A Taste Of Evil (1971)

3 / 5 Jan '10
Tagline: N/A
Directed by: John Llewellyn Moxey
Written by: Jimmy Sangster
Actors include: Barbara Stanwyck, Roddy McDowall, Barbara Parkins
Genre: Thriller, Horror
Length: 73 minutes
Banned: Nope

Review:
Considering this was a '70s made-for-tv movie that was written by Jimmy Sangster and produced by Aaron Spelling productions I thought this would be a winner! It's not, in fact it's a rehash of so many films seen previously and this particular retelling is very dry. It's about a young girl who is raped, then put in an asylum because she's in a catatonic state and has sever trauma from the accident. We catch up with her as she's coming home to stay, though she doesn't seem particularly well. See she keeps seeing her Stepfather dead in various places which is tormenting her to say the least. She also has an over-the-top nutty Mother (Barbara Stanwyck) does provide some campy laughter but not a heck of a lot else. I don't want to give more away in case you do want to watch this but let's just say I was underwhelmed. It did have a tidy conclusion and it made clear sense at least!

Availability:  Currently unavailable anywhere

Death Game (1977)

3 / 5 Apr '10
Tagline: The object is to stay alive.
Directed by: Peter S. Traynor
Written by: Anthony Overman, Michael Ronald Ross
Actors include: Sondra Locke, Colleen Camp, Seymour Cassel
Genre: Thriller
Length: 91 minutes
Banned: Nope

Review:
This is one unusual low budget exploitation flick. The story is about a married fellow who on his 40th birthday has two young attractive girls show up on his doorstep. They claim they can't find their way to a party and ask to use his phone and wait there. Oddly enough this friend never shows up and before he knows it, the two young girls are throwing themselves at him. Although he tries to do the good guy thing, he gives in and has one hell of an evening. When he wakes up though something is clearly wrong, the girls don't want to leave and they are acting like insane animals and such rather than innocent girls. When he asks them to leave he learns awful fast that these are some miserably nasty girls who wish to claim he raped them and that they were underage. It really gets more looped and insane after that including some really surreal make-up and much more. The thing is, the story isn't all that rewarding, it feels a bit unfinished. Although the girls were pretty great as psychos the fella wasn't much of an actor. Worst of all was the insipidly obnoxious theme song that they played over and over throughout the movie. The music guy should never have been allowed to work again after this film, it made it way dumber than it actually had to be. It's one of those films that you likely won't forget seeing and well if you want to see Sondra Locke naked and acting like a nutbar you'll get that too. Amusingly Sondra tried to sue Clint Eastwood for ruining her career later on but she did this before she was with him...

Availability:  on DVD

Forbidden Photos Of A Lady Above Suspicion (1970) aka Le Foto Proibite Di Una Signora Per Bene

3.5 / 5 Oct '10
Tagline: N//A
Directed by: Luciano Ercoli
Written by: Ernesto Gastaldi
Actors include: Nieves Navarro, Dagmar Lassander, Pier Paolo Capponi
Genre: Giallo, Horror, Thriller
Length: 93 minutes
Banned: Nope

Review:
Well this is a sleazy little giallo from Luciano Ercoli and probably my least favorite of his but still a fun flick. Let's see what I can explain here, Minou wears crazy wigs, she is newly married to a fellow named Peter who her sex obsessed friend Dominique (Nieves Navarro) set her up with. Dominique (who also wears a weird wig occasionally) thinks being raped would be splendid, she seems to be into fetish stuff and well having sex with anyone who is nearby. She also might have had a prior relationship with Peter before setting Minou up with him. Minou is being harassed by a Man who claims he has evidence against Peter that could put him away in jail, and they only thing he'll take in exchange for his silence is extreme sex with Minou. Weirdo still, Minou seems to kind of like it in way... Oh it's very bizarre and irresponsible in many ways, it's also groovy and has some hilarious disco sequences and memorable dialog and the actors are superb. This won't be for everyone, but fans of this style of Eurosleaze should be entertained.

Availability:  On DVD

Her Vengeance (1988) aka Bloody Rose aka Xue Mei Gui

4.5 / 5 Nov '10
Tagline: N/A
Directed by: Ngai Kai Lam
Written by: N/A
Actors include: Ching-Ying Lam. Elaine Jin, Pauline Wong
Genre: Thriller, Horror
Length: 87 minutes (approx)
Banned: Nope

Review:
This is one heck of a hilarious rape/revenge action packed Hong Kong film. Susan ticks off a group of bad guys when she has to ask them to behave in the night club she works at. To pay her back they take her to the cemetery and gang rape her. Now the copy I saw had questionable (yet comical) subs, so from this rape I think she got gonorrhea (though at first they call it A.I.D.S. yet they give the symptoms of VD)...at any rate she's not happy and neither is her vagina. She decides along with the help of her blind Sister and her former Brother-in-law (a wheelchair bound kung fu expert) to get her vengeance....even if it costs her more than it was worth. She lures these fellows out to deal them harsh and violent and bloody punishment and it's a real treat to watch. The person who made this must have loved Thriller - en grym film [Thriller: They Call Her One Eye], and the booby trapping scenes in this reminded me of Home Alone only of course way more inappropriate. I thought this was a laugh riot and it gave plenty of splatter and it's ridiculously easy to follow...this is a must for those who like excessive revenge films.

Availability:  On DVD
HER VENGEANCE

Thriller: A Cruel Picture (1974) aka Thriller - En Grym Film aka Hooker's Revenge aka They Call Her One Eye

5 / 5

Tagline: The first film, ever, to be banned in Sweden!

Directed By: Bo Arne Vibenius

Written By: Bo Arne Vibenius
Actors Include: Christina Lindberg, Heinz Hopf, Despina Tomazani
Genre: Cult, Thriller, Exploitation, Action, Drama
Length: 92 minutes
Banned: Sweden, Finland

Review:
This is the most disturbing film I've ever seen bar none. I dare you to find one to match this one on just about any level. I knew it was influential for Quentin Tarantino but until you watch it, it's hard to explain but definitely they share a uniquely captivating style. This is just beyond what I think Tarantino could come up with or rather it's more sadistic I guess and it's quite humorless but it needs to be serious with this sort of content. Our story starts out with a young girl who has been sexually abused by family members and has become mute as a result. Flash forward to her life as a teen, she catches a ride with a young fellow and has dinner with him. He drugs her, addicts her to heroin in her sleep, and then forces herself to whore herself to earn heroin. I now feel compelled to add that this has hardcore sex, it's not sexy sex, but rather degrading painful looking humiliating sex...hard to watch to say the least. On the side she earns money by doing disgusting things and saves up for lessons in combat training and fighting for revenge. She breaks free and rights the wrongs in a particularly graphic and brilliantly shot way. The whole film is extremely well done, I mean beautiful and horrific all at the same time. The revenge is oh so sweet and nice and graphic, the style of which they chose to shoot some of these scenes is absolute perfection. I would recommend this but it's so extremely cruel that it's hard for me to do that, I haven't been the same since I watched it. Brilliant movie....just incredibly sadistic but at least it's fufilling.

Availabilty:  On DVD

A Time To Kill (1996)

4 / 5
Tagline: Experience a time you'll never forget.
Directed by: Joel Schumacher
Written by: John Grisham, Akiva Goldsman
Actors include: Sandra Bullock, Matthew McConoughay, Samuel L. Jackson
Genre: Thriller, Crime, Drama
Length: 149 minutes
Banned: Nope

Review:
This is a rather depressing adaptation of a John Grisham novel (that I've never read). It takes place in Mississippi where racism seems to run rampant unfortunately. When Carl Lee Hailey's (Samuel L. Jackson) daughter Tonya is raped and murdered the guilty parties were set free. He couldn't stand to see that happen so he shot the men down and now must go on trial himself. With the help of his friend and lawyer Jake (Matthew McConaughey) they set out to prove the disgusting racism that occurred. The thing is, while Jake's preparing the case of his career he's being tormented by the KKK who are leaving burning crosses and so forth. If you like powerful courtroom trials then this is one of the better ones that I've seen. Very impactful though rather simple in some ways, very easy to watch I think, most should be able to enjoy this I think.

Availability:  On DVD