Hatchet for the Honeymoon
Hatchet for the Honeymoon is not the kind of film to watch for ingenious murders. It is the kind of film to watch for paranormal and sartorial phenomena, discotheques, and horrifying old toys.
Read moreTag Archives: 1970s
The Forbidden Photos of a Lady Above Suspicion
Forbidden Photos is not an exceptionally plotted giallo. Nonetheless, it has a structure sturdy enough upon which to hang a lot of crazy mid-century design
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 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 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 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 moreRevolver
Testi plays Milo, a small-time hood who, when the film opens is lugging his wounded buddy through a field after a heist that has apparently gone rather poorly. His friend dies, and Testi buries him in the field before getting arrested and ending up in a jail run by Oliver Reed’s Vito Cipriani.
Read moreSpace 1999: Aliens Are Jerks
The short-lived television program Space: 1999 taught us many things about our depressing universe. Chief among its concerns: reminding us every week that our fellow inhabitants of the galaxy are at least as awful as we are, only with magic powers. Space: 1999 taught me two valuable lessons. The first is that space is depressing and best represented by the
Read moreBattles without Honor and Humanity II
I’ve been sitting here trying to think of an adequate way to describe exactly what it is that Sonny Chiba does and wears in this second film in Kinji Fukasaku’s highly enjoyable, highly influential Battles without Honor and Humanity series of films that delve into the world of organized crime and the role it played in rebuilding post-war Japan. The
Read moreDeadly Art of Survival
While prowling lower Manhattan, No-Wave filmmaker Charlie Ahearn was approached by a group of young black kids who thought it was awesome. They also thought he should make a movie about them and the kungfu school they attended
Read moreA Gaggle of Golgo 13
Golgo 13 was (is) a long-running Japanese comic book aimed primarily at bitter guys in dead-end salaryman jobs who harbored daydreams of being tough-as-nails murderous sex machines but, in reality, were just nerdy guys reading a comic book on the train before they started a day full of kissing their boss’s ass and shouting out the company cheer.
Read moreKara Murat Fatihin Fermani
Kara Murat Fatihin Fermani, though a little rough around the edges, is still an incredibly enjoyable film, full of Cuneyt Arkin doing somersaults over his enemies and flinging scimitars across a room with deadly accuracy.
Read moreNinja Killer
Ninja Killer was a lot fun, even if there were no ninjas, and even if my dreams of Cuneyt Arkin fighting Bolo Yeung never came to fruition. Godfrey Ho and conspirator Thomas Tang have created something almost… competent… in the execution.
Read moreMusic from Forbidden Kingdoms
This quartet of releases from Sublime Frequencies explores music from countries that have been traditionally off-limits — Myanmar, Shan Province, North Korea —or struggled with decades of oppression and violence—Cambodia.
Read moreWhen Sex Leers Its Inquisitive Head
Around these parts, Wyngarde is revered for his role as Jason King, the swingin’ international man of mystery, adventure novel writer, and part-time espionage agent. But…he also recorded an album,
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