Bingowings said:
He has pulled this once obscure Lucas buttslap device of a site too far into the mainstream.
I’m not sure I understand what a buttslap device is.
It’s a device for slapping butts.
I tried Amazon, I tried Ali-Express.
Where can we buy a buttslap device?
Killer’s Kiss - 1955 - 6/10
Grimy tale of washed up pug and dimehall dancer.
Sordid NYC tenement provides the location for this Pulp romance, with full Noir cinematography.
At barely an hour, this packs in fierce boxing, cheap dancing, jealousy, murder, and an irresistible fight amongst the mannequins.
Photography is breathtaking at times. Amazing that this was filmed for $75 K.
Weak point is the female actor, who has the magnetism of a worn out paper sack.
The director would ascend to greater films, but he often cast wooden types in those films, too.
View as a minor Noir, you should enjoy. Don’t overlay the director.
Night Of The Comet - 1984 - 6/10
Save for a pair of Valley girls (and a pinball pro), a comet has wiped out most of humanity.
And other survivors are hungry zombies.
Light-hearted Horror goes for satire and laughs and hits most bases.
Wry homage to Dawn Of The Dead as well as grrrl power.
Shopping mall is laugh out loud at times, and the scientists are proof that the smartest in the room often have no common sense.
No great shakes, but fun, although so many references will be lost to post X-er viewers.
Haunted House - 1921 - 6/10
Harried bank clerk Buster takes the rap for counterfeit currency, then a holdup!
He flees – into the notorious haunted house, actually a front for counterfeiters.
A film by half. First half, in the bank, is repetitive and the glue joke is used to death.
Once the setting shifts to the spook house, look out.
Gag after gag after gag, and the pace is hectic.
Well preserved prints out there, too, and nicely tinted.
Nyarlathotep - 2001 - 5/10
Rooting around during an archeological excavation in Egypt, the messenger is disturbed.
Promising concept does with best with budget constraints.
No dialogue, only narration finds Nyarlathotep, mascara and extended goatee, as celebrated prophet.
Still … a game attempt and worth a look. HPL short is easily found.
A Shop For Killers - 2024 - 6/10
AKA - Sarinjaui Syopingmol // 킬러들의 쇼핑몰
Is it just me, or did she leave the lens cover on the scope?
Jian’s highly protective uncle was a mercenary, now a dealer.
He made enemies, and, straight off, dozens come a’callin.
Repetitive shootouts grow boringly repetitive.
The adults and their stories hold your interest, while the teenagers complain or boast.
Sniper Seong-Jo is the best thing going, musing aloud, thoughts wandering like loose balloons.
Intentionally or unintentionally, he is funny throughout.
Series sorta quits, leaving doors open for S02 of this Disney “aimed-at-children” K-drana.
Hard Candy - 2005 - 7/10
Jeff, 39 something camera guy, likes them young.
He meets Hayley online, and they start exchanging dirty, flirty messages.
Hayley Is 14, of which Jeff is aware.
They meet at a small bistro, then he invites her back to his place for drinks.
Again … this guy … what? It’s all good, perfectly innocent.
Until the innocent yucks disappear into a drug haze.
While the narrative pivots into psychological suspense.
Edgy, provocative fare with teeth.
A Week’s Vacation - 1980 - 7/10
AKA - Une Semaine de Vacances
Her class is unruly, her partner wants a child, her parents are struggling, her brother is an idler.
Age 31, schoolteacher Laurence needs a break, which her doctor prescribes.
A week off. Do something, do nothing, recharge, reflect.
Which Laurence does, takes a week off and takes stock of her life, her situation.
Along with her, we encounter others, most are isolated, perhaps lonely.
The undercurrent of social pressures and personal aspirations quietly roil about.
An image of a neighbor, whom Laurence spies upon yet never meets, is haunting.
The Diabolical Doctor Z - 1966 - 6/10
AKA - Miss Muerte
The good doktor, acolyte / follower of Dr. Orloff, asks the board permission to experiment on humans.
His gizmo could remove the murder impulse from killers.
Denied and derided, with his dying gasp he urges his daughter to carry on.
Only she wants revenge.
She finds her instrument in a stage artist call Miss Death.
Perfect entry for anyone curious about Jess Franco.
Well constructed story of revenge and murder.
Fantastic Noir lighting, a fetching Estella Blain as the lethal huntress.
Recent DVD contains excellent commentary by Franco expert, Tim Lucas.
Daine Jir
https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Daine_Jir
Lucas couldn’t just write Danger?
Twilight Of The Warriors: Walled In - 2024 - 6/10
AKA - Jiu Long Cheng Zhai: Wei Cheng // 九龍城寨之圍城
Supernatural fortress? No, action overload in the lanes, alleys and balconies.
The triad swindles him, so he grabs a sack of cocaine and flees into Kowloon.
Specifically, the “Walled City” controlled by Cyclone and his crew.
After awhile, Chan adjusts to the violent, claustrophobic environment and is grudgingly accepted.
Outside events are closing in on Kowloon, however, as authorities want to level it.
Whereupon the land, even in 1980’s Hong Kong, would be worth a staggering fortune.
Action and stunts dazzle, save for excessive wire-work, which feels out of place here.
High scores, I suspect, reflect nostalgia from Hong Kong for the bygone walled city.
Stage Mother - 2019 - 6/10
Rickey left Texas for San Francisco over a decade ago.
Now Ma, Maybelline, is flying there for his funeral.
It ain’t right, burying one’s own son, yet despite the estrangement, she did love him so.
And, it turns out, she is the inheritor of his business, a struggling drag club.
In no time flat, Maybelline overcomes her conservative, religious upbringing.
Bonds with the entertainers, brings fresh ideas for revitalizing business, finds romance.
Only in the movies.
Ain’t depressing enough? Seek elsewhere. Feel-good all the way, with catchy songs.
The Untold Story - 1993 - 7/10
AKA - 八仙饭店之人肉叉烧包
The steamed buns are hugely popular at the Eight Immortals Restaurant.
Credit new owner Wong Chi Hang, who took over after the previous owner – and family – disappeared!
Body parts are discovered, which may be the previous family, rousing the police.
Who accept a story along with free pork buns.
Friend, if you think you have this all worked out, you’d best think again.
This is a wild Cat III Hong Kong classic (Anthony Wong won Best Actor!).
Funny, brutal, ugly, sadistic, completely out of control, and, based on real events.
The Sermon - 2018 - 6/10
Good old-fashioned fire and brimstone.
The time the preacher warns about the abomination of sex.
Quoting Leviticus, condoning persecution of those who prey on children.
Lesbians, sadists, deviants.
God cannot love them, nor should we.
Events spiral.
English subtitles = https://sub-scene.com/subtitle/3357760
Various (Editor: Pulver, Joseph) - The Madness Of Dr. Caligari
Enthusiasm from editor Pulver notwithstanding, this is a proverbial grab-bag. Hits and misses. Ripe storytelling and wordy clunkers. Indeed, the failures for me stem from writers, who, in this instance, cannot tell a proper story.
Ross is too old for the college Film Studies course, but as a movie hound, a perceived expert, he anticipates an easy A. “The Words Between” finds his understanding of an Expressionist classic, his ability to coherently write an essay about the film, and his own self-awareness, beginning to fracture.
As with military indoctrination, the master seeks to break down the recruit - or patient - in order to reforge a superior specimen. In this “Conversion”, however, the process excels, resulting in malevolence.
She tells the tale to Tubby. A tale of adolescence, working a part-time job for the neighborhood babysitter. “Somnambule”, in this case not the sleepwalker, but closer to a chrysalis. The numbed soul, emotions and thoughts bent inwards, cocooned, then morphing out of the harmless.
“Et Spiritus Sanctus” showcases the royal daughter, surviving heiress, surrounded by lies, deceivers, manipulators, then coming into her own.
Unlike many collections, the second half of this is very strong (although one attempt was a cross between Kafka and 1984, one imagines the editor was being kind by including it).
Two Hollywood based yarns, a twisted ballet, and grim obsession set amidst the crumbling days of the Third Reich.
Far as I know, this is still available (2025) from the publisher. Even signed copies!
The Village - 2004 - 6/10
Might as well say, the village of M. Night Shyamalan.
Don’t venture into the Wild Wood as there are creatures that will kill you.
Every generation is warned by village Elders.
Until one child sickens, needs medicine from another village, through the woods.
As usual with this director, there is tense buildup, suffocating atmosphere.
With a payoff, sometimes potent, or not.
Depends on how much of a fan of his you are, I guess.
Solitudo - 2020 - 6/10
Three backpackers, and “the couple” clearly keep trying to leave the other make behind.
He is hard to shake, however, and clingy. Uncool.
They break into an abandoned building for the night.
Only by morning, it is not abandoned.
Short film, not so much Horror as one haunt and loneliness.
English subtitles = https://sub-scene.com/subtitle/3357758
Salem’s Lot - 1979 - 7/10
One of the few good adaptations of King, especially from this period.
The middling writer returns to his hometown, just about the same time as the mysterious arrivals.
Followed by the sickness.
David Soul was perhaps too glamourous originally, but OK now since he is less remembered.
James Mason excellent as the smooth, cultured Straker.
The chief menace is seen sparingly and effectively.
While bearing a TV look in the beginning, it grows more cinematic.
By all means, watch the longest version you can, avoid the movie condensation.
And yes, there are deeper layers and societal parallels in this, should you care to look.
Alan Bennett: 90 Years On - 2024 - 7/10
Arena special that packs a lot into an hour.
Brief childhood, early ensemble Beyond The Fringe (Peter Cook, Dudley Moore, Jonathan Miller).
Acting career, playwright, screenplays, teleplays.
For cinema and theatre enthusiasts, numerous clips for your wish lists.
Still alive at 90, still typing away on a manual, he is droll, perceptive and merciless.
“Two things one seldom hears about getting older.
"One’s ears get larger, and one’s dick gets smaller.”
An overall outlook, not pessimistic, yet not hopeful.
English subtitles = https://sub-scene.com/subtitle/3357759
Beyond The Sea - 2004 - 6/10
Curious biopic of Bobby Darin was labor-of-love for Kevin Spacey.
He is the strength, and the liability.
Singing, dancing, fully committed, and yet, his version is NOT Bobby Darin.
Chronology is rags to riches to yesterday’s man to resurrection.
Fantasy sequences, which many disliked, truly underpin the “musical” aspect.
Enjoyment may hinge on your thoughts on Spacey.
Most of us have screened biopics with actors who did not remotely resemble their famous character.
Pride & Prejudice - 2005 - 5/10
Updated retelling of Austen, everything heightened for the Emo era.
Bennet family have five daughters of varying marriage eligibility.
Beauty is Jane, brilliance is Elizabeth.
Into the rural community sweeps young Bingley and his aloof friend, Darcy.
Sparks and complications, and, per title, pride and prejudice.
Lavish costumes, dazzling cinematography, good score notwithstanding …
if you are expecting cultural reserve, this is not the version.
Nuanced characters? Not here. Faithful to Austen? Barely.
I could blame the director, or the one playing Eliza, but the liability is the time constraint.
The Black Cat - 1934 - 7/10
Following a bus accident, a young American couple and Hungarian psychiatrist are stranded in remote Austria.
Not to worry, nearby is the home of a famous architect, and friend of the psychiatrist.
Actually, the men are old and bitter adversaries. In war and in love.
The young couple become sideshow pawns, as the long curdling revenge plays out.
Exceptional set design and atmosphere fully support this dark tale.
The leads, Bela and Boris, probably their finest pairing together.
This just ducked under the Production Code, and likely would not have been released afterward.
The Machinist - 2004 - 7/10
Trevor suffers insomnia, a year long bout of it.
Profound weight loss is apparent, and his attention to work seems slipping.
The hallucinations are powerful distractions.
Not without reason, as he is pursued, he is haunted.
No one else sees these “ghosts” nor does anyone believe him.
Christian Bale frightening in this slow boil thriller
Not remotely feel-good or energizing, a draining experience.
Demon - 2015 - 6/10
AKA - Dibbuk
Python, excuse me, Piotr as he is now, travels to the village of his buddy and his soon-to-be bride, Zaneta.
While helping shift brush with an end loader, Piotr accidentally unearths an unmarked grave.
There is a human skeleton, which he covers up.
Yet the spirit, the soul, emerges, and latches itself – herself – to Piotr.
And the wedding revelries get underway. Music, alcohol, dancing, alcohol, arguments, alcohol, sex, alcohol.
Only Piotr sees the darkly beautiful wraith, clad in an older style, approaching ever nearer.
The wedding celebrations, evasions and denials, dominate the supernatural elements.
For Americans, there are no explanations. Only a cryptic history to make your own guess.
English subtitles = https://sub-scene.com/subtitle/3357652
The New Morality - 2015 - 6/10
Betty, suspicious that her husband might be having an affair, loudly calls the other woman a rude name.
While never quite spoken, let’s say it rhymes with itch.
A scandal in the crusty social set, circa 1911, and slander rears its head.
Both females deploy their husbands as reluctant messengers.
Starchy theatre set aboard a houseboat: cabin below and on deck.
Acid humor, although situations better grasped by those familiar with New Woman feminism.