I watch a surprising amount of prison movies. It's not that I have any special affinity towards prison, but the setting makes for an easy method to tell tales of violence, drama, and survival against harsh odds often imposed by other people. Prison makes for an exploitative arena, though the films that focus on it, … Continue reading Scum (1979)
This movie is not to be confused with the never released Grizzly II. It may seem strange that the two get compared, but Day of the Animals and Grizzly both featured much of the same crew, including the same director and producer, as well as both actors Christopher George and Richard Jaeckel. Only instead of fighting a single giant bear … Continue reading Day of the Animals (1977)
Kevin Costner is in this movie as a main character, but he wasn't even listed in the credits. Seriously, he's completely left out. They remembered Ambulance Driver #1 but not him. Shadows Run Black is a "crime thriller" which is really just a slasher film that doesn't want to admit it's a slasher film. It's … Continue reading Shadows Run Black (1984)
If you're wondering if this movie is as bad as that poster makes it seem...yes. Yes, it is. In the 1980s, an evil cult run by an immortal Satanist seeks a magic jewel that contains immense power from an undreamed of age. They also like to hold private parties for teams of buxom women to … Continue reading The Lost Empire (1984)
Cultural tastes and etiquette definitely transform over time. While this has been a sticking point in literature for years (Adventures of Huckleberry Finn certainly comes to mind), it also holds particularly true for film. Unfortunately for 7 Faces of Dr. Lao, this is one of those movies that used a device once a cultural norm … Continue reading 7 Faces of Dr. Lao (1964)
Ah, Thunder. You're like if Rambo and Billy Jack had a tough, quiet love child out in the New Mexican desert. And now I'm finishing off the trilogy. A group of white supremacist militia members shoot a couple of horses, and when Thunder intervenes, they shoot up and torch a small Native American village and … Continue reading Thunder III (1988)
Thunder is a man on the edge. The white man has desecrated his tribe's burial ground, sexually harassed his friend, and violated the treaty that his grandfather struggled to secure. What's a young Native American man to do? Get revenge. Get sweet, explosive revenge. If you haven't noticed it yet, there is a headband around … Continue reading Thunder (1983)
