Teleport City

Todd

  • The Great Silence

    The Great Silence

    The decision to film The Great Silence in Spain’s snowy Pyrenees was the result of Sergio Corbucci wanting to take a skiing trip. Whatever the case, it’s a decision responsible for giving the film a unique and visually striking character. more ›

  • Golden Boy

    Golden Boy

    So, yes, if you’ve seen a James Bond movie, you know exactly what tropes Altin Cocuk holds in store. But the film nonetheless offers distinct pleasures in the course of watching them unfold. more ›

  • Mystery in Bermuda

    Mystery in Bermuda

    A while back I held forth at extraordinary length about The Mummies of Guanajuato, detailing how it was the first film to team up lucha cinema’s “Big Three”; Santo, Blue Demon and Mil Mascaras. I also bloviated at the expense… more ›

  • Mummies of Guanajuato

    Mummies of Guanajuato

    One need only glance over the many titles in the lucha movie genre to see that there is a long history of enmity between Mexican wrestlers and mummies. This goes all the way back to 1964, when Elizabeth Campbell and… more ›

  • Three Golden Serpents

    Our introduction to Joe Walker in Three Golden Serpents underscores the caliber of filmmaking we’re dealing with here, coming by way of a recycled and re-dubbed scene from the earlier Kill, Panther, Kill! in which Walker is made to seem… more ›

  • Santo vs. Blue Demon in Atlantis

    Santo vs. Blue Demon in Atlantis

    Ten years into his film career, Santo had already faced off against zombies, witches, mummies, mad scientists, vampires of both the male and female variety, hatchet-wielding ghosts, homicidal table lamps, and Martians. So it was only a matter of time… more ›

  • Shiva Ka Insaaf

    Until the mid eighties, the costumed superhero as we know him in the West was a figure largely absent from Indian cinema. The primary exceptions were those intermittent attempts to appropriate the Superman character that seem to dot the history… more ›

  • Toofan

    Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan and ramshackle low budget superhero spectacle are both subjects that will get a lot of play here at Teleport City, and when a film brings the two of them together we’re pretty much fated to cover… more ›

  • Ghost With Hole

    Among the mythical spirits that Suzzanna personified on screen were the South Seas Queen of Javanese legend and her daughter, The Snake Queen. But probably her most famous role was that of the Sundel Bolong. more ›

  • Vampire vs. Vampire

    Lam Ching-Ying made a whole slew of vampire comedies. The most interesting aspect of Vampire vs. Vampire is the fact that it pits Lam’s character against a Western style vampire more ›

  • Mr. Vampire

    Old Hong Kong movies use the presence of a Taoist priest as a license to print crazy, despite the real world practice of Taoism’s emphasis on quiet contemplation and equilibrium with nature. more ›

  • Death is Nimble, Death is Quick

    Death is Nimble, Death is Quick

    Like most Kommissar X films, Death is Nimble, Death is Quick does not make a whole lot of sense. What matters is that there are enough audacious set pieces and comical business to keep us from caring. more ›