in general.  Was this intentionally made as a four film series, was this ever linked in the mind of the creator beyond being like...similar looking templars?  Are they supposed to be the same templars in the movies?  Maybe some of this is exposited in dialogue that I don't remember...  So for now, for being the weak link in the series still with like 30 minutes of great parts, I give it a 2.

Xtro - 1983

 The film that started it all, right here.

This is a sort of exact marriage between Xtro 2 and 3.  Seeing 1 last, of course, I recognize that in that fashion, but who knows maybe I'd have noticed it anyways.

A man is abducted and comes back a little different.  At the same time, a woman is impregnated by an alien and gives birth to a grown son.  Both are now is under the control of the aliens, and starts to mess with family and neighbors in this dialogue filled, effects little romp.  

Look, this movie has enough effects and isn't super boring, but it really is like if you took the exact point where the effects lacking Xtro 2 and the effects filled Xtro 3 met.  This has like, an okay amount, and it also has Bond girl Maryam D'Abo in multiple topless scenes, which I am incredible happy to see.

To reiterate, I think I heard about this in the multitude of blogs and iMDB lists I used to look through, searching for cult faves that were unheard of.  So I added it with the alien promise and now we're here.  I'll give it like a 2.5 for the fun parts.

Play Dead - 1983

 Part of the allure of something like a slasher is to see what tropes exist, how the movies are similar, how they’re different. The idea of “what do you do with this thing that is inherently prewritten, but can still be unique“?

It’s interesting that horror tropes exist in all genres, but they are are only known in a few. People talk about slasher as the most trope filled horror sub genre. What about ghost movies, what about devil movies, what about anything else? I had an idea like “I should see all of the animal attack movies” in part because I’m curious, does it have its own tropes and if it does, what are they.

Also, I recently went through all of the Video Nasty, and now I’m going through my whole list of every movie I’ve ever added... This is proof my brain has always worked this way. It’s the “let’s investigate all of this one specific thing”. I’m sure at times, the list contained more animal attack movies and I have whittled them down. Such as Dogs, and my ultimate search which was the Tippi Hedren movie Roar, of which I read the book. Still need to see. 

Play Dead follows the near supernatural angle for an animal attack movie.  Jilted and jaded elder woman Hester has a new Rottweiler named Greta, and uses voodoo or black magic or incantations or something or other to will the dog to her power.  In this case its increasingly suspicious looking deaths.  The dog causes a car accident, it puts a hair curler in a tub, uses its leash to choke a guy, and eventually people catch on while the body count stacks up.

Its well executed and minimal in scope.  Its believable and is more a of thriller or a character piece almost.  Its not going to change your life but its good within it's realm.  4 stars.

Xtro 3: Watch the Skies - 1995

 You put on the third of this series after watching the dismal second and you don’t expect anything better. Immediately, my hopes are lifted when this at least has an alien in the first few minutes of the film. Now this is the hidden gem that I was looking for. 

I’m at the point where I can watch a movie and I can say this would be great for Rifftrax, and then I call it and they’ve already done it. Because this has the wacky shenanigans, it has the effects. It’s fast paced enough. It has the silly moments and the fun characters and the rubber suits, puppets and goo and slime and it’s a rocking good time. 

I really did enjoy this, even if I couldn’t really tell you the plot beyond there’s aliens and they’re fun looking and people are fighting them. It felt kind of like it was a rip off of X-Files, and it also felt like it was just every horror movie ever about aliens. I really enjoyed it though, and it was very fast paced. 

Despite being meta with a narrator and with a kitschy 50s throw back opening, this thing doesn't lean into it too much to make it unbearable.  It has the moments where you can tell they're trying too hard but it does not dwell in it the way the modern movies might.  They also employ some CGI at a time when its a riot too, its bad and if they used it more it would be rough, but its used sparingly here like the meta shit, just enough.

What a dynamic change from the second part of the series. I hope that the first one is a lot more like this cause I would watch this every day. It’s definitely a one to watch with friends. It’s a great drinking movie, smoking movie, laughing at movie, riffing on, if you wanna be like Mike and the Bots, just watch it okay?

Xtro II: The Second Encounter - 1991

 I'm really trying to think of this one being added to the list.  I think Xtro is a movie I had confused with another movie.  There was an indie lower budget sci fi gem that I read about, and hell maybe this was it, and if it wasn't this than I certainly forgot about it since.

I'm watching these out of order because only Xtro 2 and 3 are on Tubi, I'll watch Xtro 1 on youtube after these, continuing my trend of watching things out of order.  Xtro 1 I have seen is a different plot, these movies are only related due to them being alien in theme with no carryover characters or even specific plot points.  They're just "alien related: the series" basically.

Xtro II is a pretty apparent Aliens ripoff.  It's like the talkier, less effect filled Aliens or kinda both Alien and Aliens ripoff.  A team is sent to another dimension and is attacked by an unseen creature.  The team is attempted to be rescued but now of course the creature is brought back with them.  Nicholas Lea, the only actor in this I knew, is a grunt and one of many that are now in dialogue filled danger from the creature.

I didn't want to trash this thing cause there's individual moments that are decent.  The heating duct crawling, the creature when you see it, the action can all be pretty good.  They are just in the movie SO little it's almost downright insulting.  The majority of this is pretty bad actors saying pretty bad dialogue and uninteresting first take type scenes where nothing really happens.  Its pretty bad.

I said a loud a few times, "this is so bad" and I paused it a few times to see how much was left.  This picked up a little bit in the second half but yeah man.  Its a bit of a slog.  So I give it 2 stars for what it gets right.

Torso - 1973

Also known as The Bodies Bear Traces of Carnal Violence and Carnal Violence.

This will be considered in that realm of "why were the tame Video Nasties labeled that way, while this one was not"?  It's not that this is incredibly violent or pornographic, doesn't have surgery scenes, but its way more insane than, say, Madhouse.  Arbitrary shit dude.

Torso was a pretty well known Giallo, one which I had on a list of many of its type and saw some and just never got around to this one.  Which is a shame, cause it is a good one, and one that is at least fairly well known in it's realm.  Directed by Sergio Martino who we saw with Your Vice and Island of the Fishmen.  I've seen a fair amount of his work, and am usually a fan.

Slasher adjacent as many of the Giallo type tend to be, this has it all.  The body count, the fetish of the knife, the unseen killer, ample ample nudity with some light lesbian scenes, lots of blood including some grisly saw dismemberment scenes, and fun energetic final girl that faces off with the killer.

Early on a kill happens where a black and red scarf is used to choke a woman.  The killer is loose and the four friends of the woman run off to the countryside to escape the threat.  They have a nice big house where the doctor, the bread and milk guy, and the townfolk all are coming by.  There's sexual tension and the list of suspects is small, it could be someone nearby or anyone at all.

This is not the best of the best but it's probably top 50ish?  Its got everything but the soundtrack and some of the camera work that some others do better.  I'll give it like a solid 4.

Pin - 1988

 What is the terminology for this type of thing where it is “take the known entity and subvert in either a horror or sexual way and capitalize on that“?

Pin is added to the list of a time when I am looking for horror, versions of movies, and I watch things like Neil Jordan‘s werewolf movie, Brotherhood of the Wolf, the horror version of Red Riding Hood. Some of these I add because they’re so bad they’re good. Some of these I’m genuinely interested in what is the horror version. There is multiple evil Pinocchio movies some of which I’ve even reviewed on this.

Coming out the same year as Child’s Play, there’s an immediate comparison, especially because I watched Play recently with my girlfriend. There is a world in which this was the more successful evil doll movie and this has perhaps a sequel to instead. That’s a world I want to live in. I love Child’s Play, but I really liked Pin a lot and it’s because of the minimalism which it has a stark contrast to the maximalism of Child’s Play. 

David Hewlett stars in the “is the doll alive or is it all imagined“ plotted film where, with no blood and practically rated G, you have a tense who done it thriller that delivers. I don’t know what to say man, I’m kind of blown away by how good it was.

What makes it interesting is multi layered. It’s the lack of explanation as we have Terry O’Quinn, as a doctor with an anatomical ventriloquist dummy that he uses in his lab. He terrorizes his kids with it, and eventually after dying in a car accident, the kids are still attached to the doll, especially Liam, the boy. Pin is given more and more importance and Liam is now possibly voicing Pin, or Pin is alive, or both, and we go from there as that influences his relationship with his sister. 

There’s a lot going on here and there’s a lot of hints towards things at multiple times but all you really need to know is that it’s an excuse for who done it thriller type stuff and cool creepy scenes with dummies. Any fan of ventriloquist base horror would be overjoyed. I’d say slightly under explored trope for me, so it’s one that I enjoy seeing here and there, and this is a great example of it so I’m gonna give it like a 3 1/2. I keep wanting to go towards four, even. 

Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama / A Nymphoid Barbarian in Dinosaur Hell - 1988/1990

 Haven't done a double in a while and these two certainly had some things in common.  First of all, a double 7/10 on the clunk-ometer for these names.  

These are both added to the list at a time in my life where I'm watching things like Dollman and Gingerdead Man and I'm doing it alone, trying to see how much fun these cult movies are when you're flying solo.  These are some of the Full Moon Productions or Troma trashy "fun cult movies" that I discover and add to the list and then as I look over the list now I'm like, there are more of these with Nudist Colony of the Dead and Frankenhooker.  These are going to be a haul.

The truth is, I never got a ton out of watching these solo and I still don't.  The fun to be had is and was always with groups, where you can laugh at the movie together and take rips from the bong and drink Hurricane High Gravity and not touch any girl.  These are the fun things I used to to, and even then, like Hell Comes to Frogtown, which I had in that very experience once or twice, there's a glass ceiling.

You need something well paced is the key to this sort of thing.  Sorority Babes is close.  Is had a monkeys paw "be careful what you wish for" sorta thing as teens wish to be prom queen, to have sex, and for money.  An evil Imp grants these wished, but naturally has it's own agenda.  It has nudity, a medium to good amount of fun factor, and you know, it would be a fun drinky smoky group movie.  I give it a 4.

Nymphoid Barbarian starts with self-aware audacity, introducing the character and declaring "look here audience.  its a fuckin' nymph movie in a dinosaur world, this is going to be a goddamn blast" and the thing with that is, you must deliver when you promise that fun.  So the idea here, is does it work?

Well, you know, not really.  Number one, if the title Nymphoid wasn't there, you wouldn't connect anything sexual with this movie.  Barely nudity, no sex, no shenanigans or jokes.  Barbarian?  I mean, loosely I guess, but honestly not as action oriented or as cool as that sounds.  Dinosaur Hell?  How about sure, dinosaurs are kinda there but generally it's just humans fighting to save on budget for stop motion.  And then the whole thing together, Nymphoid Barbarian in Dinosaur Hell - well no, because that implies we follow the character, which we kinda don't?  She's around... but also largely absent and largely dialogue-less?

It’s the classic bait and switch in what would at best be a 2 star whatever joint but with that switcheroo… no stars. Fuck you too movie.

Invasion of the Blood Farmers - 1972

I'm writing this review a good two weeks after watching it due to a blog snafu as well as 10 days in Spain.  Ya try ya know, and ya fail.

Invasion of the Blood Farmers is a super low budget hokey dumb "blood sacrifice going on in a small town" sort of a thing.  Creepy druids are hooking tubes into people and draining them of their blood for the god Onhorrid.  That and a lot of people are talking about a lot of things while doing a lot of nothing.  Those two plots go on while it's countdown to the inevitable peter out of nothing...I mean end.

There's like a body count of two, and the threat is more obscure than even this above description would make it seem.  

Likely added to my list in some search for obscure 70s horror gems, this is just sorta boring and talking and at the very best background whatever.  I give it a 1.

Avalanche - 1978

 I've reviewed Earthquake and Towering Inferno and Airport?  I'm guessing?  Nope.  I just watched Airport.  And I believe the sequel as well...

I do love this era in epic disaster film from yesteryear.  The formula was very well established by Avalanche, and this was in the latter end of this era.  It was a bomb, losing in the battle to Roger Corman's Piranha at the time of release.  This was about when the genre as a whole would be satirized by Airplane as well, just two years after this.  Much like Scream which hurt horror movies for a while I do think that satirisation hurt this genre significantly.

Avalanche follows the formula, like I said, which had by this point been cemented for films of this ilk.  Establish a few different characters and their "game", and lets get really into their love lives, their job stress, their interpersonal drama.  Waste about an hour on that before the disaster happens.  Then queue the disaster, which will be cool and be an effect fun 30 minutes.  15 minutes of plot resolution and tolls, end of movie.

Rock Hudson, Mia Farrow and Robert Forster are the main actors in this one.  Hudson is David, the owner of the new ski resort and ignorer of the warnings that this is in an avalanche zone.  Forster is the one who's the expert, warning people when he can about the avalanche, and presenting a new fling for David's love affair Caroline played of course by Farrow.  A plane crash starts an avalanche and we're off.

I have to say, with the styrofoam snow chunks and the miniatures, this movie's disaster does look cool.  It's a long and fun segment where we get to watch the happenings and see people getting these things dumped on them.  Then cut to a miniature and it gets destroyed....extremely, extremely fun.  

Then there's the aftermath sequences.  There's people trapped under snow and one guy stranded on a ski lift.  Thats a personal favorite sequence.  There's also, oddly, nudity in this movie, which I really didn't expect and certainly is a difference from most movies like this one.

I am a fan of these for what they are and the era.  These are formulaic, but isn't you know?  I give this like a good view rating of 3.5, check it out if you like this kinda stuff.

Chinese Hercules - 1973

 Well, I guessed later in the 70s.

So I think this is likely on the list because I was always into Bolo Yeung, and I cannot remember how I heard of this, but likely I thought this was a Bolo star vehicle.  It's not.  He's not in it very much.  I probably thought it was a gimmick-laden Bolo martial arts film, and its more of just "average martial arts" film.

To be honest, this one is a snooze.  I was checking this like every 2 minutes to see how much was left because it just refused to budge.  I might try again, but I doubt it at this point in my review life. 

Its one of those plentiful plots where the guy who promised never to fight again has to come back because of the bad guy gang, and Bolo is one of em, typecast as usual.  Its fine, whatever, but I was not feelin it.

Ironmaster - 1983

 I think it was in a post of mine I reread recently where I said I missed these sorta cash-ins that used to happen.  Mad Max would come out and we'd get cheap Italian rip-offs.  And then in this case, Quest for Fire would come out and we'd get a few Italian rip offs.  Such as Ironmaster.

It's like the Italian Star Wars stuff, and this is again like that because you watch this and you wonder "did they even watch the original movie?"  

First and foremost we have plentiful dialogue, in English (well, Italian, then dubbed) and it's not even written as unsophisticated.  These guys have full control of language as a concept and discuss ideas and options constantly.  They even have voting or systems in process to work through issues, as happens in this film.

The tribe has to come to terms with one of the members that's a little uncontrollable.  Italian legend George Eastman is Vood, and he kills two of the elders and goes into exile for that.  Soon enough he comes up on some lava eruption and finds metal basically.  Whatever it is, later named iron, has been forged into a club shape and could be used as a weapon.  He figures this out and with weapon in hand returns to his tribe to show his newfound usefulness as a member.  But there is another tribe out for him and soon conflict arises.

This movie starts strong but really lags as it goes on.  There just was a lack of anything really good, I dunno.  The music is decent but holy man, like WE GET IT.  About 20 minutes or so too long I'd say.  Other than that, it's kinda just "fine" so 2 stars.

Quest for Fire - 1981

 A while ago I watched Jean Jacques Annaud's film The Bear, and I ended up really liking it.  That leads me to what I thought was a rewatch but didn't feel that familiar, Quest for Fire.

This felt similar to The Bear, for certain.  Filmed with the same minimalistic approach, we open with a group of maybe 20 or so Neanderthals.  This film has no recognizable dialogue and no subtitles for the grunts and noises that are present, and yet we follow a very clear plot of them losing their fire source, selecting a few of them to go search for new fire, and the ensuing quest.

Ron Perlman and Everett McGill are in early roles in this, and they're excellent actors.  The other guys are great in this too, in such amazingly thankless roles.  Expressed all through body language, looks, feels, and that ambiguous energy that actors can convey, its a regular adventure film shot in incredible locations.  They encounter an opposing tribe with a female who takes a liking to them, they confront woolly mammoths and sabretooth tigers, and learn along the way.

This is so much more of the vibe than a hard plot, but that's not to say the plot is vague.  It's just incredibly simple.  And it relies on artistry to carry the movie, which can be bad depending on the talent behind it, but fuck yo, when it works it works.  This works, and its a beautiful and somber toned movie that has that ethereal "otherness" I search for, and often find in minimalism.

This movie kicks ass, and gets ya thinking.  For that, 5 stars.

Robot Wars - 1993

 So we return again to Charles Band and Full Moon Productions.  Yeah.  And part of me wanted to do a 5 word review.  "You know what this is" and then just a big 2 stars.

This type of thing was on my radar when I was a little bit more into hokey "so bad it's good" type bullshit.  There's a chance this being on my list dates back to more than 15, possibly even closer to 20 years, because this would've been in my SyFy channel, Pabst swilling phase.  You can tell I matured because now I swill IPAs instead.

These movies are about as fun as their effects and how much they're featured, as a lot of these don't have a lot else going for them.  In this movie, it's claymation robots, and the ensuing battles they have.  The robots do look good, but there's definitely not enough of them, and the fighting scenes are shot in a way to hide the action and conveniently cut to the human actors rather than have anything look actually cool.  Can't have that!

The plot is cookie cutter and revolves around a Megarobot pilot teaming up with an archaeologist and stopping a bad guy from having his own robot, and that's really about it.  They do the classic antagonism between the good guy and the female when you know in the end they'll be doing butt stuff and facials.  It's what you expect. Because...

You know what this is.

The Enchanted - 1984

 Ya put on 1984's The Enchanted and it immediately seems a little otherworldly.  This is the unquantifiable aspect that some things have, and something that I may try to identify just a little bit.

In this film it is medium easy to identify, which is why I will try here.  Number one, I truly do think its hard to identify without the right soundtrack, or minimally soundtrack aspects.  Wandering, wondering, electronic, strange soundtracks speak volumes.  Think of Blade Runner.  Free jazz, strange synths, offbeat undefined meanderings.  Alien, in other words.  Makes your imagination spark and your place of safety removed.  "This sounds strange and unsettling.  If this is true what else is true."

Next I have to call out cinematography.  Strange, detached, and seemingly with its own agenda, the cinematography is always important in any movie.  A visual media, we cannot pretend as though it's not always one of the most important, but specifically in ethereal film...  Long, detached takes.  Occasional flourishes, maybe, but extremely grounded and yet just a little off.  Perhaps best exemplified in this film by it's fascination with nature.  If there's a bird or something nearby, the camera seems magnetized to them.  We follow animals and nature almost as much as the actors in the film.  "Odd, unnatural, off-kilter.  If this is true what else is true."

Dialogue and actors are certainly important, just again like in all films.  It's very important that they present a grounded, real human in contrast to the bizarre circumstances around them.  They need to have their own individual flourishes as well though.  Perhaps a meditative, calm quality that seems deep and unexplored, imploring you to look deeper and ask questions.  Perhaps they are poetic and expressive, individualistic and profound.  But likely they're both, in a bizarre balance that immediately hooks you.  "This character is so interesting, like they know something I don't.  If this is true what else is true."

There's more, but lets just cut the chase here and say The Enchanted is a great example of all of these.  This is not a fantastic movie or anything, but its a great example because the only things to say about this are the weird qualities.  Plots are of course important and they need to be excessively vague and/or backseated.  This has that in spades as we wander around with Booker as he explores his strange area with unexplained, separate storylines.  And the rest is the flourish and otherworldly qualities that keep you locked in.

There's not a lot more to say other than this is that, and I've seen better and I've seen worse.  But these are vibe movies and if you are into them, there's almost nothing better than these?  You need to be patient, you need to pay attention, you need to be in on it.  I usually dig these, and indeed I liked this quite a bit.  Completely unknown and underseen, it also defines the sort of thing I look for.  I give it 3.5 stars for its specific realm and execution, and I'll say check it out.

From Hell it Came - 1957

 Absolutely always something I have been interested in, the offbeat monster movies.  The weird ones, if you will.  A genuine 50s monster movie, but where the monster in question is trees?  I'm in.

From Hell it Came is one I remember along with like Night of the Lepus and Day of the Triffids.  Those offbeat things always catch my eye, and this is also a long stretch since I last reviewed a movie like this.  

We start with a scrawl that explains there are these communities with horrifying folklore.  Where Haiti has zombies, this island we're at here has bodies put into trees and inhabiting them, sometimes forcing their will into the trees....  And yeah, that's it ya know.  Throw in a couple doctors, the gender swap roles of female Terry who doesn't want to get married and male William who does.  Can you imagine the comedy of that?!  Its 1957, get into the spirit of the thing!

Barely over an hour, these movies are another favorite "type" for me.  They're quick, low rent, A to B, generic, and fun.  They always have the blandest, most direct and unstylized dialogue, they revolve around like 10 minutes of monster and 60 minutes of "everything else".  

These things are almost solely as good as the monster, and this one's a keeper.

Exactly like when I carried my wife over the threshold...

This is a good one, one to dial up if you like this sorta thing.  I will give it a 3.5.

Zontar: The Thing from Venus - 1967

 Larry Buchanan. My first true hated film in the blog, It’s Alive, which I believe had a 15 minute flashback sequence? We return, finally to Larry Buchanan. He was certainly the reason it was on my list.

Buchanan is one of the many zero budget, DIY dudes who just had this completely inept, zero budget filmmaking style that was keen for the MST type stuff, though he was never on MST. They couldn’t get to everything I guess. 

Zontar has a scientist intercept a radio signal that only he can understand. He starts to translate it to others, speaking of an alien called Zontar which will soon be coming to earth and will bring a new way of life to the people. Naturally the others are worried and skeptical, but things are looking more and more like it could be true. 

Could be known as talking: the movie, which was true of Its Alive. Also maybe “Straight Down the Barrel” because that’s how a lot of this cinematography is. Dead on people looking at us and quickly saying their lines with zero emotion in one take. Yeeeepp. 

I dunno man I kinda have a soft spot for it now. Reminds me of like the Ray Dennis Steckler nada bullshit “movies” that I’ve seen, and honestly the dialogue sucks but it’s minimal in scope and that’s something. Then we see the monster and it’s cool, there's absolutely not enough of it but…eh… it’s okay?! 

Look. You either like it or not it’s still not good. By 1967 we were much beyond this 40s feeling monster fare. But I like it. So I’ll give it like 1.5 stars

The Crawlers - 1991

 Also known as Creepers, Troll 3 and Contamination .7

Trying to align itself with both Troll and Contamination?  Quite a gamble here.  Also quite a difference between those two as potential series connections. 

I suppose the connection to at least Troll 2 is that there are sequences here where plants attack people, and that did happen a lot in that movie.  So there's like some random plants, mostly roots really, attacking people, and that's likely due to radioactive toxic waste.  Isn't it always?

There's not a ton to say here.  It's probably more fun for a group watch, and has some potential for "so bad it's good" type bong-rippin' fun, but it's also pretty slow and there's not the insanity of a Troll 2 here by any means.  The effects are good but you won't get a lot of them, and instead its a lot of dialogue and boring nothing happening while you wait.

This is by no means zero entertainment, I likely had it on here cause it's loose connection to Contamination and Troll as a series I'm guessing?  And sadly that is likely what draws about 90% of the people who watch it cuz there ain't no other reason...so for that 2 stars.

Bloody New Year - 1987

Sigh.  I just work better in the movie realm when I have an "assignment" these days.  With that in mind, I recall my old (really, really old) list of movies I wanted to see.  This date back to pre-blog, like probably started this in 2013 or so.  So therefore, this is like, the oldest desires I've had to watch.  I think I have seen a few of these like Rottweiler and Pin, but some of these I guess I'll rewatch?  Anywho here's the list:

Razorback 1984

Bloody New Year 1987

Wizard of Gore 1970

Xtro 1-3

Rottweiler 2004

Nightmare in Blood 1977  

Zontar the thing from Venus

Robot Wars (1993)

Chinese Hercules  1973 – Bolo Yeung, looks great

Deadly Snake Versus Kung Fu Killers (1977)

Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama (1988)

The Hideous Sun Demon – classic b&w sci fi

From Hell It Came (1957) tree trunk monsters

Weasels Rip My Flesh (1979)

A Nymphoid Barbarian in Dinosaur Hell (1990) – when Troma was still decent

Horror of the Blood Monsters (1970) – another ok looking vamp film

Invasion of the Blood Farmers (1972)  - backwoods Chainsaw

Frankenstein Meets the Spacemonster (1965) – classic b&w scifi

Nudist Colony of the Dead (1991)

Thunder of Gigantic Serpent (1988) – Canadian giant monster movie!

The Meateater (1979)

Play Dead (1985)    killer animals

Alien 2: On Earth (1980)

Pin (1988)

Torso 1973

The Washing Machine (1993) sex thriller which may also have an evil washing machine

Remote Control (1988)   Blue Sunshine director

The Dragon Lives Again 1977          

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troll_3  the creepers / the crawlers 1993  -  Contamination .7

Frankenhooker (1990)    trashy comedy horror

Rawhead Rex (1986)

Night Train to Terror (1985)             retro lookin thriller

Blind Dead Series: Return of the Evil Dead, Ghost Galleon

Phantasm series

Don’t Look in the Attic

Again, I paste this in to have an easier time later as I work through this.  I also think a little retrospective on "why was this on my list" is something I'll include for each one.

Bloody New Year is a bizarre movie with some ambition and some know how, but a odd execution.  It is made by Norman J. Warren, a director I liked with Terror, Prey, Satan's Slave and I think I have seen Inseminoid but I guess I didn't review it.  This is him doing a haunted house / creepy location movie, a trope which I'm usually kinda mixed on.

Likely on the list because of the proximity to a slasher, I doubt I added this because of director Warren.  This is decidedly not a real slasher, though it has some elements, and it has other unexplained random phenomena happening in it, which gives the effects a good mention here.  They're good, and they're often.  It's one of those where the ghosts can make like anything happen, such as making snow fly inside or having an animal carving attack someone.  Those types of crazy shenanigans in movies are always way fun.

90 minutes of a fun whatever throw away British thriller will work, ya know!  I give it a solid 3.  Its nothing special but its above some of them.

Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh - 1995

 I am following up on watching the third Candyman film which I reviewed a little minute ago here.

Candyman as a trilogy is, I think, ultimately forgotten.  The first one didn't need sequels, and the two they delivered, like hey.  They tried, and what else do you expect them to do?  They don't sour the original and they don't elevate the original, they just exist.  

Farewell to the Flesh is one of those horror and sequel things we've seen where it's same thing, different...place?  As we move to New Orleans and a teacher there is teaching about folklore, they raise Candyman again and he is off to kill some more people.  New lore introduced is a mirror that could be a reason to Candyman's existence, and a possible way to defeat him.

Veronica Cartwright is in here as a mom, and overall this is like...fine.  It got middling reviews and certainly it doesn't elevate the story, but it is more of the wash rinse repeat approach.  Which you know, will push some people away but will also be fine, especially for die hard horror fans.  It has some cool moments and decent effects, and it plays well for a late night "whatever" flick.

Adam and Eve - 1983

 Where does one start with this particular pic?

Man. I thought I’d seen it all. This is, as stated before recently even, why I do this. I seek things out to discover an Italian schlocky adventure film about Adam and Eve from the 80s with nudity and talking snakes and fucking and lunacy. 

Adam is created and makes Eve from sand. They live in innocence until Eve discovers the apple tree with a tempting snake. Once she and Adam eat the apple, they promptly fuck, which puts them in clothes and forces them out of Eden. They wander until they reach a tribe of savages who confront them. 

With an 80s soundtrack and all “giving a shit” thrown to the wind, this is a regular romp. Movies this fun are few and far between. It’s purely insane in a so bad it’s good way while being keyword entertaining. Not that much truly happens, but the plot is linear, which really helps it. 

Hard to describe, it’s just so much a product of its time and it’s so genuine. I texted my buddy last night about The Evil Dead and how the remakes are so obviously not having fun.  You can feel the energy behind the camera in Evil Dead which vanishes when you get to the 2013 one.  This movie, you can feel the energy in this as well.  And it's infectious.

One of the more memorable movies I've seen recently, I loved this.  It has Mark Gregory from The Bronx Warriors and Thunder Warrior in it, and he's a compelling presence on screen.  Made it significantly more fun, I'll say that much.  I give this 4.5 stars.

The Last Island - 1990

 1990??!!  I was going to guess like 1981!  My god.

I put on a movie that said desert island and end of the world, and I'm like, hey cool.  I liked The Quiet Earth.  I liked Miracle Mile.  I liked Cast Away.  What I don't like though....endless dialogue.

I mean, dear lord is this boring.  There's a decent looking aftermath of a plane crash, and that might be the only good thing about it as people stand around and I guess "drama" happens?  Yo, this is is a boring as fuck film that I genuinely turned off, but will review anyways,

Attack Force Z - 1982

 Also known as Z Men.  No, I'm not still in New Zealand.

But, I did put on this Australian war drama with Mel Gibson and Sam Neill basically because it had the two of them in it, and also because one sentence synopsis always sound pretty decent at minimum.  Australians in China fighting Japanese?  Good cast?  I'm in!

The thing this doesn't tell you is that its a long feeling talky drama about more hide and go seek warfare than action.  Mel Gibson leads a group who find a small village and descend upon a house where Chien Hua lives with a bunch of neighborhood kids and they hang out there waiting for the Japanese.  The Japanese have been in control around these parts and have been oppressive so the village is willing to help them, and a romance even blooms between Chien and one of the soldiers. 

Almost more interesting than this review was the thought I had in my head as I watched...  Is this my least reviewed genre?  I mean, within a certain scope right, like I probably haven't done much musicals or comedies, but like I don't stick to a format and war films probably fit right in with my format.  Yet I've done very little of them.  And I actually really like war movies, I used to watch The Thin Red Line and stuff like all the fucking time.  

This really hits a big road block as the men hang out with the kids and the relationships build.  Maybe, maybe if you're in the right mood, but still....its done better elsewhere.  I want to give it basically credit for the cast and some mild tension moments, so it can have like a 1.5

Blood Run - 1994

 Mid 90s serial killer looking thing? I’ll take it. 

I start Blood Run and in the first 10 minutes theres a nude chick using a shower head to maybe masturbate, followed by a lesbian scene. Yes, this is made for tv softcore feeling trash cinema. At its purest. 

I watched this in part with my gf, who’d never seen anything like this before. She was genuinely shocked, which I loved. And for “what this is”, this movie is great. With a variety of faces you’ll know from one thing, like the druggie mom from The Crow, the chick from Hellraiser, the dude from Cyborg Cop, theres even another chick from Children of the Corn 4!

The cast is an immediate elevation, and then the nudity. Unfortunately it’s a talky cop centered drama about a serial killer and not a slasher. He is on some case, meets The Crow’s mom, she goes topless(?!) and theres some killings or something I guess thrown in there. 

They just absolutely do not make this kind of thing anymore. Super low brow and cheap, softcore, late night, half drunk, half chub, dumb dad entertainment. This is the kinda crap I remember my dad watching, this and the stupidest comedies you’d ever think of. 

I kinda loved it, but it’s boring as sin still, and theres better versions of this. But I’m giving it at least a 2 for what it gets right. 

Godmonster of Indian Flats - 1973

 Mildly clunky name...  am I still doing that?  3/10

Godmonster of Indian Flats I'd oddly heard of before, and not seen.  Perhaps on the C or D tier of known horror movies involving giant monsters or some list similar to that is this bizarre, low budget sheep monster movie.  Is it weird that this is not the first sheep attack movie I've reviewed?  Yes that's right, and I have to imagine Psycho Sheep of Butte was at least mildly inspired by this.

There's a new black Sheriff in a small cowboy town, and that creates a bit of problems as there is also a big, decent looking sheep monster that is going around causing trouble.  This goes on in this kinda plotless, whatever movie.

Quite slow, quite long feeling, this is fine borderline bad or good at parts, depending on your mood.  Amateur as fuck, where theres a shot in the movie that’s got a hose shooting up water into the frame if the shot… like come on guys. That’s so obvious, so distracting. But when the giant mutated sheep is preying on kids… best shit ever. 

On a low energy Monday this is a fine time waster to zone out to and tune in for the cool parts. 1.5 stars

Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb - 1964

 Perhaps one of the more famous clunky titles of all time?  Is this the best known?  I give it a 10/10 on the clunk-ometer.

This movie has always been a bit of an anomaly.  As I grown in age and movie versed-ness, I have a grown profound depth of appreciation for Kubrick's Barry Lyndon, Eyes Wide Shut and Killer's Kiss.  Naturally, love for him began where it likely always does with 2001, Clockwork Orange, The Shining and Full Metal Jacket - sort of the "big four" of the Kubrick movies.  I've seen Paths of Glory and Spartacus each about 3 times, and The Killer I really love as well.  I used to own Strangelove, and I took it as like...B+ tier Kubrick.  I found it very funny and the production of course is incredible.  We'll see with this rewatch.  So in a way, it leaves Lolita in a bizarre section for me of underseen.  Appreciated, but relatively unknown. 

This movie was my introduction to Peter Sellers and is perhaps an infamous dark comedy.  Just out of curiosity it made me wonder, what are the first examples of satire and dark comedy in film in general?  And honestly I feel like the genre was left alone after the early satire of silent comedies like Modern Times and The Dictator.  It made me remember that I thought recently with the film One Battle After Another...  give me more satire.  It can be so transcendent, so biting, so smart, so funny.  It can really be the best.

As a plot recap, a General exceeds his authority and issues a strike command on Russia.  This command will code all further communications to need a three letter decrypter.  We follow a specific plane on its route to Russia, we follow the General and his assistant in a dialogue where we expose the decision to exceed authority, and lastly we go to the President in his war room with his officials as they work through the problems and the precarious situation.

Starkly dark, I forgot about the depth of the insanity of General Ripper played by Sterling Hayden.  I forgot about how funny the President and his conversation - one sided - with the Russian president is.  And the comedy acting from George C. Scott is tone perfect.  As I watched it, I began to think that this is maybe the best performances in any Kubrick film, which is really saying something.  

Also, did I forget this or did it fly over my head...  Ripper clearly says his reasons for doing this, for endangering the world and for throwing everything to chaos.  He describes fatigue during intercourse, in a devoid of emotion way where we can see that here is a man that evaluated himself in such little insignificant ways that when he sensed his partner was unsatisfied he decided to nuke the world.  Normal aging and normal libido issues of a pathetic male will destroy the world.  What a message, and that moment is so dark along with his subsequent suicide is such a crazy moment in this film that I forgot about.

So on rewatch it's like, is this only because it's a comedy that this is not lumped in with the other big ones, like 2001?  I mean, this is absolutely A+ tier.  This is one of the best satires, one of the best comedies, its shot incredibly, and its astonishingly well production-designed.  They infamously got in trouble for being TOO accurate, which is hilarious.  Maybe it is just going to show that comedy is always looked down on, in some ways.  But this is for sure a five star film,