In a startling change from the standard late-period Full Moon horror flicks, which featured lame premises poorly executed, Totem (1999) written and directed by stable workhorses David DeCoteau and Benjamin Carr, features a premise that’s original and intriguing.
(Still poorly executed, of course.)
[Sorry, no photo again. Apparently I can add them from work, but not from home.]
Jun 4
Qurbani
I know all too well that many of you more adventurous viewers out there have already suffered disappointment at the hands of Bollywood. You’ve perhaps picked up a dvd because its cover bore a picture of, say, Amitabh Bachchan in shades and a bowtie carrying a scope rifle with something blowing up in the background, only to find that the movie contained therein had a couple of underwhelming action set pieces, but was mostly three hours of some guy crying about his mom. Rest assured, however, that Qurbani is not that film. Delivering on the promise of it’s pulsating theme and “Hulk smash” opening titles, the film goes on to entertain the hell out of you — all the while teaching you that it’s okay for two extremely manly men to tenderly cup one another’s faces in their hands while looking at each other like they’re maybe going to kiss.
We continue our look at movies featuring killer octopuses, courtesy of TCM..
And, no, that’s not Octaman. The resemblence is definately there, though.
Jun 3
OK, my ten day Highland motoring tour through Scotland (I did not find a man-frog in the middle of a hedge maze, though) is over, and as a result of it, I am dead broke. $100 to fill up a Ford Focus??? Anyway, luckily, while I was away eating haggis and drinking a positively staggering amount of single malt scotch whisky, the rest of the crew kept the home fires stoked:
VOODOO ISLAND
The irrationality of the film is in some ways before its time. I think this is part of its ultimate failure; the writers clearly wanted to create a sense of un-reality at a time when there weren’t many films whose lead they might follow. Bleeding plants, the voodoo ragdoll which serves no apparent purpose, the “death wishes” based on real magic which don’t end up being lethal, the trouble with the radio, etc…. These have been criticized elsewhere as loose ends of a script that never had a final draft. I’ll throw out the possibility that, in fact, they were more deliberate attempts to undermine Knight’s stolid positivism because–and I’m not trying to be cute here–there was no unity to their disunity.
Jun 1
Due to personal issues for one of us, and technical issues for others, the RUBBER SOUL Roundtable has been officially extended until Sunday, 8th June. So expect to see one, hopefully two, maybe even three—
No, I guess that’s overly optimistic. Let’s make it, expect to see two more Roundtable entries during the upcoming week!
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Octaman (1971) All he really wanted was his blue bucket.
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It’s my last stab at nailing down some sequels in The Month of 2, and do I make it count? Naah, not really.
For your delectation this week is Magic in the Mirror: Fowl Play (1996), a sequel shot directly on the heels of its predecessor, and Return to Frogtown (1993), a movie made a little too long after the original: They couldn’t get Rowdy Roddy back!
You’ve also got a couple of movies I thought had rubber suits in them, but turned out not to after all:
Bog (1978), in which we see once again that nothing good ever comes of dynamite fishing…
Gamera vs. Gaos (1967), in which the world’s weirdest turtle takes on the world’s biggest vampire bat…
Rawhead Rex (1986), in which Clive Barker’s second commercially produced screenplay doesn’t turn out quite according to plan…
They Came from Beyond Space (1967), but they forgot to bring any rubber monster suits along, goddamnit…
Transmutations (1986), or as I prefer to call it, Clive Barker’s C.H.U.D.…
and…
Warning from Space (1956), in which the silliest aliens you’ve ever seen rip off The Day the Earth Stood Still in order to warn the people of Earth that they’re really ripping off When Worlds Collide instead.