cinema history class: goke, body snatcher from hell (1968)

The session: "Japanese Sci-Fi"
Four Japanese science fiction movies -- but not the cliche giant monster kind

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

Week 2: Goke, Body Snatcher from Hell (1968)
Directed by Hajime Sato:

I hadn't heard of this.

Plot:
After they crash land, the passengers of an airliner find themselves fighting for survival against a space alien

Reaction and Other Folderol:
I wouldn't say that Goke is incoherent, but it comes damn close. They threw in way too many science fiction tropes, which made it hard to follow the plot. This was most apparent at the ending. There were a lot of different good ideas for how to end the film, but it seems like they couldn't decide which to use. As a result, there were a bunch of points where it should have ended, but instead plowed into another ending.

Some of the visual effects were good, but others were laughably bad. The scenes on the alien spaceship reminded me of the worst of season 1 Space: 1999 -- though if I want to be charitable I can attribute it to their desire to achieve an otherworldly feel. But while we're on the subject of effects from Space: 1999, it's also worth noting that some of the Goke's effects -- notably the rockslides -- seems like the worst of season 2 of that show.

Add to that the fact the soundtrack was overhearing and I couldn't really like any of the characters.

Ratings
Me: 5
Bob-O: 9
Christina: 9.3
Dave: 8.7
Ethan: 8.5

cinema history class: the green slime (1968)

The session: "Japanese Sci-Fi"
Four Japanese science fiction movies -- but not the cliche giant monster kind

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

Week 1: Green Slime (1968)
Directed by Kinji Fukasaku

My Level of Prior Knowledge:
I hadn't heard of this.

Plot:
Astronauts destroy an asteroid to save earth. But they unleash a deadly alien life that starts out as green slime.

Reaction and Other Folderol:
Back when I was in grad school, my Sunday night ritual consisted of watching Dr. Who with my friends Rod and Diana. Though it was part of my weekly routine, I never really got into that show. The one thing I remember well was that the special effects were pretty bad -- comedically bad. And in some ways, the effects in Slime brought me back to that. The aleins here were in equal measure Dr. Who and Sid and Marty Krofft.

But I'd be doing the movie a disservice if I were to leave it at that. For starters, I can get on my soapbox, and note that the alien monsters are actually very effective. The cheesiest of costumes beat the best CGI. And the fact is that the plot itself is legitimately serious science-fiction. It could do with some better character development, but all in all it was reasonably done.

By the way, I would be remiss if I failed to note the totally groovy theme song. This has got to be one of the best movie themes ever. And, while these writeups usually only have one video (typically, a trailer), I will make an exception here.

Ratings
Me: 8
Bob-O: 9.5
Christina: 9.1
Dave: 9.5
Ethan: 7

cinema history class: guyana: cult of the damned (1979)

The session: "April is the Cruelest Month -- Cardona's Catastrophes"
Four movies by the two Rene Cardonas -- father and son

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

Week 4: Guyana: Cult of the Damned (1979)
Directed by Rene Cardona, Jr.

My Level of Prior Knowledge:
I hadn't heard of this.

Plot:
A cult leader moves his whole congregation from San Francisco to Guyana. There, he rules as a kind of cross between a messiah figure and a dictator -- until he makes everyone drink poison

Reaction and Other Folderol:
This was essentially a docudrama of the Jonestown Massacre, though the names of the major players were changed owing to the recency of events. I was thirteen when the massacre occurred, so I remember it, but I wasn't much of a news junkie then, so there were many details that I didn't know.  Keith told us that this movie was reasonably true to events, though it made it appear  as though the Jonestown victims were mostly White, when in fact they were mostly Black. And, of course, there's the minor detail of name changes -- for example, Jim Jones was represented as Jim Johnson and Jonestown was therefore rebranded as Johnsontown (which, in my opinion isn't as catchy). But, in terms of realism, the final scenes did a really good job of recreating some of the famous news photos that I remember from the time.

Stuart Whitman gives the performance of a lifetime as James Johnson. The movie opens with an extended scene of him preaching in his an Francisco church, and he's mesmerizing. He exudes the charisma that the real life Jim Jones must have had. And he just gets better from there. By necessity, the film focused on only a handful of the Johnsontowners, and they weren't particularly well developed. But that didn't seem to be a real issue.

The ending -- the poisoning scene -- dragged on a bit much, but it did serve its intended effect, as we heard Whitman (as Johnson) talking the whole time -- still with that fiery charismatic delivery.

Ratings
Me: 8.5
Dave: 9.5
Ethan: 10
Joe: 8.5