The Black Room (1935), which somehow manages to benefit from leaving not a single gothic cliche unemployed…
Cape Fear (1991), in which Respected Artists do no better at recapitulating greatness than Stephen Somers or Rob Zombie…
Ghoul Sex Squad (1991), in which Chinese hopping vampires need love, too…
Private Lessons (1980), in which young Eric Brown lives the dream…
The Road Warrior (1981), in which more turns out to be better after all…
The Running Man (1987), in which a pseudonymous Stephen King novel awakens one morning from uneasy dreams, and finds itself changed in its bed into a stupid action movie…
Strange Invaders (1983), in which a little piece of the 50’s wanders into the 80’s, and no one quite knows what to make of it…
and…
Thirteen Women (1932), in which a little piece of the 80’s wanders into the 30’s, and no one quite knows what to make of it, either.
#1 by Joshua on July 18, 2009 - 4:00 pm
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Before starting, I was pretty sure that I’d read your review of The Road Warrior before, and I was thoroughly convinced by the time I got to the end. It wasn’t until several minutes later that I realized I was actually remembering all the reviews of Road Warrior rip-offs.
#2 by Blake Matthews on July 18, 2009 - 6:01 pm
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I’ve seen precious few HK horror films, mainly “Spooky Encounters” and “Mr. Vampire”, plus the “Chinese Ghost Story” films.
#3 by Carl on July 19, 2009 - 9:22 am
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You can learn a lot about Chinese films, including the ‘hopping vampire’ movies, from The Illuminated Lantern:
http://www.illuminatedlantern.com/cinema/index.shtml
#4 by Chris S. on July 19, 2009 - 12:09 pm
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You win this round, Silver Masked Man.
#5 by The Rev. D.D. on July 19, 2009 - 5:58 pm
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Anyone else having trouble getting an index to open up on The Illuminated Lantern?
#6 by Blake on July 19, 2009 - 7:36 pm
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So how was the quality of the kung fu in the film’s climax?
#7 by MatthewF on July 20, 2009 - 2:41 am
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I can’t hate Running Man, even though I can see that in many ways it’s a terrible movie, because my 13 year old self would surely come back and wreak an awful revenge for me trashing one of his favourite movies. Mentally I find the movie inseperable from Total Recall, even though that’s much better. I guess it’s just the lycra-clad day-glo revolutions that both movies climax with.
#8 by El Santo on July 20, 2009 - 7:37 am
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“So how was the quality of the kung fu in the film’s climax?”
Nothing special, probably, but it seemed like a tremendous blessing once it started, and I was disappointed that there wasn’t more of it. Really, by that point I was just happy to see the necromancer priest finally doing something that didn’t require me to spend minutes at a time looking at his shaggy taint.
#9 by Blake on July 20, 2009 - 9:42 am
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Better than that of “Cyborg”, at least? 🙂
#10 by El Santo on July 20, 2009 - 9:58 am
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As a matter of fact, that was the very comparison that initially sprang to my mind.
#11 by Blake on July 20, 2009 - 10:12 am
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That was the comparsion you made in your review of “Drunken Master”.
Hey, does the book on Chinese horror cinema you’re reading mention “Beauty Evil Rose”?
#12 by El Santo on July 20, 2009 - 1:14 pm
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It hasn’t yet, but I’m only in chapter two (which deals mainly with Mr. Vampire, it’s sequels, and the movies that ripped it off).
#13 by Prankster on July 20, 2009 - 8:39 pm
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I’d be interested in hearing more of your thoughts on Scorsese. To me he’s the, as you put it, Respected Artist with the most pulpy and fun sensibility of any Oscar winning director. Though Cape Fear is clearly a dud. Stoked for Shutter Island, though!
#14 by Chad on July 21, 2009 - 12:21 am
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At least 1991’s “Cape Fear” helped give rise to one of the best “The Simpsons” episodes ever.
#15 by Doc on July 21, 2009 - 9:25 am
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Little-seen British horror sounds like a winner. I would love to read your takes on Quatermass and the Pit, and X: The Unknown.
I’ll have to check out Strange Invaders–I never had a chance (waaay back when) to watch it all the way through on cable either.
#16 by KeithA on July 21, 2009 - 9:59 am
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Back in ’89 or ’90, we got our hands on a similar film to Ghoul Sex Squad. I can’t remember the title, but it featured a kungfu master whose training consisted of thrusting his penis against a tree over and over, until he eventually poked a hole in the tree. Also, he could leap across the room toward a waiting woman and land with perfect insertion. Aside from that, though, the movie was remarkably boring, grubby, and unsexy.
#17 by supersonic on July 24, 2009 - 7:19 pm
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Gah, Stephen King’s game show in The Running Man sounds like a bug-compatible copy of the one Robert Sheckley used in “The Prize Of Peril”.