Sunday, July 17, 2011

Lady Terminator (1988) aka Pembalasan ratu pantai selatan aka Nasty Hunter aka Shooting Star aka The Revenge of the South Seas Queen

4 / 5 Nov '09
Tagline: She Mates... Then She Terminates
Directed by: H. Tjut Djalil
Written by: Karr Kruinowz
Actors include: Barbara Anne Constable, Christopher J. Hart, Claudia Angelique Rademaker
Genre: Action, Horror
Length: 82 minutes
Banned: Nope




Review:
So I'm guessing that in Indonesia that the The Terminator must have been really popular. This tale starts out to be one thing but definitely ends up another. It starts out with everyone warning to avoid "the sea queen", an Anthropologist goes on a trek to meet the sea queen and ends up having some sort of slug crawl into an unmentionable area. From that point on, she's imitating Arnold Schwarzenegger what with the robotic running, sideways glances and even some of the same catch phrases! I think the biggest difference is that Arnold wasn't screwing people to death! This is rather cheaply made and laughable in many places but they certainly tried their hardest. They filled it full of car chases, explosions, action sequences, fights and a whole bunch of red stuff! It's actually pretty darned fun to watch though I did find I was shaking my head in disbelief many times. I actually think this was better than the real 4th Terminator movie, heck this is on par with the 3rd one. If you can't get enough Terminator and want to see a naked female version (she does put on clothes after a while) then this should be turbo packed enough for most! A rather strange fan entry into the series but worthwhile for fans of the ridiculous!

Availability:  On DVD

The Tenth Victim (1965) aka La decima vittima aka La dixième victime

4 / 5   Nov '09
Tagline: It's the 21st century and they have a licence to kill
Directed by: Elio Petri
Written by:  Robert Sheckley, Tonino Guerra
Actors include: Marcello Mastroianni, Ursula Andress, Elsa Martinelli
Genre: Sci-Fi, Action
Length: 92 minutes
Banned: Nope





Review:
One insanely weird '60s sci-fi picture from Italy featuring the appearance of Ursula Andress and a futuristic dystopian plot. In the future, there is a Government run program you can sign up for (especially if suicidal) which puts you in a game. There are Hunters and there are Victims, you must survive being both a total of ten times before you win a million dollars. Only a few survive as they are being shot at nearly constantly not to mention the Hunter takes in all the information about the Victim, and the Victim isn't allowed any info at all. Ursula plays a girl who is about ready to take her tenth victim (the title...ya dig?), and they've planned a big movie shoot to show her as she kills him. Of course this he we refer to isn't a dumb guy, and let's just say she's met her match. It's filled with bizarre futuristic music, weird costumes and set designs and all kinds of absurdity. It's no wonder this influenced "The Running Man" and the Austin Powers series (you'll see exactly what I mean). Definitely something intriguing to see but yet I don't think it delivered the excitement I was hoping for ultimately.

Availability:  On DVD

Thursday, July 7, 2011

Homicidal (1961)

4.5 / 5  Nov '09
Tagline: A WORD OF WARNING! Please don't reveal the ending of this picture or your friends will kill you - IF THEY DON'T, I WILL! - William Castle
Directed by: William Castle
Written by: Robb White
Actors include: Glenn Corbett, Patricia Breslin, Eugenie Leontovich
Genre: Horror, Black Comedy, Thriller
Length: 87 Minutes
Banned: Nope




Review:
This is one hilarious black comedy, and shocking (well until about the halfway point where it's a dead giveaway) but still! It's about a murderous Nurse who is looking after an old Woman with a lot of money. It's very hard to review this actually because I don't want to give a thing away because it really must be experienced with as little information as possible. Heck William Castle threatened to kill anyone who gave the ending to this away! I can say it's surprising, it's dark, I laughed a ton, the characters are amusing and the lead character is simply stunning as a homicidal maniac! This film's gimmick was a 45 second fright break near the ending for patrons who weren't ready for it to leave the theater. Kinda weak on his scale of gimmicks but the movie more than made up for it in style and sheer entertainment. I was glued to the screen from the beginning to the ending, it really is one heck of a film and I'm kinda surprised that Castle had this in him! Definitely watch now and don't read any more for your own good...

Availability:  On DVD