cinema history class: revenge of the zombies (1943)

 

As always, there may be spoilers here. And the trailer may be NSFW and/or NSFL.

Session: A Brief History of the Nazi Zombie Films (Week 1)
Movie: Revenge of the Zombies (1943)
Directed by Steve Sekelyg

Plot:

Max has urned his dead wife into a zombie. He's also trying to create a zombie army to fight for Germany. Horror ensues.

Reaction and Other Folderol:

Mantan Moreland, as Jeff, does his usual schtick and steals the show, though Madame Sul-Te-Wan, as Mammy Beulah, gives him a run for his money. Another plus is the ending, which was well-done in a horrific kind of way.

But those don't make up for a plot which was kind of meh. And if this movie is, as Keith tells us, where the zombie nazi genre begins, it was a pretty inauspicious start. The whole nazi aspect of the plot was very underplayed, and I probably wouldn't have even realized it was there if I hadn't known to look for it.

Ratings

Me: 6

Bob-O: 8

Christina: 7.5

Dave: 9.5

Ethan: 7

Joe: 10

happy tunesday: potato knishes

The potato knishes song (by Ratboy Genius) is oddly soothing. And oddly disturbing. In fact, it is possibly the strangest mix of soothing and disturbing that I have ever heard in a song. With the possible exception of "Band on the Run" by Paul McCartney & Wings.

So, please, enjoy the magic and the mystery.

cinema history class: vigilante (1982)

 

As always, there may be spoilers here. And the trailer may be NSFW and/or NSFL.

Session: Be Vigilant (Week 4)
Movie: Vigilante (1982)
Directed by William Lustig

Plot:

After his son is killed by a vicious gang, mild-mannered Eddie Marino goes hunting dirtbags. Horror ensues.

Reaction and Other Folderol:

Vigilante had a more complex plot than the other vigilante movies that Keith showed us in the series. In addition to the main storyline (in which Marino's (played by Robert Forster)  son is killed and he seeks revenge), there are other vigilante plots.  The movie opens with a rooftop rape (and possible murder), which serves to introduce us to the vigilante gang led by the charismatic Nick (Fred Williamson). And there's the story about a low-level drug dealer and his chain of command leading to a powerful political figure.

But there's at least one way that too many subplots harmed the film. In one storyline, Marino goes to jail and develops an unexplained friendship with a muscly inmate named Rake, played by Woody Strode. Theis subplot serves little purpose, except maybe to show him getting hardened as part of his journey to vigilantism. But it is incomplete. There are four scenes:

• Starting his sentence, Marino is taken to his cell, and notices Rake half-asleep in his cell. Rake notices him.
• Marino is menaced by other inmates in a mess hall (or is it a lounge?). Rake shows up to protect him, and the encounter ends peacefully.
• Taking a shower, Marino is set upon by the same inmates who intend to rape or kill him. Again, Rake comes to his rescue, beating up his attackers.
• As Marino is preparing to leave jail, Rake gives him some sage advice.

The whole plotline feels like something was missing. What did Marino do to anger the other inmates? Why did Rake decide to look out for him. It seems that there must have been more to this story in the script. And maybe more was shot but inexplicably edited out. As it stands, this is just a puzzling sideshow. If, in fact, the purpose of this subplot was (as I speculated above) to explain Marino's hardening, it's really unnecessary.

I was also disappointed by the relative ease of the dirtbags' death. I wanted them to suffer. And in the case of the corrupt judge, I wanted him to know that doom was approaching. His quick death in an explosion was too merciful.

On the positive side, the home invasion and child-killing that led to Marino's ...adventure... was probably the most horrific and saddening of the attacks we saw in the session. And it was probably one of the saddest moments in the ten year of the class.

Ratings

Me: 7.5

Bob-O: 9.4

Christina: 8.2

Dave: 9.5

Ethan: 8

Joe: 5

cinema history class: savage streets (1984)

  

As always, there may be spoilers here. And the trailer may be NSFW and/or NSFL.

Session: Be Vigilant (Week 3)
Movie: Savage Streets (1984)
Directed by Danny Steinmann

Plot:

A high school cheerleader goes after the dirtbags who raped her deaf-mute sister. Horror ensues.

Reaction and Other Folderol:

The best way to sum up Savage Streets is to say that it was trashy, guilty fun. There's nothing subtle, and it's not particularly intelligent. But it delivers on its mission, and it's hard to complain about that.

SS wears its influences on its sleeve. Some of the early scenes are reminiscent of Grease, The gang themes reminded me of The Warriors. The gang rape was like the one in I Spit on Your Grave (the original). And there wewre other ways that the movie reminded of such disparate influences as Debbie Does Dallas and Class of 1984.

The standout performances were by John Vernon who was great in his supporting role as the principal, and Linnea Quigley who was very good as the disabled sister. But that said, none of the supposed teenage characters really looked like teenagers. Of course, Grease worked despite the same issue, so why not this?

The funeral at the end actually surprised me. I was expecting to see that final jump scare in the style popularized by Carrie, but that never came. I'm still unsure of whether I was disappointed or relieved that they left that out.

Ratings

Me: 7

Bob-O: 9

Christina: 8.1

Dave: 9.7

Ethan: 8

copic

 And, a month after I brought Wilko home as my new used cat, the family has a new addition: Sharon's kitten, Copic.

Technically, she's "The Brewery Copic," because the cattery we got her from is registered as "The Brewery" and that's the naming convention. She's a British Shorthair, a breed that's way less floofy and more chonky than Maine Coons -- my preferred breed. But this wasn't about me or what breed I want. It was about Sharon. I point with pride to the fact that both of Copic's parents were grand champions, but Sharon doesn't care about that.

Copic definitely has an alpha personality, and it's not hard to see that she will eventually be the top cat here. But for now she's mostly trying to get used to the place. She spends most of her time in Sharon's room, which is perfect. For a couple days, Sharon was keeping the door closed, so Copic could only leave when Sharon took her out for a tour. By now, though, the door's open. So Copic spends some time exploring. She's ventured into the office a lot to look around while I work from home. But when something spooks her she runs back to Sharon's. And apparently she spends her nights in Sharon's bed. So the bonding is well underway.

And, during the day, when she's not exploring she's hanging out with Sharon, taking over the desk.

And, damn she's a cutie. 

back in the corner

Back in the beforetimes -- late 2019, I believe -- I had started going to Creative Corner (in West Hempstead) on Monday nights for their open mic night. There, I got to practice some of my songs, see how an audience reacted to them, and generally have fun. COVID shut that down.

Last week marked the return of open mic nights, though they are now on Sunday nights.

It was a sparser crowd than had been there pre-COVID, though that may be in part due to it being during the Jewish holiday of Shavu'ot. There are at least a few Orthodox Jews who would go and sing. But with the sparse crowd, we each got to perform more than when the regular weekly sessions were at full strength. For my part, I sang my originals, "Living Like Flowers (at the Mercy of the Wind)," "Midnight has Come and Gone" and "Do You Think of Me (Now and Again)." For my encore I did a cover of Nick Lowe's "Hear of the City."

My performances kind of sucked -- even for  me -- but what the heck. I am sharing the videos because I can deal with the shame.

In a change from the past format, they invited people to do anything creative. It didn't have to be song. Though music was the primary genre of performance, there was one guy who gave a magic show. And Jonas, a Help-Xer who has been staying with us, read a short story from a collection he has been writing.

I plan to be back tonight. Ethan will be coming, and maybe -- just maybe -- he'll get up and tell a story from the repertoire he worked on when we took classes with Adam Wade at the Magnet Theater.

Below are pictures from some of the other performances.

wilko, part iii

This is a quick follow-up about Wilko the used Maine Coon I got a little over a month ago. For anyone
reading this now who wants some background, my earlier posts are here and here. 

Att this point I can happily say that Wilko has integrated into the family. She walks around the house like she owns the place. And, best of all, she acts like I'm her person. I described her behavior in a series of texts to a friend:

Such a transformation. When I work from home she spends a lot of the day hanging out in the office with me. Some of it just chilling under my desk near my feet. Sometimes she gets up and kind of walks around me, rubbing against my legs. I think that in her old home she wasn't allowed on the tables. When I see her on the dining room table and come over to pet her she runs in a panic. She lets me pick her up, but won't stay on my lap. So I pick her up and lap-put her, but she jumps down. The thing is, she doesn't run away. She gets down and stays with me.

So she has gotten to the point of normal cat behavior. I consider this a victory.

I feel kind of sheepish about being so happy to have her, my own kitten in a house full of other cats. Blair notes that I've wanted my own cat for quite a while, and having Wilko around makes me happier.

Of course, on Sunday Sharon is getting her new kitten, Copic. I have seen the pictures, and Copic is very cute. But I'll have to resist the lure of the kitten's siren song. While everyone else in the family makes a fuss over her, I'll have to stick with Wilko and give her my attention.

cinema history class: death wish ii (1982)

 

As always, there may be spoilers here. And the trailer may be NSFW and/or NSFL.

Session: Be Vigilant (Week 2)
Movie: Death Wish II (1982)
Directed by Michael Winner

Plot:

After his housekeeper and daughter are raped and murdered (in a crime reminiscent of a tragedy that befell his wife and daughter two years earlier), Paul Kersey digs out his gun and ammo and goes hunting. Horror ensues.

Reaction and Other Folderol:

In a rare move, Keith showed us a movie I'd already seen before. So, going in, I kind of had a good idea of what I would want to say.

Death Wish II was actually an interesting choice for to include in a month of vigilante movies. Keith hasn't yet shown us the original Death Wish, which was a better movie and much more of a pure vigilante film. Keith did note two reasons for going with the sequel. The first is that he doesn't want to just show the most popular things that everyone has seen*. The other reason is that he has a hard-to-find version with footage that was cut from the film upon its theatrical release in the U.S.**

In addition to the fact that the sequel isn't as good as the original, it's also more of a revenge film than a vigilante film. In the original, Kersey (played by Charles Bronson) goes out seeking criminals -- any criminals -- to kill. In the sequel, he is specifically searching for the thugs who broke into his apartment and victimized him (and his family). In fact, in one scene he purposely tells some criminals to leave so that he can kill the one he's after. In a sense, the film felt like a modern-day version of a spaghetti western.

I stated above that it's not as good a movie as the original. A big part of that is the fact that it clearly shows the franchise beginning it's descent into cartoonishness. It hasn't arrived there yet -- Death Wish 3 and Death Wish 4 accomplish that. And despite the drop in quality, this is still an exciting, suspenseful film. I was bothered a bit by the reliance on Kersey's perfect memory for faces. The others in the class found that believable, but it seemed implausible to me.

another subject of in-class disagreement centered on the end of the movie. Specifically, the part where Kersey fights with (and ultimately kills) the last of his targets. Others in the class believe that the target (let's call him "Bob") knows who Kersey is and why he's attacking him. I don't think so. I think Bob just knows some guy is trying to kill him -- which wouldn't surprise him, given his violent life. The fact is I would find the others' interpretation more satisfying, since I like the idea of the villain realizing why he is being killed. But I just don't think that was the intent here.

Another interesting aspect of the film is the racially-integrated gang. Keith noted that gang integration wasn't really a thing, but it was needed to make the movie more acceptable. Which makes one particular choice all the more odd. During the scene where the gang attacks, rapes and kills Kersey's housekeeper, the three black gangmembers are hooting and hollering like chimpanzees while the two white gangmembers strike cerebral poses as if they're trying to puzzle out the logistics. It's actually an interesting bit of racially-tinged imagery. Was it done on purpose? By accident? I'd be curious to know.

Ratings

Me: 8.5

Bob-O: 9.9

Dave: 9.7

Ethan: 8

Cats: There were definitely rats. I don't recall cats or other domesticated animals, so there were none that played a prominent role. Maybe some showed up in the outdoor crowd scenes? At any rate, this should not be considered a cat movie.

______________________________________

*as evidenced by our screenings of such gems as Blood Freak and Yongary, Monster from the Deep

**Interestingly, when I saw the movie some years ago, I saw the same version with the extra footage. Admittedly, Keith's version was cleaned up and so had fewer flaws. I believe I saw it on Youtube.

happy tunesday: "there's a song in my head" by fred haring

 

I'm not a huge Fred Haring fan. I have one of his albums, which I picked up somewhere along the line. Probably from freecycle. I must have given it a listen when I got it and decided to keep it. So it's in my collection, and it's been ripped to my computer. But I never had the energy to devote to following him, so I know very little about him.

While I work from home I often have my music collection playing on shuffle. Sometimes that means I'll hear something I don't immediately recognize. And sometimes that's a huge treat as I hear something and think, "Damn, that's really good!"

And that happened today. It had good lyrics, a memorable refrain and a catchy hook. So I had to pause my work to check what it was. I note that that's not a herculean task, but it's lightly more work than you might realize, since I have both my work computer (company property) and my personal computer hooked up to the same monitor, keyboard and mouse so I have to do a little toggling.

Anyway, the song that caught my attention was "There's a Song in My Head" by Fred Haring. This is a really great song. I wish I had written it. I'm gonna have to back up and listen to more of his music with a careful ear.

There is no Wikipedia page for Fred Haring, but he does have a website.

I'm not a huge Fred Haring fan. But maybe I should be.

cinema history class: the exterminator (1980)

  

As always, there may be spoilers here. And the trailer may be NSFW and/or NSFL.

Session: Be Vigilant (Week 1)
Movie: The Exterminator (1980)
Directed by James Glickenhaus

Plot:

Two guys form a fast friendship under fire in Vietnam. Their friendship continues after the war in New York, until one of them is beaten up and horribly wounded by a gang, and the other knows what he must do. Horror ensues.

Reaction and Other Folderol:

Considering the low budget this indie film had to work with, they did a really good job of making it feel like a "big" movie. The prologue in Vietnam had me thinking of First Blood, and then the aerial shots of Manhattan were very impressive.

Robert Ginty, starring as the exterminator, had a Larry Byrd kind of look to him. Or maybe he looked like the blonde guy from Air Supply...I never really figured which. His wooden demeanor could have dragged the whole production down, but somehow it didn't. He just seemed like a stoic.

There are a bunch of ways that the plot doesn't really make sense -- things that fall into place too easily without adequate explanation. But in a way that doesn't matter. Despite his monotone, Ginty does manage to sell the suspense. Will he actually burn that thug with the blowtorch? Will he really run that mobster through the meat grinder? I, as the viewer, was excited to find out. And, in the end, for a movie like this maybe that's all that matters.

The Exterminator is a fun movie in that mindless actiony kind of way, but ultimately it's a second rate copy of Death Wish, but with less focus.

Ratings

Me: 6.5

Bob-O: 9.8

Christina: 8.5

Dave: 9.7

Ethan: 8

Cats: Rats, but no cats