Killers Three (1968)

Director: Bruce Kessler

Writers: Dick Clark, Michael Fisher

Composers: Mike Curb, Harley Hatcher, Jerry Styner

Starring: Robert Walker Jr., Diane Varsi, Dick Clark, Norman Alden, Maureen Arthur, Tony York, Merle Haggard, Bonnie Owens, John 'Bud' Cardos, Beach Dicerkson, Jerry Petty , Clint Stringer, William Alspaugh, Douglas Barger

More info: IMDb

Tagline: It started out as a Country Picnic! But before it was over 37 men were dead.

Plot: Two backwoods North Carolinians, Johnny (Walker) and Roger (Clark) rob a bootlegger's safe, kill several people in the process, and head for California with Walker's wife, Carol (Diane).

My rating: 6.5/10

Will I watch it again? No.

What starts out as a 'revenuers against the moonshiners' low budget action flick turns into a 'criminals on the run' picture clearly inspired by the previous years' BONNIE AND CLYDE (1967). I much prefer the second half when the chase is on.  Normally in a picture like this you'd get lots of action while they gang's on the run but not this one.  It slows down quite a bit.  At first it was a contrast to the first half and it felt like it was going nowhere fast but there are some moments that make it worthwhile like when Carol goes to visit her mother for the last time (which reminds me of how much Clyde & Bonnie used to visit their families).  I can see how a lot of people would be turned off by the slow pace of the last half hour or so but I grew to really dig it.  There are small moments of excitement but that's the violence that erupted when the law crossed their paths.  The other times are spent worrying where they're going to go, how they're going to travel and eat, etc.  Real life problems, the most basic of needs have to be met...just like what happened with Clyde & Bonnie (if you're remotely interested in their story I HIGHLY recommend Jeff Gunn's wonderful book, GO DOWN TOGETHER: THE TRUE, UNTOLD STORY OF BONNIE AND CLYDE).  One of the big reasons why I've been wanting to see this (and it's on Netflix streaming of all places) is because Dick Clark wrote, produced and starred in it.  He does a really good job.  Hell, they all do just fine.  Merle Haggard sings a few ballads and has a small role.  I don't need to see it again but if I did, I think I'd start right when they blow the safe that starts their time on the lam.  That's the best part.

Bereavement (2010)

Director: Stevan Mena

Writer: Stevan Mena

Composer: Stevan Mena

Starring: Michael Biehn, Alexandra Daddario, Brett Rickaby, Nolan Gerard Funk, Spencer List, John Savage, Peyton List, Kathryn Meisle, Valentina de Angelis, Greg Wood, Ashley Wolfe

More info: IMDb

Tagline: There are some evils...so unspeakable...they will scar you forever.

Plot: In 1989, the boy Martin Bristol has congenital insensitivity to pain with anhidrosis (CIPA), a rare neural disorder, in which the patient does not feel pain, heat or cold. He is abducted by the deranged serial-killer Graham Sutter (Rickaby) and brought to the Sutter Meat & Poultry, an abandoned meat-packing plant in Minersville, Pennsylvania, where Graham slaughters young women that he kidnaps. Five years later, the stubborn seventeen year-old teenager Allison Miller loses her parents and moves to the house of her uncle Jonathan Miller that is located near to the decrepit plant. Jonathan, his wife Karen and their little daughter Wendy welcome Allison, but the teenager does not give much attention to her new family. Allison likes to run alone on the road and she passes by the meat-packing plant and then she meets the mechanic William "Billy" and has a crush on him. Jonathan advises Allison to avoid running near the old factory and Billy, who is a problematic teenager. Allison does not listen to her uncle and brings tragedy to the Miller family.

My rating: 5.5/10

Will I watch it again? No.

I know this is subjective but there are times when a movie should take more time to ground itself in reality.  Some horrors work better that way and I feel like the story for this one should have been more refined to make it more plausible.  The serial killer is a bit over the top.  It's explained at the outset that the child, Martin (List), has a rare condition where he cannot feel pain and that he would be unable to survive without being regularly checked for cuts, bruises, etc.  He's 6 when we're told this.  5 years after being abducted by serial killer Graham (Rickaby), he's doing just fine.  What's more is we get scenes where Martin rests his hand on broken glass in a window which severely pierces his hand.  How would Martin survive all these years with Graham AND in Graham's large dwelling with lots of weapons, tools, etc.?  Am I nuts in thinking this is a plot issue?  That's a big problem in my book.  The big showdown at the end was pretty neat and I really dug that a lot of people die that you wouldn't expect.  The tag at the end continues the implausible but would have been OK if more attention would have been paid to the details.  There is a sequel, MALEVOLENCE (2003), that picks up with Martin 5 years later.  I'm going to pass on that.

The Woman (2011)

Director: Lucky McKee

Writers: Jack Ketchum, Lucky McKee

Composer: Sean Spillane

Starring: Pollyanna McIntosh, Brandon Gerald Fuller, Lauren Ashley Carter, Chris Krykowski, Sean Bridgers, Angela Bettis, Marcia Bennett, Shyla Molhusen, Gordon Vincent, Zach Rand, Shelby Mailloux

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Not every monster lives in the wild.

Plot: When a successful country lawyer captures and attempts to "civilize" the last remaining member of a violent clan that has roamed the Northeast coast for decades, he puts the lives of his family in jeopardy.

My rating: 8/10

Will I watch it again? Yes!

NICE!  Watching this right after AMERICAN MARY (2012) was a sweet double bill of two films I knew nothing about and they were both solid horror, each offering up something completely different.  Sean Bridgers is hilarious, darkly so, as Chris, the patriarch that captures The Woman (McIntosh), a feral woman he finds while hunting in the woods surrounding his home.  Angela Bettis, as his wife, Belle, nails her difficult role of having to straddle the line of acceptance of what he's doing and repulsion.  McIntosh (The Woman) does a fine job but my big complaint with how her character is handled is that she's WAY TOO MUCH like a zombie with all of the hissing sounds coming out of her mouth.  The makeup effects are fantastic. The first half of the film feels a little long at times with a few scenes.  There was a point where I wasn't even sure of the tonal direction they were going in but that's all fixed in the second half which is off the chain.   And the ending!  WOW!  HOLY FUCKING SHIT!!!  I loved it.  I do have a HUGE complaint and that's the songs that were used.  The mixing was horrible.  I was constantly having to adjust the volume whenever a song played, making it very annoying.  With the talent involved with this picture it was astonishing that the picture was released with that major flaw.  Still, it's a majorly kick ass horror flick that will bring out some giggles and other reactions.  I've seen, and loved, Lucky McKee's film (based on a Jack Ketchum novel), THE GIRL NEXT DOOR (2007), and after this I'm going to seek out anything else they've done together.  This is some great shit, man!

The Devil's 8 (1969)

Director: Burt Topper

Writers: Larry Gordon, Willard Huyck, John Milius, James Gordon White

Composers: Michael Lloyd, Jerry Styner

Starring: Christopher George, Fabian, Tom Nardini, Leslie Parrish, Ross Hagen, Cliff Osmond, Larry Bishop, Robert DoQui, Ron Rifkin, Joe Turkel, Baynes Barron, Lada Edmund Jr., Margjorie Dayne, Roy Thiel, R.L. Armstrong, Rlaph Meeker, Charles Bail, Lynda Day George

More info: IMDb

Tagline: The Eight... you'll love or hate!

Plot: A federal agent rounds up eight convicts to help fight a vicious moonshine gang.

My rating: 5/10

Will I watch it again? No.

Why only 8?  Because a dozen would have added more money to the budget and it's slightly less obvious that they're re-telling THE DIRTY DOZEN (1967) but destroying a big time moonshine outfit instead of killin' Nazis.  Slightly.  OK, so I don't mind ripping off another movie as long as it's fun.  This one is OK but I'm docking a point for the absolutely horrible music.  There's a hokey theme (that sounds way too much like the country/bluegrass tune, Rocky Top, released in 1967) that gets played, and I'm not exaggerating here, probably at least 40 times.  They do mix it up every once in a while by playing the tune in a minor key which hardly helps.  What's worse, the picture ends with the song sung for the first time.  It's awful, just awful.  If it weren't for that it wouldn't be that bad of a picture.  The music ruined the picture for me.  It's not a great film to begin with but it would've been a reasonable time at the drive-in if it were paired with something better.  It's on Netflix streaming right now but please don't waste your time.

American Mary (2012)

Directors: Jen Soska, Sylvia Soska

Writers: Jen Soska, Sylvia Soska

Composer: Peter Allen

Starring: Katharine Isabelle, Antonio Cupo, Tristan Risk, David Lovgren, Paula Lindberg, Clay St. Thomas, John Emmet Tracy, Twan Holliday, Nelson Wong, Sylvia Soska, Jen Soska, Paul Anthony, Sean Amsing, Travis Watters

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Appearances Are Everything

Plot: Medical student, Mary Mason, becomes increasingly broke and disenchanted with the surgical world she once admired. The allure of easy money sends Mary into the world of underground surgeries which ends up leaving more marks on her than her so called 'freakish' clientele.

My rating: 7.5/10

Will I watch it again? Yes.

Here's a neat little horror/thriller that I'd never heard of until I browsed Netflix streaming.  The performances are very good, and Isabelle (as Mary) does a fine job of carrying the picture.  I like that we don't know what happens to a certain someone until the end of the picture and when we see them, it's pretty fucking cool.  I really dug how Mary went deeper and deeper into this world and really found her place and enjoyed herself.  There's a brief montage of some real folks with body modification (the coolest is the woman who had her large areolas re-shaped to resemble Valentine's hearts) which brings the scant amount of nudity the picture offers (sad face).  The ending was very satisfying.  I'm looking forward to seeing this one again someday.  I can't tell if the DVD has any extras but if it does, I'll get my hands on it.  It's a stylish and fun flick that's something different than the usual kind of horror.

Scarlet Street (1945)

Director: Fritz Lang

Writers: Georges de La Fouchardiere, Andre Mouezy-Eon, Dudley Nichols

Composer: Hans J. Salter

Starring: Edward G. Robinson, Joan Bennett, Dan Duryea, Margaret Lindsay, rosalind Ivan, Jess Barker, Charles Kepmer, Anita Sharp-Bolster, Samual S. Hinds, Vladimir Sokoloff, Arthur Loft, Russell Hicks

More info: IMDb

Tagline: The GREAT STARS and DIRECTOR of "Woman in the Window"

Plot: Chris Cross, 25 years a cashier, has a gold watch and little else. That rainy night, he rescues delectable Kitty from her abusive boyfriend Johnny. Smitten, amateur painter Chris lets Kitty think he's a wealthy artist. At Johnny's urging, she lets Chris establish her in an apartment (with his shrewish wife's money). There, Chris paints masterpieces; but Johnny sells them under Kitty's name, with disastrous and ironic results.

My rating: 9/10

Will I watch this again? YES!!! (as he stabs NO sixteen times)

I've loved this movie to pieces since I first saw it probably 25 years ago.  It's absolutely brilliant.  Robinson plays Chris with such pathos that you can't help but feel for the guy.  Everyone does a great job but it's Robinson that gets the emotion.  Bennett (as the bad new broad, Kitty) and especially Duryea (Kitty's boyfriend and all 'round douchebag) really bring home the worst in people.  You really learn to hate them and practically from the beginning. By the end of the film you're practically pushing them toward their doom, and boy do they get it!  When Kitty meets her fate it's like a surprise Jack in the box out of nowhere.  This picture really brings out the fury.  It's just horrible what they did to Chris. It's really wonderful how the whole thing wraps up.  It's not pretty for any of the principle players and none of them really deserved what fell upon them (if you really give it some thought).  I'd love to go into more detail but that would mean major spoilers and I'd rather you check it out for yourself.  It's one of the best Film Noir pictures out there and probably my second favorite behind DOUBLE INDEMNITY (1944) which also stars Eddie G..

Strictly Sinatra (2001)

Director: Peter Capaldi

Writer: Peter Capaldi

Composer: Stanislas Syrewicz

Starring: Ian Hart, Kelly Macdonald, Brian Cox, Alun Armstrong, Tommy Flanagan, Iain Cuthbertson, Una McLean, Jimmy Chisholm, Jimmy Yuill

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Toni wanted a crowd... he got the mob

Plot: A small-time crooner find himself on the receiving end of the threatening attentions of a gangster, whose wife has fallen for the singer's Sinatra-like aura.

My rating: 6.5/10

Will I watch it again? No.

Crooners, British gangsters, Brian Cox...I'm in.  This is an unusual British crime film in that the lead is a 28 year old low rent lounge singer that only performs Frank Sinatra tunes until a local, elderly gangster kingpin and his wife take an interest in his music.  As Toni (Hart) as been struggling with his craft he's sucked into their world by Chisolm (Cox) who tells him stories of the times he met Sinatra in Vegas and promises to help his career.  The picture moves along like you'd expect it to, with a young whipper snapper being sucked into the criminal world.  Along the way he meets and falls in love with Irene (Macdonald) (you'll know her as Margaret from BOARDWALK EMPIRE (2010)) and you know that their relationship is going to be strained by his involvement with the gangsters and that he's going to get in too deep and not be able to break away from them but you know further that he will find a way and that he and Irene will start a new life together.  Yeah, it pretty much writes itself but it's not an uninteresting picture.  I might be more inclined to like this because I'm also a crooner with a band that does Sinatra tunes.  I wasn't all that thrilled with the ending as it seemed like there could have been a better way of getting Toni & Irene to their destination but it's still a worthwhile effort.  If you need another excuse to check it out, it's fun seeing a MUCH thinner Brian Cox.