Exploitation/B-Movie/Drive-In Challenge 2013 - Day 13

First up for day 13 was GORGO. I had just received the Blu-ray in the mail and popped it in. This is an early 60 giant monster flick from Britain. While it is a decent picture it pales in comparison to most Japanese monster movies of the era. I did find the "Gorgo promotional tour" scene to be pretty cool and show how people will spend money to see any type of "freak" even if it is exploiting the beast, person, or what have you.

I only watched one other movie but it is a favorite of mine that I find to be a perfect mix of exploitation, social commentary and fun. DEATH RACE 2000 is one of the best movies the 1970s had to offer and is much more than just a car race to kill people that became a remake. With a cast that includes David Carradine, who is top notch here, to Sylvester Stallone and cult favorite Mary Woronov and with direction from Paul Bartel (Eating Raoul) this Roger Corman production has stood the test of time to be an influtential film that entertains from start to finish.

Today's Rundown
Gorgo - 6/10
Death Race 2000 - 10/10

Exploitation/B-Movie/Drive-In Challenge 2013 - Day 12

This will be a short entry because both movies I watched sucked and I don't want to think about them anymore. Day 12 can go to hell.

DROPPING EVIL is a low budget horror flick that could have succeeded as a straight forward slasher film with the Jesus freak kid as the killer but it goes off on too many shitty tangents and subplots and it just falls flat on its face.

Then I saw the remake of THE EVIL DEAD. What a steaming pile of shit. The writing was garbage. The acting was garbage. It gets worse and worse the more I think about it so I'm just going to leave it at that.

Today's Rundown
Dropping Evil - 2/10
Evil Dead - 3/10

Exploitation/B-Movie/Drive-In Challenge 2013 - Day 11

It was an unplanned Kaiju day today. Giant Japanese monsters made up the entirety of day 11.

First up was the only Godzilla film from the Showa era that I hadn't seen, GODZILLA VS. HEDORAH. Hedorah is a monster made up of sludge, and smog and all forms of pollution that are plaguing Japan and he seems to be nearly unstoppable. He creates sulfur burns on humans and if he passes too close they drop dead. Hedorah passes through solid objects and decays them like acid. Hedorah is pretty much a wrecking ball that is ready to totally decimate Japan, even Godzilla can't stop him. It takes the teamwork of mankind, science and Godzilla to finally inflict pain on the smog monster. I don't think I've ever seen Godzilla get more personal with the fight than after this one, he really let loose. This is the trippyest Godzilla movie I've ever seen, a definite reflection of its time. Really enjoyable flick.

I followed that up with another 'Zilla flick, one I hadn't seen since it ran on cable when I was a kid. GODZILLA VS MEGALON is pretty slow going in the beginning. Megalon is pretty much useless in the beginning, just a big lumbering monster with no real mission other than to squash houses, and the Jet Jaguar plot is pretty much just thrown together but it all becomes worth it in the end. The end battle is up there with some of the best tag team wrestling matches of all times. I'd give it an easy 4.25 or 4.5 stars. While Megalon and Gigan are destroying Jet Jaguar, just pummeling him ala the greatest heel factions in wrestling history using the numbers to their advantage, Godzilla is walking up to the fight like a man on a mission. His facial expressions and body language were nothing short of Stone Cold Steve Austin and I half expected to hear the glass break and then the entrance music to come on as Godzilla comes in and starts to turn the tables. The fight told a story by itself, like the best wrestling matches do. It was excellent. Hell, even the celebration by Godzilla and Jet Jaguar was something out of WWE... All it was missing was a beer toss to Godzilla and a final Stunner on Jet Jaguar from Godzilla. Overall not the best but damn that last fight was a lot of fun.

I closed out the night with WAR OF THE GARGANTUAS, directed by the legendary Ishiro Honda. This is the story of a giant human-like beast terrorizing the seas, and he bares a striking resemblance to another gargantua that was thought to be dead in the forests of Mt. Fuji. The team of scientists responsible for the Mt. Fuji monster, who was very peaceful and never hurt humans, try to clear his name from this new sea monster until they come face to face. This was another winner, with high entertainment value. The contrast between the two Gargantuas was great, and you've never seen any Kaiju move like these beasts do. They're fast and agile which is a nice change from the slow plodding pace that usually comes to being weighed down with heavy rubber suits.

Today's Rundown
Godzilla vs Hedorah - 7.5/10
Godzilla vs Megalon - 6/10
War Of The Gargantuas - 7/10

Exploitation/B-Movie/Drive-In Challenge 2013 - Day 10

Already 1/3 through the challenge... hopefully the next 20 days are filled with good movies a bit more consistently.

Most of the day was spent running around doing errands so I only had time for a couple of movies later in the day, with GOTH KILL leading it off. This low budget horror flick stars a bunch of New York City underground fetish performers according to the DVD case and an appearance from the queen of STDs herself Mistress Juliya from the Fuse TV channel. The premise of the movie is some dude with shitty head tattoos is an old Satanist who has transferred his soul to hundreds of bodies over the years waiting for his chance to claim his own dark kingdom and souls to reign over and ends up in the body of an innocent 19 year old girl who has just been brought in to the goth scene by her new roommate and he/she terrorize the local goth party scene in order to get his souls. Somehow this wasn't quite as awful as I was expecting. I wouldn't say it was good or that I came close to liking it but it was watchable and there will be a fan base for this movie that live for this type of movie.

And then there was my first re-watch of the challenge, CLASS OF NUKE 'EM HIGH. It has been years since I've seen it but I've always held it among the best Troma productions and this was a reminder as to why. It is a (nuclear) blast from start to finish. Tromaville High School is right next door to a poorly managed nuclear power plant that is leaking all sorts of radiation and toxic sludge which gets into the water supply and begins messing with students. The Honor Society has turned from a bunch of straight-A do-gooders to The Cretins, a nasty gang of punks who sell drugs laced with the toxic waste. Eventually the waste mutates into a monster that terrorizes The Cretins and the school. This is pure 80s gold. Troma was spot on with this one, making an absolutely hilarious high school horror type flick that has stood the test of time for entertainment's sake. Having only seen bits and pieces of Part 2 and none of Part 3 I'm really excited to dig into them soon.

Today's Rundown
Goth Kill - 4/10
Class Of Nuke 'Em High - 8/10

Exploitation/B-Movie/Drive-In Challenge 2013 - Day 9

So after a few "Django" movies yesterday I decided to start today with a movie starring the real Django, Franco Nero. That would be the 1981 Cannon Films cheesefest ENTER THE NINJA. Franco Nero is a man who has just completed "ninja school" and goes to visit his old war buddy when he discovers that he and his wife are being terrorized by local oil tycoons for their land that is a veritable goldmine. As the baddies ramp up their game from running off the couple's plantation workers, despite their pleas and high wages, to kidnapping Nero steps in to help out his friends, which turns to revenge in a final showdown with a ninja from his past who isn't a fan of his. This flick was pretty good. It had a lot of fun moments and the cast for such a flick was actually really decent from Nero to the co-starring Susan George. It didn't quite get to that special level of entertainment that many Cannon Films do but it was a fun little romp.

To my delight the quasi-sequel to ENTER was also on demand for free and that is REVENGE OF THE NINJA from 2 years later. Now this one does reach that special place that its predecessor did not. Having nothing to do with the previous installment in this trilogy, REVENGE is about a man who loses his entire family in Japan except his mother and his baby son at the hands of a clan of ninjas. 6 years later he is in L.A. and trying to lead a normal life when a friend of his uses him without his knowledge to help distribute heroin and puts the man's family in further danger. When he finds out what it is going on, well... it is time for the ninja to get his revenge. This flick is ridiculously awesome. With everything from heroin dolls to a grown woman attacking a small child with a metal pole, an old ninja granny to shooting stars through the eyes, blood fountains and extended rooftop fight scenes it really is endless entertainment from start to finish. Good stuff.

Since the final installment of the trilogy wasn't on demand with them I had to take another route for today's viewing and it led me to one of the more bizarre pieces of cinema I've ever seen... and that says a lot. Take Michael Jackson's Thriller, orgies, weird werewolf electric drill cocks, Richard Nixon fucking girls with his big nose, and black magic throw them in a time portal blender and you'll begin to understand exactly what DRILLER from Wild Eye Releasing is all about. This is an adult spoof of MJ's Thriller video and just fucking weird and hilarious. The Richard Nixon character is the definition of movie insanity and the rest of the film isn't far behind. And yes, there are dance numbers. Of course there are dance numbers.

The night closed with a giallo I'd never seen before, THE IGUANA WITH THE TONGUE OF FIRE from director Riccardo Freda. Made in 1971 this was an earlier entry into the explosion of the genre but unfortunately it feels more like a later entry that is just going through the motions. The story is bland, the characters are standard and the killer reveal isn't much of a surprise at all. There are a few really nasty kills and a well staged chases scene through a foggy town and drawbridge but in between these moments the investigation scenes there isn't much to latch on to. The entertaining bits and a solid score from the always reliable Stelvio Cipriani kept this one from being a total loss. It is a shame it wasn't better because it has one of the best giallo titles ever. 

Today's Rundown
Enter The Ninja - 6/10
Revenge Of the Ninja - 7.5/10
Driller - 5/10
The Iguana With The Tongue Of Fire - 5.5/10

Exploitation/B-Movie/Drive-In Challenge 2013 - Day 8

A pair of Spaghetti Westerns led off the viewing, both of which were released back in December to capitalize on Django Unchained. These have about as much to do with the original Django as Tarantino's movie does.

DJANGO KILLS SILENTLY is best described as "serviceable". There is really nothing special going on here and George Eastman as the title character doesn't come off as any sort of real legendary western hero. Even during the climax when it finally seems like the Django character in this flick is going to have a special moment he is quickly put into a compromising situation and has to rely on others. But like I said, it isn't all bad, it just isn't exceptionally good. There are many of the classic spaghetti western cliches which keep it entertaining enough even if it becomes a checklist of cliches.

Then there is DJANGO'S CUT PRICE CORPSES and this is a prime example of a cool title with a movie that doesn't live up to it. A rather lame and tame western that would maybe be okay at the end of a SW triple bill after you've seen a couple good ones and already have your western appetite satisfied. While neither of these movies are particularly bad and it wouldn't be fair to say they're not worth checking out but there are hundreds of other Spaghetti Westerns worth checking out before you get to these. The price (around $5 or $6 for a nicely presented DVD) is right though.

I planned to watch more but it didn't happen... until tomorrow dear readers.

Today's Rundown
Django Kills Silently - 5/10
Django's Cut Price Corpses - 5/10

Exploitation/B-Movie/Drive-In Challenge 2013 - Day 7

Day 7 was a story of a couple movies being subpar examples of their genre... I feel like that sort of extends to Wrestlemania 29 which I watched that evening... hmmm... Nevermind, at least Wrestlemania gave Daniel Bryan a win at Wrestlemania.

JIVE TURKEY aka BABY NEEDS A NEW PAIR OF SHOES is a rather lackluster and poorly written example of blaxploitation, a genre that has some truly great films. While JIVE TURKEY is one of the more bloody movies of the genre at times, the poor writing, lack of interesting characters and paint-by-numbers approach make it something only blaxploitation completists need seek out.

And then there was THE MOLE PEOPLE, the 1956 Universal Sci-Fi flick. I had high hopes for this one as any footage I've ever seen of it looked really cool. Well, most of that footage was of the mole people themselves, a mutant race that has been enslaved deep beneath the Earth's surface by a civilization of people that live off the mushrooms they force their slaves to harvest as they don't need light to grow and light hurts them due to how long they've been subterranean. A group of scientists discover this group by accident and are taken in as gods due to their ability to withstand light, and create it via flashlight, until they're discovered not to be gods and then they get in trouble and the mole people revolt. The end of the movie is cool, and there are some creepy and cool scenes with the mole people but overall THE MOLE PEOPLE was a slow, boring letdown.

Today's Rundown
Jive Turkey - 4/10
The Mole People - 5/10