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.