After dealing with the voyeurism impulse in "I Like to Watch," co-writer/director Paul Vatelli is back with a more traditional adult film endeavor in 1983's "Sorority Sweethearts." The helmer heads to the American college campus to inspire carnal delights, containing the action to a sorority house where students and the housemother come into contact with sexual thrills as they try to reverse all disappointment previously tied to a weekend of cancelled plans. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com
1982's "I Like to Watch" endeavors to be a seductive understanding of voyeurism. Not the psychology of the act, but the sheer amount of it, with a cast of oversexed characters trying to reach different heights of arousal as they take to small holes and cracked-open doors to experience the thrill of peeping. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com
Perhaps inspired by the cult success of "This Is Spinal Tap," director Allan Holzman ("Forbidden World," "Out of Control") attempts to mount his own faux documentary with 1985's "Grunt! The Wrestling Movie." Instead of sending-up the world of heavy metal music and band dynamics, Holzman turns his attention to professional wrestling, itself a product of manufactured interactions and results. It's somewhat bold to poke fun at something that isn't exactly real, but Holzman aims to please with "Grunt! The Wrestling Movie," working to bring a level of comedic insanity to the screen, pounding viewers with matches and personalities, holding the whole thing together with a story involving one filmmaker's mission to find the truth in the midst of madness. It's not especially funny, but the effort is snappily paced and highlights a special time in pro-wrestling when regional organizations were king, about to be demolished by the domination of the World Wrestling Federation, who debuted their "WrestleMania" extravaganza that very same year. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com
Chuck Norris was destined to become a big screen action hero, testing the waters with small productions looking to do something with his physical prowess and steely stare. He was a martial arts hero hunting for the right project to bring him to the next level of fame, and while efforts such as "An Eye for an Eye," "The Octagon," and "Silent Rage" did what they had to do for the star, it would be 1983's "Lone Wolf McQuade" that would forever change how the industry and fans would perceive Norris. Newly scruffy and irritable, the actor submits to director Steve Carver's vision for a fresh take on old Sergio Leone business, delivering a satisfying Eastwood-ian riff on The Man with No Name. "Lone Wolf McQuade" has issues with ridiculousness, but it's one of Norris's better pictures, with Carver's spaghetti western itches fully scratched by his leading man, who seems to enjoy the challenge of creating a performance with as little dialogue as he can possibly get away with. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com
After scoring an unexpected success with 1979's "Zombi 2," writer/director Lucio Fulci maintains his reputation as a prolific moviemaker, returning to screens with 1980's "The Gates of Hell" (aka "City of the Living Dead"), diving right back into all things undead. It's the first of a three grisly features made with star Catriona MacColl ("The Beyond" and "The House by the Cemetery"), who gives a full-body performance of panic in "The Gates of Hell," giving Fulci some thespian hustle while he works out the extreme gore of the endeavor, which details a quest to prevent the rise of zombies in rural America, organized by a dead priest. It's all supernatural mumbo-jumbo without a decent ending, but Fulci's never been one for details, turning his attention to atmosphere instead, giving the effort enough shock value and scenes of mounting dread to cover the viewing experience. It's not remarkable work, but it really scores when concentrating on disgusting bodily harm. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com
Writer/director Noah Baumbach has always permitted pieces of himself to inform his work, assessing stages of his life and experience with family through mostly effective dramedies, including his last endeavor, 2017's "The Meyerowitz Stories." With "Marriage Story," Baumbach goes to a dark place to assess the end of a life shared by two unhappy people, taking over two hours of screentime to assess the difficulties of a specifically challenged marital union. This one plays like Baumbach is flipping through pages of his diary, delivering frighteningly intimate work that remains focused on troubling psychological spaces, with the fingerprints of personal experience found all over the effort. "Marriage Story" is richly detailed, tastefully balanced with some needed comedy, and consistently attentive to the inner lives of the lead characters, who endure all the dehumanization of the divorce process in America. And yet, through the gloom and rising anxiety, Baumbach always preserves the heart of the moment, fleshing out the struggle of legal and emotional separation. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com
Writer/director A.T. White attempts to craft a low-budget brain-bleeder with "Starfish," his take on a creature feature where the odyssey of monsterdom is contained within. There are wild visions presented here, but as freak-out cinema goes, it's not a picture for those with limited patience. White moves forward carefully with his psychological free dive, keeping up with trends in digital cinema that deliver more visual detail than dramatic lure, working to disturb the traditional viewing experience with concentration on imagery and mental distortion, keeping common storytelling away from the endeavor. White certainly knows how to put together a sharp-looking movie, and "Starfish" is ideal for those who enjoy meditative missions into the interpretive unknown. Dramatically, it's intermittently compelling, but after about 30 minutes of this ambling effort, this very well may White's intention with his feature-length helming debut. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com
1977's "Orca" was created to cash-in on the massive, industry-changing success of 1975's "Jaws," with executive producer Dino De Laurentiis trying to get in on a developing trend with his own take on man vs. sea creature. He can't quite shake the shark envy out of his system (the film opens with sequence involving a Great White), but De Laurentiis elects to head in a slightly different direction with the picture, overseeing a screenplay that puts a killer whale on the hunt for revenge against a particularly selfish human hunter. Director Michael Anderson strives to make something somber with "Orca," dealing with an intelligent apex predator and a screenplay that endeavors to use some sense of marine science to inspire a suspenseful tale of vengeance. The feature wants to be sensitive and deliver a B-movie event, and while Anderson tries to mount an extravaganza featuring "Jaws"-like attacks and conflicted characters, this effort wipes out when it attempts anything more than cheap thrills. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com
Perhaps the first mistake the producers made was titling the film "3:15" (aka "3:15 the Moment of Truth"). It's a poor title, doing little to sell what the viewing experience involves, offering numbers when swinging fist imagery was in order. The screenplay by Sam Bernard and Michael Jacobs explores gang warfare in a Los Angeles high school, downplaying real-world violence to make a graphic novel-style revenge picture, which blends in a little of "The Warriors" for taste. "3:15" is a broad offering of teen aggression, and while it gets a little too silly at times, director Larry Gross (who knows his Walter Hill stuff, co-scripting "Streets of Fire" and "48 Hrs.") has a certain level of authority with the pulpy aspects of the plot, trying to reinforce the danger of the central situation of intimidation. The feature gets away from him at times, but the entertainment value of the endeavor is present, especially for viewers who enjoy their mid-'80s offerings of juvenile delinquency. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com
1990's "Death Warrant" is a dramatic reminder of Jean-Claude Van Damme's rise to screen glory, starring in a kooky B-list prison picture that attempts to merge the subgenre's propensity for violence and community intimidation with a mystery of modest means. The endeavor permits the martial artist an opportunity to branch out as an actor, playing traditional fist-first beats while working on his range of reactions to uncovered clues. For this type of entertainment, "Death Warrant" is actually quite engaging, with an amusing supporting cast of the trained and the terrible. Nevertheless, the glue here is Van Damme, offering his pronounced concentration and his kick-happy athleticism to what might've been a dreary viewing experience, bringing a funky foreign energy to a movie that's in need of all the oddity it can get its hands on. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com
Receiving a career boost with his work on 1979's "Penitentiary," Leon Isaac Kennedy keeps the boxing gloves on for 1981's "Body and Soul," which returns the actor to the ring to portray another underdog battling his own demons. However, instead of toplining a scrappy B-movie, Kennedy tries to bend this production into something with more mainstream appeal, also scripting this loose remake of a 1947 Robert Rossen picture. With a blazing, triumphant score and story that concerns the efforts of a man to better himself and his life, it's clear Kennedy was hunting for another "Rocky"-style success. "Body and Soul" isn't as friendly as the Sylvester Stallone smash, offering harder behavioral edges and a strange sense of honor. The boxing is there, complete with a supporting turn from Muhammed Ali, but Kennedy doesn't crack the challenge of likability, giving his feature a distractingly weird assessment of nobility. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com
Entering the 1970s, a decade that would see his star power rise to its greatest level, Charles Bronson wanted to do one thing, and he did it exceedingly well. 1972's "The Mechanic" contributes greatly to his reputation as an actor of few words and less facial reactions, taking such restraint to the extreme with an opening sequence that doesn't include any dialogue for the first 16 minutes of the movie. The material (scripted by Lewis John Carlito, who went on to direct "The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea") is unnervingly suited to Bronson's thespian abilities, offering him a chance to act hard, kill people, and remain as perfectly still as possible. "The Mechanic" is a peculiar picture, but it does have defined highlights of intimidation and action, while the procedural aspects of the feature are fascinating, presenting a cooler overview of the assassin workday while director Michael Winner (who struck gold with Bronson in 1974's "Death Wish") fiddles with editorial and scoring dials to give a straightforward story some intrusive avant-garde touches. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com
Trying to keep their success with all things Dracula going, Hammer Films aims for a slightly different tale of monstrous menace with 1963's "The Kiss of the Vampire." Instead of mounting another take a single force of evil, the production heads into a more psychological direction for this period chiller, taking the slow road to the command of innocents, keeping more explosive genre elements to the final moments of the movie. Hammer isn't shy about using filler to get their run times where they need to be, and "The Kiss of the Vampire" certainly isn't a pulse-pounder. It does retain some eeriness courtesy of director Don Sharp, who guides a capable cast through compelling mysteries and unnerving acts of submission, coming up with an engaging genre offering that actually works best when dealing with silent horrors. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com
Keeping up his interest in large things destroying little things, director Bert I. Gordon tries to top his work on "The Amazing Colossal Man" with 1958's "The Spider" ("Earth vs. The Spider" is the title on the print), chasing moviemaking trends for giant terrors with his offering of a massive arachnid making a mess of a mountain community. It's not a slick special effects display, but the crudeness of Gordon's vision is nearly enough to keep the viewing experience engaging, watching the actors do battle with oversized props and spider photography as they try to get a monsterpalooza going. It's the filler that isn't nearly as welcome, as Gordon has difficulty reaching a paltry 73-minute run time, throttling enjoyable nonsense as the feature wheezes to a close. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com
"Torpedo U-235" is Belgium's attempt to create a Hollywood-style war story that's big on sweeping action and intense performances. More precisely, co-writer/director Sven Huybrechts wants his own "Inglourious Basterds," crafting a violent, history-bending WWII adventure that thrives on attitude and confrontation. It's a lively endeavor, with a distinct mission to please potential viewers with an assortment of dangerous doings and submarine movie formula, attempting to light up the screen with a much lower budget than any blockbuster would accept. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com
It's always a tricky proposition to translate the work of Japanese author Yukio Mishima, and writer/director Lewis John Carlino has his hands full with "The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea." The 1976 production moves the action from Japan to England, trying to bring Mishima's interests in honor, obsession, and anger with it, doing a credible job keeping the tale's uneasiness alive while juggling some strangely polar-opposite performances. "The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea" deals with heavy eroticism and profound psychological issues, and it remains a specialized viewing experience for those interested in a disturbing picture, but one that also does a fine job connecting the behavioral dots, while Carlino's commitment to the story's impossibly bleak ending is astounding. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com
"Trauma" has been classified by the experts as a giallo, but it's a stretch to keep it in the subgenre. Sure, there's something of a mystery going on during the feature, and hellraising is committed by a black-gloved killer wielding a straight razor. Elements are there, but the screenplay is more influenced by Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho," going the slasher route with its tale of a remote inn and the strange person who runs it. Perhaps this distance from strict giallo-ing is good for director Leon Klimovsky, who gets far enough with strange interactions and sexploitation interests here. "Trauma" isn't a nail-biter, but it holds together as an odd knock-off. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com
The title, "The Police are Blundering in the Dark," is remarkably memorable, but doesn't quite describe the viewing experience of the 1975 picture. In fact, the cops aren't really involved in the story, which follows a series of murders involving beautiful women, and the ladies' man who's on the hunt for the perpetrator. Director Helia Colombo tries to deliver a traditional giallo event, tracking a deadly villain who preys on innocents, using long scissors to dispatch victims. There's a list of suspects and plenty of sexploitation. However, there's also a sci-fi element to the material, which has the potential to inspire some needed insanity, but Colombo is hesitant. He keeps the endeavor low to the ground, trusting in violence and nudity to sustain a movie that takes long breaks between moments of mayhem. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com
1973's "The Killer is One of 13" has more in common with Agatha Christie than a true Euro ripper about a gloved killer. It's an extraordinarily patient production, with the screenplay locked in exposition and confrontation mode for a whopping 63 minutes of screen time before the first murder occurs. The wait for mayhem is actually the most shocking element of the picture, which provides more of a theatrical-style viewing experience, watching capable actors devour the motivations they've been assigned, offering hearty performances for a feature that promises horror, but doesn't make immediate plans to showcase genre highlights. "The Killer is One of 13" is not a movie for viewers who require their genre offerings to be relentless. Director Javier Aguirre takes the long way to bloodshed in this sluggish endeavor. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com
While a forgettable offering from 1994, "Princess Caraboo" is best known as the final major film role for actress Phoebe Cates before she entered retirement (popping up in a small role for 2001's "The Anniversary Party," doing a favor for pal Jennifer Jason Leigh). Making a splash in "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" and "Gremlins," Cates struggled to find success as the 1990s began, ending up in "Drop Dead Fred," which is either one of the worst movies of 1991 or a grossly misunderstood cult classic. You make the call. Cates made one more play at starring power with "Princess Caraboo," giving her an interesting challenge of non-verbal communication, portraying a foreign woman in 19th century England who arrives with her own secret language. Cates does well in the role, even without much dialogue to work with, supported by a cast of talents who really give the material (which is based on a true story) some thespian muscle. It's the overall direction of the plot that's problematic, with co-writer/director Michael Austin weirdly watering down the farcical potential of the project, aiming to create a soggy romance instead. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com
BRIAN ORNDORF 