THE BROOD (1979) / SCALPEL (1977)

The Brood / Scalpel double bill at the New Beverly, March 10, 2020. Photo: Matt Average

THE BROOD (1979)

Director: David Cronenberg

Starring: Oliver Reed, Samantha Eggar, Art Hindle

SCALPEL (1977)

Director: John Grissmer

Starring: Robert Lansing, Judith Chapman, Arlen Dean Snyder, Sandy Martin

Before the world went down the toilet, and all the movie theaters were temporarily closed,  I was able to catch the double bill of The Brood, and Scalpel at the New Beverly. This was part of their month long series of double bills as they originally played in Los Angeles. The Brood print was pretty good, despite how old it is. Scalpel was the surprise of the night for me. It’s no masterpiece, but it’s entertaining, and one I would watch again. 

I look forward to the time when the theaters reopen and we can all sit in the dark and escape from daily life, with a soda at hand, and a couple of vegan hotdogs. (MA)

 

 

 

 

 

THE PEACEMAKER (1997)

THE PEACEMAKER (1997)

Directed By Mimi Leder

Staring George Clooney, Nicole Kidman, Marcel Iures

Viewed On Amazon prime

Great Transfer

Ok I’m going to start this off by saying that I know I probably shouldn’t like this movie.  I’m pretty embarrassed to admit that I enjoyed this a lot.  As I’ve stated in past reviews I’m a sucker for anything remotely terrorism related.  This is cool because it predates 911.  I hate the fact that I enjoy Clooney.  I want to hate him every time , but the bottom line is that I enjoy almost everything I see him in.  All the Coen bros films, The American, Michael Clayton, Gravity, From Dusk Till Dawn, The Descendants, Syriana, etc.   Also the pro American music through out the movie makes me realize I should prolly wonder why I’m liking and watching it… but you know what?  It beats some dated Nu Metal soundtrack!  It works for the film.

This is basically about a stolen Russian nuke that goes through much adventure, trials and tribulations overseas to finally reach NYC where it needs to be disarmed by Nicole Kidman.  Its a long flick, but there is much killer action and adventure with some awesome bad guys and rad death scenes.  Clooney kicks ass as a tough, take no shit rogue US Army colonel.  Not the kind of film I’d watch most the time, but it worked for me last night.  My wife might have even enjoyed this one.  (NW)

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NW: Nate Wilson    DC: Devon Cahill   HR: Heath Row   MA: Matt Average

LONG WEEKEND (1978)

LONG WEEKEND (1978)

Director: Colin Eggleston 

Staring John Hargreaves, Briony Behets, Mike McEwen, Cricket (the dog)

Australia

Streamed on Prime- Great Transfer

Well this movie seems a lot longer then the hour and thirty it clocks in at.  It  takes a while for stuff to really get moving.  The last 30 minutes are when things really get good, and the last 20 practically have no dialog at all.   Make sure you watch this with the subtitles on, because you don’t want to miss anything.  The accents throw me sometimes. 

This is a story of a suburban couple who are super easy to just be disgusted by.  Its easy to hate on them. They are just awful people, and I actually don’t find myself feeling sorry for them at all at any point in the film.  They “disrespect” and destroy nature for literally no reason… and Mother Nature gets her revenge.  The couple go to the beach for a weekend and along the way kill numerous animals, carelessly start a fire on the side of the road,  throw beer bottles in the ocean, chop down trees for absolutely no reason, etc.  They continuously argue and fight with one another throughout the story.  It really is sort of clever and helps build things up for the cool ending.  I won’t spoil the film to much for you, but the ending is really cool, and to for me it was worth it all.  As my buddy Mark said to me about the film “Its grueling, but worth the watch”.   I’d tend to agree.  Its not a movie you will soon forget.  (NW)

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NW: Nate Wilson    DC: Devon Cahill   MA: Matt Average

BLOOD AND BLACK LACE (1964)

BLOOD AND BLACK LACE (aka 6 Donne per L’Assassino) (1964)

Directed by Mario Bava

Starring: Cameron Mitchell, Eva Bartok, Thomas Reiner

Streamed on Amazon Prime

Transfer Quality is great.

This is a beautifully filmed horror thriller that I’m just now seeing for the first time.  Its hard to fathom how I’ve slept on this one for so long.  It spawned an entire genre of Italian film.  The colors, and lighting are magnificent.  The transfer quality is great for Amazon Prime.  

The story is sort of complex…. but boils down to a masked murderer who is killing off models at a fashion house in Rome.  The killings are pretty brutal for the time period, and very scary mainly due to the killers appearance (wears a stocking of sorts over the face, with a hat and long jacket). 

 The movie starts right off with a slaying that happens within the first five minutes of the picture.  There are well over a dozen characters that keep you wondering who the killer is. Many of them are junkies, and just straight up odd acting characters that keep the viewer confused and constantly guessing who the evil one might be.  It really could be anyone based on a diary of a dead model, drugs, sex, etc.  

This film must have been completely shocking for people to see in 1964.  Don’t sleep on this one.  (NW)

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NW: Nate Wilson    DC: Devon Cahill   MA: Matt Average

 

MACABRE (1980)

MACABRE  (aka MACABRO) (1980)

Director: Lamberto Bava

Starring some people I’ve never heard of: Bernice Stegers & Robert Molnar

This Movie is a true cult classic.  Its been recommended to me forever by my buddy Mark Mccoy who loves the director.  At any rate I finally got back to watching some older films this week, and this one was at the top of my list.  The director is the son of famed director Mario Bava who apparently died just two months after seeing this his sons first ever film.  

Don’t be mistaken, this is not a gore film, but more a slow moving psychological thriller that at any moment you the viewer feel as though things are going to get really nasty really quickly.   

So much occurs in the story that its hard to fathom how it all gets sorted out in an hour and a half.  Somehow it does.  

The main character goes through two horrific deaths in one day (her lover, and her son).  After being away for sometime she returns to the boarding house where her lover lived upstairs.  Downstairs lives the landlord who is a blind man that creepily fixes musical instruments.  He basically falls in love with her, but upstairs she just makes love to herself (or her dead lover), while the blind man listens on. The woman also has a daughter who is a sick little turd.  

Its a great “true” story that supposedly Bava found in a New Orleans newspaper, and then decided to make a movie about.  Everything about this film is great.  The setting in New Orleans… the boarding house where much of everything takes place… everything looks splendid.  Music is super tense. The acting is top notch.  The smile and eyes of the main character make everything so believable.  The blind man truly comes off as blind.  The story is just wickedly odd and unique.  

Don’t sleep on this, its streaming on Amazon Prime right now.  Its a really decent transfer as well (unlike the shit Devon will sit through).  (NW)

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NW: Nate Wilson    DC: Devon Cahill   MA: Matt Average