(“The Cannibals”)Production: Portugal, 1988Director: Manoel de OliveiraCategory: Cannibal/Fairy-TaleA grotesque, operatic 18th century fable that depicts the wedding of a beautiful young woman to a viscount. All goes well until the wedding night, when the bride finds out that her new husband is a multiple amputee who has to unscrew all Continue Reading
LUNG-HU DOU
(“Dragon And Tiger Wars”)Production: Hong Kong, 1970Director: Jimmy Wang YuEnglish release title: Chinese BoxerCategory: Martial ArtsWang Yu’s last film for the Shaw brothers, the self-scripted and self-directed Lung-Hu Dou (released in the US as The Hammer Of God), featured a then-unprecedented approach to unarmed fighting (as opposed to swordplay) as Continue Reading
NO VIETCONG EVER CALLED ME NIGGER
Production: USA, 1968Director: David L. WeissCategory: DocumentaryWorld Boxing Champion Muhammad Ali (formerly Cassius Clay) had become America’s most famous anti-war protester and “draft dodger”. Ali refused induction into the army on the grounds that he was a black muslim and a pacifist, and therefore obliged to be a conscientious objector. Continue Reading
NUDE RESTAURANT
Production: USA, 1967Director: Andy WarholCategory: UndergroundA typical production of the Warhol Factory in the mid-’60s. With cast regulars including Taylor Mead, Viva and Ingrid Superstar, this slow-paced and overlong film features various situations, including some sexual action. A restaurant was hired out for the shoot, so that the participants could Continue Reading
THE JAGUAR PROJECT
Production: Hong Kong, 1983/88Producer: Tomas Tang Kaak-YanEnglish title: Cannibal MercenaryCategory: Vietnam/CannibalProbably the most violent gore movie to be associated with the Vietnam War genre. The film, which is an assemblage of footage from various source, concerns a band of Thai mercenaries sent into the jungle to rescue a woman from Continue Reading
THE NIGHT STALKER + 1
THE NIGHT STALKERProduction: USA, 1972Director: John MoxeyCategory: HorrorOne of the best-ever TV horror movies, scripted by Richard Matheson and starring Darren McGavin as Kolchak, a reporter who is relentless in his pursuit of unusual or supernatural news stories. Here he is in Las Vegas on the trail of a reported vampire, Skorzeny, Continue Reading
FURANKENSHUTAIN TAI CHITEI KAIJU BARAGON
FURANKENSHUTAIN TAI CHITEI KAIJU BARAGON(“Frankenstein Versus Deep-Sea Monster Baragon”)Production: Japan, 1965Director: Honda IshiroCategory: Science Fiction/KaijuWhen Toho decided to produce the first ever Japanese Frankenstein film, instead of a straight horror movie they elected to place the character in the realm of kaiju eiga, pitching it against a typical giant sea-monster; atomic Continue Reading
CAIN’S FILM + 1
CAIN’S FILM Production: UK, 1969 Director: Jamie Wadhawan Category: Documentary Biographical documentary on Scottish beat/junkie writer Alexander Trocchi, author of Cain’s Book, which deals with drug addiction. The film details how the book was banned for its sex and drug references, and features commentary from William S. Burroughs, who described Trocchi’s Continue Reading
MIAO JIE HUANG HOU
MIAO JIE HUANG HOU(“Queen Of Temple Street”)Production: Hong Kong, 1977Director: Kuei Chih-Hung & Sun ChungEnglish release title: Assault: The Criminals Part IVCategory: Crime/HorrorFilm #4 of a violent, exploitational 5-film series from Shaw Brothers, known collectively as The Criminals, which commenced in 1976 with the 3-episode Xiang Gang Qi An (“A Continue Reading
THE MUTATIONS
THE MUTATIONSProduction: UK, 1974Director: Jack CardiffCategory: Science Fiction/Freaks/HorrorA great cinematographer, Cardiff proved how bad a director he could be with the monumentally tedious Girl On A Motorcycle. The Mutations on the other hand is in monumentally bad taste, using real freaks to embellish a repulsive tale of human experimentation set in Continue Reading