…but it turns out that post-COVID brainfog I’d been hearing about is a very real thing, which you don’t even have to get all that sick to experience. I think I’ve got it all blown away now, but I couldn’t concentrate on a damned thing for a while there. Sadly, that also means that the little something special I had meant to do here in March will need to get pushed forward a few months. Anyway, we’ll start with the purely new stuff:
Angel Heart (1987), in which obviously nothing good will come of doing any kind of contract work for Satan…
Cat People (1982), in which getting rejected by Nastassja Kinski is rough on were-leopards and film directors alike…
No Escape (1994), in which 1994’s dystopian idea of 2022 is in some ways preferable to the real thing..
and…
Southern Comfort (1981), in which colonialist arrogance doesn’t go over any better in the bayou than it does in the jungles of Indochina.
I’ve got a few rewritten reviews, too, but only one of them got the kind of up-from-the-studs rebuild that’s characterized the series so far:
The Crimson Cult (1968), which started life as an adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft’s “The Dreams in the Witch House,” although you’d never know it from watching the film…
Dinosaur Island (1994), in which I perform some much-needed reconstructive surgery on one of the first reviews I ever wrote…
and…
Gigantis the Fire Monster (1955), in which the goad to rewriting action was finally getting to see the Japanese cut.
El Santo rules the wasteland-- and also 1000 Misspent Hours and Counting.
#1 by Brian on March 29, 2022 - 4:32 pm
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Glad to see you back on your feet. Looking forward to reading your reviews later tonight!
#2 by Nathan Shumate on March 29, 2022 - 5:45 pm
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I love DINOSAUR ISLAND without defense but without shame — possibly *because* it is what happens when Fred Olen Ray and Jim Wynorski have a spare week and an itch to make a marketable movie.
#3 by Tom on April 4, 2022 - 3:28 am
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Comment…
#4 by Jared Moloshok on April 13, 2022 - 11:21 am
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Unsurprisingly, the simplest way to appreciate this movie’s virtues is to watch it in the form its creators intended, but that wasn’t an easy thing to do until fairly recently— and it still may not be a cheap thing to do.
I’d say these days, it’s probably harder to get your hands on the 1959 version. The original version is available both through the Criterion Showa Collection set, and on various digital platforms, like Apple and HBO-Max; the 1959 one is really only available if you’re willing to shell out the cash for the Classic Media DVD release, and even then the price is arguably less worth it than to get the Criterion set, which at least has the other Showa movies to justify its price tag.
#5 by Chris on May 2, 2022 - 1:12 pm
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Not only would the exposure of Absalom get the warden elected president nowadays, it would also make the most popular reality show on the networks. Hope you and your family feel better soon.