Date Bait (1960)

Director: O'Dale Ireland

Writers: O'Dale Ireland, Ethelmae Wilson Page, Robert Slaven

Composer: Nicholas Carras

Starring: Gary Clarke, Marlo Ryan, Dick Gering, Carold Dawne, Jon Lindon, Gabe Delutri, Michael Bachus, Mildred Miller, Steve Ihnat, Chad Williams, Lemar Crast, Rita Guinan, Anton von Stralen, Trep Howard, Reggie Perkins, Johnny Faire

More info: IMDb

Tagline: AT SIXTEEN...a girl learns about love...ONE WAY OR THE OTHER!

Plot: A Troubled young man, Brad, returns home after six months rehab. On his first night he starts a fight in dance club with a man named Logan because he was dancing with Sue, a girl whom Brad is in love with. Brad's older brother ends the fight just to beat Logan up later himself. Although Sue's strict father is strongly against her relationship with Logan, they secretly get married in Las Vegas. Soon Brad's love turns to obsession and at the same time he falls back into using drugs. Sue's father takes matters into his own hands.

My rating: 6.5/10

Will I watch it again? Probably not.

I dig watching these 50+ year old teenager movies.  Sometimes they're so naive it's hilarious.  They also have a tendency with the drama to drag down the picture to a snail's pace.  This one's got a nice mix of dating (even teen marriage), crime, drugs and the rock & roll.  The acting is pretty good but you can only do so much with standard fare like this.  It's funny how old and how square parents are in these things.  As per usual you get the rock & roll song and dance where you hear the whole tune.  I'd say this one is better than the usual pictures of this kind.  One thing that stands out is the teen couple eloping and being a big bundle of nerves on their wedding night in a hotel.  Can't two married kids in love get their freak on?  Geez!  The cars are cool, the music is happening, the clothes, the dialogue, it's all groovy.  I doubt I'd watch this again only because there were tons of these pictures made back in the 50s and early 60s and I'd rather roll the dice and watch one I haven't seen before revisiting this one.

Strike of the Tortured Angels (1982)

Director: Roy Rosenberg

Writers: Dick O'Nell, Gary Capra Jr.

Composer: Ricky Chan

Starring: Susan Lee, Stella Jone, Laura Sode-Matteson, George Bill, Larry Moore, Jim Man

More info: IMDb

Tagline: ACTION! BETRAYAL! HATRED! BLOODSHED! GIRLS! GIRLS! GIRLS!

Plot:  Three girls in a women's prison escape and have a difficult time staying a live and free on the run.

My rating: 4/10

Will I watch it again?  No.

This overly dramatic Women In Prison (WIP) film from Hong Kong has each of the three escapees out to either wrong a right, get revenge or take care of business before they die.  The 'black' girl has TB and one of them is pregnant or something.  And by black I mean an Asian woman in blackface.

Yup. For a WIP picture I don't recall a single frame of nudity although there is a hint at the obligatory group shower scene as the girls arrive at the jungle camp.  There's also no torture or much of any of the edgy staples of WIP films.  It's mildly entertaining but I've got to say that I was bored enough that a day after watching it I forgot almost everything about it.  That's not good.  The crappy fullscreen VHS tape with Dutch subs isn't the way to go but it's the only way you're probably going to find it.  It's one of several crap movies in the Fortune 5 DVD set called Grindhouse Experience that comes with 20 lousy movies.  I've been through them all and there's only one now that I would consider watching again.  Really.

In the Mouth of Madness (1994)

Director: John Carpenter

Writer: Michael De Luca

Composers: John Carpenter, Jim Lang

Starring: Sam Neill, Julie Carmen, Jurgen Prochnow, David Warner, John Glover, Bernie Casey, Peter Jason, Charlton Heston, Frances Bay, Wilhelm von Homburg, Hayden Christensen

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Lived Any Good Books Lately?

Plot: An insurance investigator begins discovering that the impact a horror writer's books have on his fans is more than inspirational.

My rating: 6.5/10

Will I watch it again? Maybe.

At first I wasn't diggin' Sam Neill's performance.  He seemed awkward in the role that is until the shit starts getting weird and his character's tone changed from flippant to serious.  I'm not sure if I really liked the movie, though.  On one hand it's got a wonderful premise and there's a lot of great imagery with lots of weird shit going on.  But on the other, it drags on and on until the last twenty minutes when it picks up steam and stays interesting as shit until the credits roll.  I think I'm going to give this one another watch in a few years and see how I feel about it then.  It's the kind of picture I really want to like but it didn't grab my by the former short and curlies this go 'round.

Tower of London (1939)

Director: Rowland V. Lee

Writer: Robert N. Lee

Composer: Frank Skinner

Starring: Basil Rathbone, Boris Karloff, Barbara O'Neil, Ian Hunter, Vincent Price, Nan Grey, Ernest Cossart, John Sutton, Leo G. Carroll, Miles Mander, Lionel Belmore, Rose Hobart, Ronald Sinclair

More info: IMDb

Tagline: In the story of this diabolical, misshapen figure, the screen presents a spectacle of unequalled magnitude...the wide-swept furies of a nation driven to maniacal revolt...the shadow of a bestial-faced executioner...a populace screaming for revenge!

Plot: In the 15th century Richard Duke of Gloucester, aided by his club-footed executioner Mord, eliminates those ahead of him in succession to the throne, then occupied by his brother King Edward IV of England. As each murder is accomplished he takes particular delight in removing small figurines, each resembling one of the successors, from a throne-room dollhouse, until he alone remains. After the death of Edward he becomes Richard III, King of England, and need only defeat the exiled Henry Tudor to retain power.

My rating: 8/10

Will I watch it again? Yes.

Great story, great performances, great actors, great scenery, great fun.  Seeing Price so young is wild and his drinking bout with Rathbone is fucking great. Rathbone is one ruthless mo-fo in this picture.  I really dig these costume dramas and they were really good at them back in the 30s.  I like the idea of having a toy court made up for Richard (Rathbone) to remove the dolls of the people who stand in his way to the throne. He's such a cold bastard that it's easy not to like him but then it's Basil fucking Rathbone so you kinda want to see him make it.  KIND HEARTS AND CORONETS (1949) has a similar premise but TOWER is a much better film and not played for dark laughs.  I REALLY liked this film and I'm looking forward to seeing it again someday.  It's one of 5 great (so far) films in the first volume of Universal's The Boris Karloff Collection.  The other films come with a trailer but not this one which may explain why there isn't one anywhere online.  It's a wonderful set and a must-have for Karloff fans.

Intruder (1989)

Director: Scott Spiegel

Writers: Lawrence Bender, Scott Spiegel

Composer: Basil Poledouris

Starring: Elizabeth Cox, Renee Estevez, Dan Hicks, David Byrnes, Sam Raimi, Eugene Robert Glazer, Billy Marti, Burr Steers, Craig Stark, Ted Raimi, Alvy Moore, Tom Lester, Emil Sitka, Bruce Campbell, Lawrence Bender, Scott Spiegel

More info: IMDb

Tagline: A new dimension in terror.

Plot: The overnight stock crew of a local supermarket find themselves being stalked and slashed by a mysterious maniac.
76.5/10

Will I watch it again? Yeah.

For a low budget horror flick this is pretty damn good and for a first time feature director, it's pretty damn good.  It's pretty fun even if it's a little overlong.  The thing that gets old, and fast, is the director's constant use of unusual angles and shots.  Every single one is cool and I really dug them but there are so many that it starts to get in the way early on.  Spiegel is a long time friend of Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell going all the way back to their start in the business so you can see where the influence came from.  The kills are great and there's lots of blood but sadly there's no nudity, not that it hurts this picture.  One thing I really dug were the cameos by the Sam & Ted Raimi, Bruce Campbell and especially Alvy Moore and Tom Lester who I loved in the 60s TV show GREEN ACRES.  Fans of 80s slasher films need to add this one to the top of the list.  It's creative, good and fun.  I can't think of a movie that has ever gotten more use out of the solitary location of a grocery store.  Oh, and the ending?  FUCKING AWESOME!!!  You don't see endings like this hardly ever.

Night Key (1937)

Director: Lloyd Corrigan

Writers: Jack Moffitt, William A. Pierce, Tristram Tupper

Composer: ???

Starring: Boris Karloff, Warren Hull, Jean Rogers, Alan Baxter, Hobart Cavanaugh, Samuel S. Hinds, David Oliver, Ward Bond, Frank Reicher, Edwin Maxwell

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Death in a wax museum!

Plot: The inventor of a new top-of-the-line burglar alarm system is kidnapped by a gang in order to get him to help them commit robberies.

My rating: 7/10

Will I watch it again? Sure.

I love these old Karloff pictures (as opposed to new ones?).  Even the bad ones aren't that bad.  It's weird seeing him play such an old man so soon after FRANKENSTEIN (1931) even though he was in his mid-fifties at the time he filmed it.  Say, why is it old scientists in movies have the hottest daughters?  And the older they are the hotter the broads are?  Hmmmmm.  This picture is just a little over an hour long and the pacing is very quick and fun.  There's a lot going on and director Corrigan doesn't waste a moment.  The supporting characters are good and fun and even though the story plays out like you'd think, it's good entertainment. I've got this on the excellent Universal set, The Boris Karloff Collection.  The only extra is a trailer but the set has 4 other great Karloff pictures.

World War Z (2013)

Director: Marc Forster

Writers: Max Brooks, Matthew Michael Carnahan, Drew Goddard, Damon Lindelof, J. Michael Straczynski

Composer: Marco Beltrami

Starring: Brad Pitt, Mireillie Enos, Daniella Kertesz, James Badge Dale, Ludi Boeken, Matthew Fox, David Morse, Peter Capaldi,Abigail Hargrove, Fana Morkoena, Fabrizio Zacharee Guido

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Remember Philly!

Plot: United Nations employee Gerry Lane traverses the world in a race against time to stop the Zombie pandemic that is toppling armies and governments, and threatening to destroy humanity itself.

My rating: 6/10

Will I watch it again? No.

I understand that this is nothing like the book it's based on so I don't have that holding me back.  As a movie it's not all that bad. The picture starts with a bang and doesn't let up for quite a while.  I dug that part of the ride.  Once the plane crashes and Gerry (Pitt) ends up at the laboratory, that's when things slow down to a crawl, we get to breathe a little and the film starts losing me.  The ending with how Pitt saves the world is mostly horseshit.  You don't just quickly find the solution like this and then take forever to justify it.  That long sequence almost makes the rest of the picture nothing more than a string of visually striking and exciting set pieces that are nothing more than really cool looking filler.  I liked those scenes but the ending felt like it was letting the air out of those tires by cheapening it.