Kung Fu Zombie
Kung Fu Zombie, , one of the films that inspired the creation of Teleport City, pits Billy Chong against an indestructible living dead martial artist with flaming hands and feet.
Read more
Exotica Noir: Technicolor Paradise
For every Martin Denny , there were dozens of other, independent musicians plying their trade in exotica, with strange, stunning, and spooky results. It is these musicians that Technicolor Paradise celebrates.
Read moreA World of Wicker, Part 1: The Life and Myth of Emmanuelle
On Diabolique, I’m exploring the sultry wicker-heavy world of the legendary erotic film Emmanuelle, starting with the original book and the woman who wrote, or at least inspired it all.
Read moreSex and Naps
On the surface, The Wicker Man is the story of one police constable’s attempt to scrooge up a town’s May Day revelries. Delving deeper into its waters, however, is aided by a few key texts that informed the film.
Read moreThe Shadow of Carmilla: From Carmilla to Carl Dreyer
On Diabolique, I’m taking a multi-part journey through the history of vampire fiction and films based on the classic tale Carmilla. Part one looks at the dreamy sem-silent fantasy horror film Vampyr and the career f its director, Carl Theodor Dreyer. There is a moment in Danish filmmaker Carl Theodor Dreyer’s Vampyr, an unimportant throw-away couple of seconds, where the
Read moreBullitt
These days, Bullitt‘s reputation is built almost entirely on the exhilarating eleven-minute car chase. Even people who have never seen the movie have seen or heard about that scene.
Read moreAsia-Pol
Despite secret lairs and spy gadgets, Asia-pol plays things straight where other Shaw Bros. espionage efforts reveled in the most outlandish sci-fi aspects of spy films.
Read moreEverything Gets Boring
On Diabolique, I’m continuing to explore British underground cinema and the BFI Flipside series. Deep End explores the disappointing end of the 1960s and the awkwardness of coming of age.
Read moreOne Slow Descent into Respectability
On Diabolique, I’m digging into one of the most famous scandals in modern British political history, not to mention Pleasure Girls, the bubbly tale of optimistic young ladies struggling to make it in the big, swingin’ city.
Read moreAboard the African Queen
A day spent puttering around the coast and canals of Key Largo on board the actual boat from one of my favorite films, John Huston’s The African Queen.
Read moreMachine Made Dirt
On Diabolique, I’m exploring underground British cinema by way of the BFI Flipside series. First up: wild jazz beatniks on a lust-fueled rampage! It’s Gillian Hills in Beat Girl.
Read moreMars Men
Mars Men kicks off with a little kid stumbling upon a hidden cave in which he finds a small statue of Yud Wud Jaeng. The kid insists on calling him “Hanamajin”, and the rest of the cast follows suit.
Read moreA Brief History of The Quick
Power pop fans sometimes try to swell the ranks of their chosen obsession by widening their nets to include within it acts that are not necessarily deserving of the label. Take for example, The Quick.
Read moreFighting the Unknown
As the series begins, Quatermass and his team are in a quandary after their most recent manned space flight vanishes without a trace, only to turn up later when it crashes into a farmer’s field. Rushing to the site, Quatermass is baffled to discover that of the three astronauts launched into orbit, only one is still in the ship.
Read moreThe Super Inframan
Inframan is, in many ways, a perfect film, in that it is resoundingly successful in achieving what it sets out to do. Every one of its scenes could be bullet-pointed with the word “SEE!” in front of it.
Read more