Webster University’s Strange Brew film series, the first Wednesday evening of every month, always features a fun cult movie� at the Schlafly Bottleworks Restaurant and Bar in Maplewood (7260 Southwest Ave. – at Manchester – Maplewood, MO 63143). SUSPIRIA, THE TWILIGHT ZONE MOVIE, HEAD, and TARANTULA are a few of the movies they’ve screened in the past that went well with some St. Louis-brewed suds and next week, December 7th,� they’re venturing into NOT Available on DVD territory with the 1974 swampsploitation opus GATOR BAIT starring ’70s Drive-in goddess Claudia Jennings.

Imagine if Russ Meyer had directed DELIVERANCE and that might give you an idea of the berserk backwoods hijinks to be found in GATOR BAIT. It’s a simple story about murder and retribution starring the heavenly Jennings as Desiree Thibodeau, a ‘purty’ rural� wildcat who hunts down the bunch of toothless hillbillies who had raped and killed her younger sister. Snakes, guns, swamps, incest, nekkid women, and high speed johnboat chases are all ingredients of the tasty Cajun stew that is GATOR BAIT.

Beverly and Ferd Sebastian were a husband and wife writer/director team that made a string of low-budget sleazefests in the �70s (including SINGLE GIRLS, also starring Ms Jennings) and GATOR BAIT is their finest hour. In 1988 they made GATOR BAIT 2: CAJUN JUSTICE starring Jan MacKenzie but it was a pale imitation of the original. GATOR BAIT has achieved cult status thanks to the presence of its sexy star Claudia Jennings. Born in 1949, Ms Jennings took a job as a receptionist at the offices of Playboy magazine in 1968, was discovered there and became Playboy�s Miss November 1969. Less busty than most 60′s Playboy models, Jennings had a healthy, all-American cheerleader type of good looks and was crowned 1970′s Playmate of the Year. After her Playboy stint, Jennings became a low-budget movie star and reigned as �Queen of the Drive-In� for a brief period in the mid-70′s. UNHOLY ROLLERS (1973) was her first starring role followed by GROUP MARRIAGE (1973), THE SINGLE GIRLS, and TRUCK STOP WOMEN (all1974), and (among others) THE GREAT TEXAS DYNAMITE CHASE (1977). She was strongly considered as Kate Jackson�s replacement on the Charlies Angels TV series but reportedly Aaron Spelling worried about tarnishing his show with her Playboy connection. In October 1979 Claudia Jenning�s car was hit by a truck after she fell asleep behind the wheel and she was gone at age 29. Her final film role was in David Cronenberg�s FAST COMPANY (1979). Jennings is so good in all of her films, especially GATOR BAIT, that it�s a shame her career was tragically cut so short.

I highly recommend seeing GATOR BAIT Wednesday, December 7 at 8:00 pm at Schlafly Bottleworks and experiencing the glory that was Claudia Jennings

Joe Don Baker was marketed as a martial arts star in the 1974 actioner GOLDEN NEEDLES, a movie I saw at the Des Peres 4 Cinema back when it was� new and haven’t been able to track down since. It had never been released on VHS or DVD so I was psyched to see it’s now out as part of the “MGM Limited Edition” DVD-R series . Before starring in the hit WALKING TALL in 1973, Baker had bounced around Hollywood mostly doing TV work . After Kris Kristofferson turned down the role of Buford Pusser, producers offered the role to Baker who had made an impression as Steve McQueen’s younger brother in Sam Peckinpah’s JUNIOR BONNER in 1972.WALKING TALL, a true tale about a Tennessee sheriff confronting corruption and gangsters with a large wooden club and a mean attitude, was a surprise success and Baker was soon starring in a string of medium-budget action films (Bo Svenson would go on to play Pusser in the WALKING TALL sequels and TV show). The first was GOLDEN NEEDLES directed by Robert Clouse, who had successfully blended Chinese cinema conventions into the American action formula with the smash hit ENTER THE DRAGON in 1973.That film’s star, Bruce Lee, died just as the film was released so Raymond Chow, head of Hong Kong’s Golden Harvest Productions went looking for a new action star and set his sights on Joe Don Baker, who was pretty much the opposite of Bruce Lee in every way. Lee was not only the greatest icon of martial arts in cinema history, but a key figure in modern popular culture. Baker, from Texas, was 9 inches taller than Lee, a big, wide bear of a man completely lacking in karate skills, but off to China he was sent to star in GOLDEN NEEDLES, which was marketed as a sort of martial arts/American action hybrid, which is exactly what it is. Baker starred as Dan, an American adventurer living in Hong Kong, who is hired by Elizabeth Ashley to track down a priceless statuette that contains seven golden acupuncture needles. If these are stuck in a man, in the same pattern as marked on the idol, he’ll become a super sexual stud and, less importantly, gain immortality in the process, Dan gets mixed up with others intent on getting their hands on the statue including Hong Kong gangsters, Chinese government agents, and an eccentric American millionaire (Burgess Meredith).

It was weird seeing GOLDEN NEEDLES again after a 37-year gap but it’s pretty much how I remembered it; cheesy yet incredibly entertaining in a garish, ’70s kind of way. The film opens with a wealthy Chinese mobster getting the sexual invigorating needle treatment before three men in foil suits barge in with flame throwers, incinerating everyone in sight before making off with the statuette. I’m not sure if this was the most efficient way of absconding with the idol, but it made for a shocking opening that this then-13-year-old never forgot. Baker’s fight scenes usually begin with him making some half-hearted karate stand and then just throwing punches brawler-style, which he does quite well. I don’t know whether Baker attempted to learn any martial arts but these scenes are actually quite rough and tumble and he’s great. Baker was a tough and vigorous ass-kicker in the Charles Bronson mold and he’s easier to take in this film than I expected. Jim Kelly, a black martial arts star who had been featured in ENTER THE DRAGON, shows up with a cool afro about halfway through and does one karate scene (the end credits claim “Jim Kelly’s Fight Sequence Choreographed By Himself”), but he’s unfortunately underused. Meredith has a lot of fun with his role and Ann Sothern even shows up for some abuse as a Hong Kong madam. The best thing about GOLDEN NEEDLES, and an element I did not appreciate in 1974, is the location filming in some of the more non-touristy parts of Hong Kong. It lends the film a lot of cool atmosphere and seedy local color and the climax, an extended chase scene through a ratty boatyard, is exciting and unique. The film is well-paced by director Clouse and has a nice, driving Lalo Schifrin score. It was produced by American International yet was never released on video during the heyday of VHS in the ’80s, otherwise it would no doubt have some cult status today. The new “MGM Limited Edition” DVD of GOLDEN NEEDLES is widescreen, remastered, and looks absolutely fantastic. The cover of the DVD is odd though in that Joe Don Baker isn’t even pictured. Instead, we get a shot of Burgess Meredith and one of his henchmen. I’m not sure if MGM was afraid people had forgotten that Baker was a ’70s action star or what, but it’s an odd omission. FRAMED, MITCHELL (both 1975), and SPEEDTRAP (1977) were some of the other action films that Joe Don Baker starred in in the ’70s, but GOLDEN NEEDLES remains the best and the most unusual. Congrats to the folks at MGM for dusting off this memorable relic that deserves to find a new audience.

ZOMBIE , the audaciously disgusting spectacle from the late master of gruesome Italian horror Lucio Fulci, was made in 1979 and presented as a semi-sequel to George Romero’s DAWN OF THE DEAD from the previous year, (DAWN was released in parts of Europe as ZOMBIE – Fulci’s film was known there as ZOMBIE 2) though the films aren’t at all connected. Tisa Farrow and a group of vacationing tourists travel to an island where they find a doctor (Richard Johnson) who is attempting to cure a condition that reanimates the dead. Things quickly get out of control as undead Spanish conquistadors crawl from their graves hungry for human flesh. All this undead mayhem is highlighted by nauseatingly graphic set-pieces by make-up maestro Gianetto de Rossi. ZOMBIE is an incredibly well-made shocker that was enormously popular worldwide and in many ways has aged better than the Romero film (it’s certainly scarier).

With close-ups of zombie mouths tearing flesh from victims’ throats, an eyeball being slowly impaled on a large wooden splinter, and some hilariously unnecessary T&A, ZOMBIE delivered the grisly B-movie goods even though it exhibited none of the artistry found in the work of Fulci’s horror contemporaries Mario Bava and Dario Argento. Then again, unlike Fulci, neither of those auteurs was ever genius enough to stage an extended underwater fight between a zombie and a shark. ZOMBIE played St. Louis drive-ins, always as the second feature, for years in the late ’70s and early ’80s and thanks to our friends at Destroy the Brain.com and their monthly Late Night Grindhouse, our city will have the chance to see ZOMBIE on the big screen in all of its gory glory this weekend at midnights (October 21st and 22nd) at the fabulous Hi-Pointe Theater (1005 McCausland Avenue). The pre-show begins at 11:30.� This precedes next Tuesday’s Blu-ray release from the folks at Blue Underground DVD.
The Facebook invite for Friday’s Midnight show can be found HERE

The Facebook invite for Saturday’s Midnight show can be found HERE

From Blue Underground‘s Site:

Experience the Italian horror maestro�s gore classic as you�ve never seen or heard it before, digitally restored and remastered!

See the new trailer for ZOMBIE:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqFWrGKLb4E

The late, great Lucio Fulci is known to horror fans for such wildly imaginative and outrageously gory films as THE BEYOND, HOUSE BY THE CEMETERY, and CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD; his influence continues to be felt in the work of contemporary genre directors including Eli Roth (HOSTEL, CABIN FEVER) and Guillermo del Toro (HELLBOY, PAN�S LABYRINTH).

Originally released in Italy as an unofficial sequel to DAWN OF THE DEAD, Fulci�s ZOMBIE is arguably the director�s most popular movie and remains one of the most eye-skewering, skin-ripping, gore-gushingly graphic horror hits of all time! ZOMBIE stars Tisa Farrow (THE GRIM REAPER), Ian McCulloch (CONTAMINATION), Al Cliver (CANNIBALS), and Richard Johnson (THE HAUNTING).

Blue Underground is proud to present ZOMBIE in a new 2K High Definition transfer from the original uncut and uncensored camera negative. Each frame has been lovingly restored to perfection under the supervision of cinematographer Sergio Salvati (THE BEYOND), and the soundtrack has been remastered in 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround Sound to create the most pristine, mind-blowing version of the movie ever seen.

�We are very excited about this theatrical release of ZOMBIE,� says Blue Underground founder and president William Lustig. �We spent hundreds of hours working by hand to restore every frame of the movie. When we premiered our restoration of the film at Fantastic Fest in Austin, fans told us that ZOMBIE looks like it was made yesterday!�

For a look at how Blue Underground meticulously restored Lucio Fulci�s ZOMBIE, visit:

 

�http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzcDDgU8WK4&feature=related�Blue Underground�s Ultimate Edition of ZOMBIE will be released as a 2-Disc Blu-ray and 2-Disc DVD on October 25, 2011.

 

“When I first saw ZOMBIE, my mind exploded! After the movie ended, I didn�t know if I had dreamed it, because surely such movies didn�t exist! You are about to see a movie that is created by one of the most brilliant minds in the genre, that is full of �Oh, my God!� moments that you will not believe�.visceral satisfaction fully guaranteed! Fulci was a ferocious mind, and ZOMBIE is his most savage movie.� � Guillermo del Toro, director of Hellboy and Pan�s Labyrinth

 

�One of the all-time great horror classics, Fulci�s ZOMBIE contains the greatest scene ever committed to celluloid, and that is a zombie fighting a shark. Fulci put a stuntman dressed as a zombie in a tank with a live shark and made them fight � it�s one of the craziest, most insane and irresponsible scenes ever put on film. This was 1980, years before CG. And the zombie wins! To this day, nobody knows how in the hell he did it, it�s simply jaw-dropping. There�s nothing you will see in any modern zombie movie that comes close to what Fulci did in 1980. Viva Fulci!�� Eli Roth, director of Hostel and Cabin Fever

For more information about Blue Underground, visit

www.blue-underground.com.

Follow Blue Underground on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/BLUnderground.　About Blue Underground:

BLUE UNDERGROUND�S goal is to bring cool movies to fans all over the world in beautiful, Criterion-level special editions. They are definitive discs of some remarkable films, all fully restored, remastered and packed with the most mind-blowing extras in the business. We look for fun movies to release, undiscovered films, and films that are really for people that are into movies. We�re committed to bringing these movies out of the dark and back into your life where they belong!

My resin ZOMBIE model kit (painted by Tom Stockman)…Viva Fulci indeed!

1977. The mention of that year warms the heart of many a film geek. For that was the year ( May 25 to be exact ) when the first “Star Wars” movie ( now referred to as STAR WARS EPISODE IV: A NEW HOPE ) was released to theatres. Ah, but another major movie maker besides George Lucas put out a film that Summer. Just in time for July 4th weekend United Artists brought out Martin Scorsese’s NEW YORK, NEW YORK. It did not give Lucas’s movie a run for it’s money. Most Scorsese aficionados rate his other films much higher on their favorite lists. Now that it’s been issued on Blu-Ray, is it time for a re-evaluation? After all THE KING OF COMEDY� was a 1982 flop, but is now remembered fondly by many film buffs ( and stand-up comics ).

The action begins at the end of ( military ) action. World War II that is. 1945. VJ Day. New� vet and aspiring saxophone player Jimmy Doyle ( Robert DeNiro ) meets strugggling big band singer Francine Evans ( Liza Minnelli ) at a Big Apple victory dance/concert. Soon they’ve formed a nightclub act, but she ditches the team to be part of Freddie Hart’s traveling band.Jimmy follows, joins the band, marries her, takes over the band, and shortly Francine is expecting. As her due date approaches she leaves the band and Jimmy sells it. As he joins a small jazz combo, her star rises as a studio singer. They split afters he gives birth to a son. Francine becomes a big Hollywood movie musical star and Jimmy opens a swanky NYC jazz hot spot. They re-unite at�her big Manhattan return concert. We should feel invested in this couple, but Jimmy’s a very abrasive character: moody, hot-tempered, stubborn, arrogant, egotistical. It’s just not one of DeNiro’s compelling roles. It’s hard to understand Francine’s devotion to Jimmy. Liza does her best, but they just don’t click as a screen couple.

Minnelli really comes alive when she’s singing. Years before her camp diva icon status, she was a powerful film presence. She seems so natural in the 40′s fashions and almost leaps off the screen during the big “Happy Endings” movie musical number. There’s some great supporting and cameo actors here. DeNiro and Minnelli share a great scene with the legendary Dick Miller. Lionel Stander has a great role as Minelli’s tough talking agent. Mary Kay Place warbles a great tune as Francine’s replacement. The much missed Clarence Clemons has a few choice scenes as a jazz trumpeter (? ) ! Unfortunately you can sense the actors working very hard in likely improvised scenes. Scorsese wnated to combine his naturalistic style wtih big splashy studio musicals ( one’s that MGM and Fox did so well ). the two bump into each other and never relly mesh. A very unsatisfying ending certainly didn’t help the movie connect with audiences.

The movie’s look is stunning. Scorsese made use of a vibrant color palette ( as Warren Beatty would do many years later in DICK TRACY ). And these hues really pop on Blu-Ray. The sound mixing on the musical numbers is exceptional. The big band standards and the original Kander/Ebb songs ( you’ve got to wait a long while before hearing the now classic title tune ) sound like you’re right in the studio with them. There’s lots of extras here ( not in hi-def though). You get a commentary track with Scorsese and critic Carrie Rickey along with a selected scene commentary with cinematographer Lazlo Kovacs. Also there’s an introduction by Scorsese and a new interview with Minneli, alternate and deleted scenes,and the teaser and theatrical trailer. And of course there’s a making of documentary in two parts� that includes interviews with Kovacs, Scorsese, the producers and editor. Unfortunately DeNiro did not participate in any of these. If you’re a fan of Scorsese, the actors, or classic musicals you may want to give NEW YORK, NEW YORK a look ( and a listen ).

Article by Dana Jung

In 1970, the Vietnam War had already dragged on for nearly a decade. Filmmakers, like society in general, were making their opinions about the war known. The great anti-war films M*A*S*H and CATCH 22 were released that year and, though not set in Vietnam, made bold satirical use of past wars to make their points. However, that same year brought us another anti-war film somewhat overshadowed by those two classics, HORNET’S NEST, starring none other than Rock Hudson. Like some surrealistic cross between John Wayne’s THE COWBOYS and the original INGLORIOUS BASTARDS (both of which it predated), HORNET’S NEST is notable for several reasons: it was the final Hollywood film of European screen star Sylva Koscina, it was one of director Phil Karlson’s last movies, and it was the film debut of Hudson’s trademark mustache! However, it is NOT notable for being on DVD.

The film begins near the end of World War II with a prologue showing Nazis murdering men, women, and children in a small Italian village. Some of the older kids escape and witness the mass executions from the cover of forested hillsides that surround the village. The little town is strategically located between several military targets, such as a tunnel, a dam, a railway, etc. so the Nazis set up a command center nearby. Soon after the massacre, an American commando unit parachutes into the vicinity, only to be intercepted and killed by the Germans. But one unconscious soldier (Hudson) survives and is rescued by the kids. Hiding him in a nearby cave, the youngsters then lure an attractive German field surgeon (Koscina) into the woods to nurse the GI back to health. When the soldier wakes up, he wants to complete his mission of destroying the dam. The kids want to learn how to shoot the automatic weapons they have stolen so they can get revenge on the Nazis in the village. The doctor just wants to survive, and maybe save a few of the younger kids. Meanwhile, the German officers drink champaign and try to decide which military target the commandos were after. Conflicts abound in HORNET’S NEST. The never-named Soldier fights with the doctor (who tries to kill him at one point) and with Aldo (an intense Mark Calleano), the leader of the kids. Aldo not only has raging teen hormones to deal with, but has become a bit unbalanced in his single-minded pursuit of vengeance against the Nazis (he regards the doctor as just another Nazi). The white-haired German Army captain in command of the town (but not responsible for the massacre) argues with his commanders, and in particular detests an evil SS major.

Director Phil Karlson presents all this in a lean, Spaghetti-western style, complete with distinctive echoing gunshot sounds and a nice musical score by Ennio Morricone. Punctuated by scenes of sometimes brutal violence, the story sails along to its explosive conclusion. The film contains themes of rape, child violence, loss of innocence, death, patriotism, and more. Leaders murder their own men. Kids turn into killers. War brings out the worst in humanity, and is even more damaging to the young. Although somewhat humorless and heavyhanded at times, several scenes hit home. In an effort to force the doctor to treat the Soldier, Aldo screams, “She’ll fix him, but maybe first we gotta fix her!” � Training the kids to shoot, Hudson tells them, “This is not a toy..it kills”� and they respond with laughter. Later, to underscore the message, when Hudson holds a mortally wounded child in his arms, the child says simply, “Soldier, it hurts”� and dies. Karlson was a veteran director who started in the 1940s and helmed everything from Charlie Chan mysteries to B Westerns to an Elvis movie. He also directed two of the Dean Martin Matt Helm flicks, including the best of the series, THE SILENCERS. HORNET’S NEST was not his first war movie, as 10 years earlier he directed the excellent HELL TO ETERNITY. After NEST, he shot only three more features, but two of those are certified cult classics, BEN (1972) and WALKING TALL (1973).

The full-faced beauty Sylva Koscina was not Italian, though she made most of her movies there, but was Yugoslavian (now Croatia), born in Zagreb. Though she first came to fame in America in a pair of Hercules movies with Steve Reeves, Koscina actually had an extraordinary career of over 100 films. At the height of her Hollywood popularity, she played opposite such stars as Paul Newman, Yul Brynner, Kirk Douglas, Dirk Bogarde, and Stewart Granger. She also worked with Fellini and many other Italian directors. Often difficult to cast because of her youthful face and statuesque 5′ 11”� frame, she was nonetheless a gifted actress who could play anything from farce to the heavier drama in HORNET’S NEST. I always though she would have been a perfect Bond girl (check her out as an assassin in DEADLIER THAN THE MALE), but either they didn’t ask or (more likely) she wasn’t interested. Her role in NEST as the oddly humanistic German doctor is somewhat underwritten, and for the latter half of the film she has little to do. (In fairness, her near catatonia in some scenes is actually part of the story.) However, the scene where she tearfully becomes a machine-gun-toting avenger is hard to forget.

Hudson at age 45 is tough and introspective in HORNET’S NEST, quite the flipside of his matinee idol image to that point. You have to laugh when he calls the kids “little bastards”,� but Hudson’s Soldier is a somewhat bitter man whose feelings of futility and remorse at the situation fate has put him in continually cross his face. Physically impressive in the action sequences, but understated and laconic in the dramatic scenes, this is one of Hudson’s best performances. With this film, Hudson had definitely turned a corner in his career, as his next projects continued with the darker fare PRETTY MAIDS ALL IN A ROW and EMBRYO. However, within a few years he had resigned himself to television, disaster films, and other ensemble pieces. A unique film in many ways, the tag line for HORNET’S NEST read “When they get hurt they cry! When they get mad they kill!”� Unfortunately, they only get hurt and get mad on the MGM/UA Home Video release from 1993, and not on DVD

TRON: LEGACY is raising tons of hype in the geek community after their impressive display of special effects at this past Comic-Con and their awesome viral marketing with Flynn’s Arcade. The mythology of Tron has always been very close to me because my uncle played the title character. Enough about that though! Word has reached the film blogs (via HeatVision) that the team behind the upcoming TRON: LEGACY will be teaming up to reinvent the 1979 Disney Sci-Fi film, THE BLACK HOLE. I have not seen the film (alas, one has slipped through the cracks…I’m not perfect) but here is the plot synopsis from IMDB:

It is the year 2130 A.D. An Earth exploratory ship, the USS Palomino, discovers a black hole with a lost ship, the USS Cygnus, just outside its event horizon. Deciding to solve the mystery of the Cygnus are: the Palomino’s Captain, Dan Holland; his First Officer, Lieutenant Charlie Pizer; journalist Harry Booth; scientist and ESP-sensitive Dr. Kate McCrae, whose father was the Cygnus’s First Officer; Dr. Alex Durant, the expedition’s civilian leader; and the robot known as V.I.N.CENT. The Palomino attempts a dangerous fly-by of the darkened ship. As they come within close range of it, the buffeting they experience (due to the black hole’s gravity) suddenly ceases. They bring more instruments to bear on the derelict, but do not even realize the gravity-free zone is artificial; slipping outside it, they are almost drawn into the black hole, an abyss from which no one can escape. Matters worsen when Reinhardt holds the crew captive, after realizing that they can help him reach his goal. The squad must now figure out a way to flee from Reinhardt — before it’s too late. (Summary Credit: IMDB User Anthony Pereyr)

Sounds quite cool to me (as I click “add” on my Netflix queue) and I feel that based on what footage we saw from Comic-Con, Director Joseph Kosinski and Producer Sean Bailey may just be the guys for the job. With TRON: LEGACY coming out in December of 2010 however, Kosinski’s plate seems pretty full so we may not see any more news on this for at least a few months.

Check out the trailer for the 1979 original below and leave your thoughts on this new development!

‘Classic Shit!’ � is a column dedicated to films that were maligned upon release, and it is for films that are as entertaining as they are terrible. It is a home for cinema’s underdog.

If I say something is a classic, then take it with a grain of salt. If I call it shit, then I do it with love.

Wow.

Remember in ‘Boogie Nights’ how all those people were swearing up and down that they were making honest-to-god movies and not just cheap nudie pictures? This is one of those little gems. No kidding.

Knowing that, let me assure you that this movie will definitely NOT be everyone’s cup o’ tea. This is very much an “art house” � horror film but it is also pornographic in its depiction of sex, though sex therein is treated as an extension of the psychological horror as opposed to the regular “wank” � material associated with the genre. Also, the sex, albeit explicit, does not feel as unwarranted as, say, the insert scenes included in ‘Caligula.’

One could – if they had the fortitude – make the argument that the hardcore sex is not pornographic but merely explicit. After all, pornographic material exists with the sole intention of sexually exciting the viewer. The sex in ‘Through The Looking Glass’ is nothing if not disturbing and it is completely integral to the plot, as well as to understanding the psychological state of its main character, Catherine.

‘Through The Looking Glass’ also has the distinction of being one of the few hardcore films to be re-edited for mainstream release. It screened at New York’s World Theater, the same cinema where ‘Deep Throat’ had its premiere. Unfortunately, World Theater fell victim to the rising costs of land in the Big City and was torn down in 1987 to make way for a hotel. Another landmark destroyed in the name of gentrification. C’est la vie.

But I digress…

‘Through The Looking Glass’ was written, produced and directed by Jonas (aka Joseph) Middleton. His film is dead serious in its intentions and it is really ahead of its time. It is also a handsome production that is well shot, with impressive locations, sets and even has an effective special effect. How many “adult” � films from yesteryear can attest to that?

The film’s opening image is of a woman whose face is covered entirely by a white cosmetic mask, accompanied by a discordant score indicative of the film’s horrific intentions. The mask is slowly peeled off to reveal the face of our protagonist, Catherine (Catherine Burgess), a well-to-do and beautiful woman. Catherine’s peers openly chastise her for being cold and ineffectual. Her marriage, too, is coolly emotionless and certainly sexless. Even her young daughter is victim to her detached sensibilities.

Catherine regularly retreats to the attic of her opulent home, the same stately mansion she spent her youth, and here we have one of the film’s most important metaphors: Catherine is trapped, you see. She is a victim of incest, an act perpetrated by her father. Now, as an adult, she has refurnished her childhood home but she keeps the old furniture in an arrangement in the attic, specifically the ornate mirror that she associates with her deceased father.

The offense inflicted upon her in the past has robbed her of achieving pleasure in the present. She goes to the attic to be amongst her childhood things because she never really left her childhood. She is essentially retreating into herself, becoming insular, vain, a pitiful narcissist. Masturbating in front of the ornate mirror in the attic is the only physical release she is capable of. It is here, in this spider’s web of psychological damage, that the ghost – or demon – of her father manifests itself.

Her father, never given a proper name, is played by the prolific Jamie Gillis, of ‘Water Power’ fame/infamy. His first appearance is powerfully disturbing and it is foreshadowed by the sound of his voice intermixing with that of Catherine’s as she intones his sexual provocations towards her own reflection. He has literally tainted everything within her, as well as around her. When he appears inside of the mirror’s reflective surface, it is with an inhuman grunt of diabolical lust. He is visibly sweaty, nude and lit in a way as to suggest a terrifying sexual oppression. This is a mere glimpse of the sexual hell that awaits Catherine.

During that first appearance of Catherine’s father you’ll witness the most talked about camera trick in the entire film: a POV of Catherine’s father’s finger passing through the labia and into the vagina. Achieved, most likely, with a fiber optic camera, the shot is a jaw-dropper.

From there, the film dives headlong into Catherine’s damaged state of mind. There are several scenes depicting any number of sexual hang-ups, most of which are staged as brazenly disturbing and not the least bit arousing. After all, this is a film using sex to depict the deep emotional scars of incest. Nothing herein is depicted as straight copulation as much as it seems like the sex is consuming Catherine, causing her to turn inward, like a snake eating its own tail, a kind psychological cannibalism.

The ending is not positive, bordering on nihilistic, as Catherine gives into her fantasies and enters the looking glass with her “father.” � She emerges on the other side in a carnal wasteland, doomed to degradation and sexual ravishing with no pleasure and no reprieve. Worst of all, the closing scenes depict Catherine’s maligned daughter posing in front of the very same mirror, suggesting that the cycle of incest will continue.

A horror film, through and through.

Special mention should be made of the film’s effective and atmospheric score, which boasts two widely known composers: Arlon Ober and Harry Manfredini.

Ober’s last credit as composer was in 1994. Before that, he contributed to the ‘Robotech’ television series and subsequent 1986 feature, as well as Paul Bartel’s excellent black comedy ‘Eating Raoul.’ Alas, Ober died in 2004.

Manfredini is still kicking and still a very popular composer amongst fans of film scores. His signature theme for ‘Friday the 13^th’ �is now as instantly recognizable as Hermann’s ‘Psycho’ violins or William’s creeping tuba in ‘Jaws.’ Likewise, his score for ‘House’ remains a fan favorite.

Together, Ober and Manfredini combine their strengths and influences to infuse ‘Through The Looking Glass’ with impressive, foreboding music. It is another flourish of the production that takes the film and raises it above and beyond its contemporaries. One memorable piece sets the backdrop for a warped, orgiastic dinner party – wherein Catherine discovers she is the main course – one of many memorable fusions of avant-garde sensibilities and adult film promiscuity. The score reflects the audacious absurdities on display with a demented reworking of Strauss’s ‘Blue Danube’ waltz. Appropriately, the music helps define the tone of the scene and accentuate the vulgar incongruity of pretentious aristocracy and debased carnality.

Jonas Middleton shows a ridiculous amount of promise with this film and it is worrisome that ‘…Looking Glass’ is his last directorial effort. He also served as producer on the film, which was supposedly at a budget near two hundred fifty thousand dollars, a considerable amount for that type of production and the era in which it was made. Unfortunately, there just aren’t a whole lot of people that are able to escape the XXX world and go on to mainstream success, not to imply that Middleton hasn’t tried. Hell, the guy even had a feature make it as a quarter-finalist in a screenplay competition as late as 2007. Hollywood is a fickle beast, regardless of talent and skill.

His last stab at a career in features resulted in another cult classic, 1981′s ‘Just Before Dawn,’ an early take on the backwoods “slasher” � film. Middleton’s involvement, however, was limited to story development and producing. The film was largely overlooked in the glut of early 80′s horror, though a recent DVD release rekindled interest in the movie.

Jonas Middleton… I can only hope the creative bug bites him hard enough to revisit feature filmmaking.

His work in ‘Through The Looking Glass’ feels like a distant cousin to the works of Alejandro Jodorowsky or Federico Fellini and one or both of those auteurs undoubtedly inform the experience. Any faults within the film are slight and almost totally forgivable on the grounds of its own wild ambition. This isn’t Shakespeare, but for discerning fans of adult cinema, this motion picture is most certainly the zenith.

I have some great news for Cheech and Chong fans!

The Weinstein Company have partnered with Cheech Marin, Tommy Chong, and their managers Ben Feigin and Josh Klein to produce a concert movie to memorialize the comic duo’s reunion and first tour together in 25 years.

As part of the arrangement, TWC has worldwide theatrical, home video, digital and television rights. The feature-length program, which will portray a live concert experience of the “Cheech & Chong: Light Up America” tour, is expected to make a major TV premiere, followed by the DVD release.

“‘The Cheech and Chong Concert Movie’ will be an historic, must-experience event for the many fans that grew up listening to their recordings and watching their movies,” said Barry Gordon, EVP of Home Entertainment at TWC. “For the millions of new fans who have discovered Cheech and Chong over the years as cultural icons, this will be the first time many of them will be able to enjoy the artistry and one-of-kind magic that is Cheech and Chong live on stage. This is the comedy event of the decade.”

“It’s great to get a chance to cap a long career with a show of where we are now,” said Marin.

Chong stated, “I really like Harvey because he picked up my dinner tab.”

Start of production and official release dates are to be announced.

Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong’s phenomenal success began on the stand-up comedy circuit and led to eight hit films and nine comedy albums, which garnered multiple Grammy nominations. The “Cheech & Chong: Light Up America” reunion tour officially kicked off on September 26th, 2008 and has been selling out across the country. Many of the dates have needed to add multiple shows each night to meet demand. The tour will continue through 2009, and will bring the duo overseas to multiple continents.

-The Weinstein Company-

I can’t wait till they head to Missouri. I have my ticket for the Kansas show and now I’m headed to another show where they will perform at The Pageant here in Saint Louis!

If you are interested and live in the area, additional info is below

January 18
The Pageant
St. Louis, MO
Pre-sale: Tuesday, November 11 @ 4:20PM local time.

Public sale: Friday, November 14 @ 4:20PM local time.

You want to upgrade?

VIP ticket upgrades will be put on sale within the next few weeks.

The VIP package includes:
Meet and Greet with Cheech & Chong after the show!
A gift bag including:
Light up America and Canada tote bag
Clear, cellulose rolling papers
C&C beanie and more!

Go to

Cheech and Chong Light Up America Tour 08/09

Break out your bell-bottoms and platform shoes! Universal Pictures has announced that starting on August 29th (Labor Day weekend) a sing-along version of the hit musical ‘Mamma Mia!’Â �will be playing in select theaters nationwide. According to The Hollywood Reporter the special showings will include printed subtitles during each ABBA song. Per IMDb.com, the film has currently grossed $323 million worldwide making it one of the highest grossing musicals of all time and it is showing no signs of slowing down. Contact your local theaters for show times.

The great thing about running a movie blog is getting sweet swag, and I have to give a big thank you to Ars Nova Ent for hooking me up with this BADASS shirt for the upcoming exploitation film ‘Black Dynamite’. Make sure that when these shirts are available to the public you run out and get one..for now here is the trailer for ‘Black Dynamite’

Focus Features will begin production late this month on “Taking Woodstock,” scripted by James Schamus and to be directed by Ang Lee (Hulk, Brokeback Mountain). Lee’s ensemble cast includes Emile Hirsch (Speed Racer), Imelda Staunton (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix) and Liev Schrieber (X-Men Origins: Wolverine).

Pic is an adaptation of the memoir of Elliot Tiber, who played a role in helping the historic 1969 music festival unfold on his neighbor’s farm.

Less than a month ago, Focus had been thinking about postponing the start of production over concerns that a possible Screen Actors Guild strike could force a shutdown later this year. But numerous studios have begun to move forward on feature starts, and it’s understood that Focus has worked out contingency plans in the event of a work stoppage.

Demetri Martin (“The Daily Show With Jon Stewart”) had already been set to play Tiber, an aspiring interior designer in Greenwich Village obliged to run the family business, a Catskills motel. In summer 1969, he found himself at the center of a generation-defining experience when he volunteered the motel to be the home base for Woodstock concert organizers after his neighbor, Max Yasgur, made his farm available for the event.

Staunton and Henry Goodman will play Tiber’s parents, and Jonathan Groff (currently starring in the Shakespeare in the Park production of “Hair” in Gotham) will play Woodstock organizer Michael Lang; Hirsch will play a recently returned Vietnam vet, Eugene Levy (American Pie) will play Yasgur, and Schreiber is in talks to play a transvestite named Vilma.

Jeffery Dean Morgan (Watchmen) is set as a closeted married man having an affair with Tiber, while Paul Dano (The Will Be Blood) and Zoe Kazan play a hippie couple attending the concert. Dan Fogler (Balls of Fury) will play a local theater troupe head, and Mamie Gummer will play Lang’s assistant.

DreamWorks Animations CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg has apparently said that George Lucas will re-release the Star Wars films in 3D! Now I am a Star Wars geek so this is pretty neat. � In spite of my geeky-ness I am a little tired of all the re-releases and edits he has made in the past. � I already have episodes 4 through 6 in the original theatrical on VHS and DVD and special edition VHS and DVD’s and episodes 1 through 3 on DVD ( my brother has 1 on VHS.) Now I will have to buy them all over again in 3D! � Either way I am still excited. I remember watching “Return of the Jedi” at my friends house right after he got surround sound back in ’98 and being amazed and the sound of the TIE fighters flying around me. � Now imagine hearing them flying around me and then seeing them coming right at me!! Sweet! It will be even better on the big screen! The lightsabers! The explosions! The Wookies!

I read about it here.

Our good friends at MoviesOnline scored this poster for ‘Bitch Slap’.

The greatest thing about this movie is it stars Lucy Lawless and Kevin Sorbo, ‘Xena’ and ‘Herculues’ respectively. Here is a brief synopsis of the movie:

“Bitch Slap is a modern throwback to the “B” movie/Exploitation films of the 1950′s-1970′s, mixing hot girls, fast cars, big guns, nasty tongues, outrageous action and jaw dropping eye candy. � “Bitch Slap†� follows three bad girls (a down-and-out stripper, a drug-running killer and a corporate power broker) as they arrive at a remote desert hideaway to extort massive booty from a ruthless underworld kingpin. Things quickly spin out of control as allegiances change, truths are revealed, other criminals arrive for the score, the fate of the world hangs in the balance and they are forced to confront a villain much worse than they ever expected†� themselves. It’s the ultimate morality tale as, one by one, they realize the whole “she-bang†� was a set-up and one of the film’s characters may not even be human.”

On the films website they give their own rating for the movie:

A movie that is rated DD is my kind of movie! It is set to be released January 15th 2009. You can watch the trailer on the official site.

Executive Producers Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson bring the Broadway smash hit Mamma Mia,to the big screen! Mamma Mia is a story told around the songs of 70′s super-group ABBA! Phyllidia Lloyd ,in her directorial debut, has assembled a cast that sacrifices vocal talent for A-list star power.

Amanda Seyfried (Big Love) plays Sophie, a 20 yr. old girl who is about to walk down the aisle with the love of her life, Sky (Dominic Cooper). Sophie lives with her mom, Donna (Meryl Streep)a retired 70′s girl group singer that operates a run-down hotel on a small Greek Island. Sophie wants to have the perfect wedding and plans to have her father walk her down the aisle. After perusing Donna’s diary the search is narrowed to three choices (I did say she was in a band): Bill (Stellan Skarsgard), Sam (Pierce Brosnan) and Harry (Colin Firth). So Sophie decides to surprise her Mom and finally discover who her dad is by inviting all three of them to her wedding! Mamma Mia is filled with fun, music and some hy-jinx all done to the sounds of hits like Dancing Queen, Super Trouper, Waterloo, Honey-Honey and Mamma Mia. Some of the funniest moments come with the chorus singers finding their way into each scene to back up the lead vocalists. There are also cameos by the surviving members of �ABBA, Benny Anderson and Bjorn Ulvaeus, in two of the medleys. Kinda of like a Swedish version of wheres waldo..only wheres ABBA. Mamma Mia does end up with a wedding in the Greek Islands but it wont be the two people you think tying the knot.

Once again, I  �left my guy card at home, � �TagalongToni and I checked out Mamma Mia. It was like watching two hours of Abba music videos tied together with some witty dialog and picturesque Greek scenery. Amanda Seyfried, Dominic Cooper, and ..Meryl Streep turn in a fine vocal performance (Streep struggled through her first couple of numbers) while Pierce Brosnan finds every vocal “pothole” in each song he attempts to sing. There are some fine supporting work from Julie Waters and Christine Baranski as Donna’s backup singers Rosie and Tanya. This is a fun show…not as good as the Broadway play..but it is a quarter of the cost and in today’s economy you get what you pay for and people will be sold on Mamma Mia the movie!

(3.5 stars out of 5)

I have been looking forward to this film all year. Being old enough to have seen and read the work of Hunter S. Thompson, I knew a documentary chronicling his life and work was going to be good. Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson is a unique look into the man and the personality of the rebel journalist of the 70′s and 80′s. It was rare in the pre-Internet era for a reporter to have the celebrity status of a rock-star… but Thompson did!

Gonzo starts with Thompson’s time spent cutting his writing “chops” while being embedded with the Hells Angels in Southern California and follows him to the 1972 McGovern Campaign trail. There are rare TV clips from his time on To Tell the Truth and numerous television interviews. There is also commentary by his wives, friends and even President Jimmy Carter. Laced through the film is personal friend Johnny Depp reciting some of Hunter’s work. Hunter did everything to the extreme..drinking, drugs, women and came up with a phrase for it: “Gonzo journalism” that continues to this day. �Thompson came within a few votes of being elected sheriff of Pitkin County, Colorado near his home in Woody Creek. The film also has personal accounts by Thompson himself of numerous assignments as reporter for Rolling Stone Magazine. Like a trip to Zaire,Africa where Thompson met Muhammad Ali and then began a party that kept him from reporting on the heavyweight fight. � Thompson a visionary and primary character in the Doonsberry comic strip, also had a Gonzo plan for his grand exit from this world. He planned his funeral to a T, having a giant 153′ tower (Hunter designed it to resemble a clenched double thumbed fist) on his estate at Woody Creek and planned to have his ashes shot out of a cannon at the top so he wood be spread all over the Aspen area. The world lost Hunter on February 25, 2005 at 5:42 pm. to a self inflicted shot to the head. The last thing Thompson wrote was “No more games. no more bombs. no more walking. No more fun. No more Swimming. 67. that’s 17 years past 50. 17 more than I needed or wanted. Boring. I am always bitchy.No Fun-for anybody.67. Your getting greedy. Act your old age. Relax-this won’t hurt”. The funeral was a star studded event with friends and family and some of Hollywood’s A-list side by side with the Hells Angels. To his exact wishes, Thompson was shot from the fist and is now floating on the winds of Woody Creek.

I encourage you to pick up (if you haven’t already) the films Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and Where the Buffalo Roam. � Those combined with this fine documentary from Alex Gibney, will give you a quick lesson on Gonzo journalism and a view of an American legend. Dr. Hunter S. Thompson. � I just wonder what Hunter would have thought and more importantly would have written about the times we are going through today. Maybe Fear and Loathing in Iraq. Thank You Hunter..for making us laugh and more important for making us think.

[rating:5/5]

‘Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia’
Written & Directed by Sam Peckinpah

Few modern directors have been able to master the art of action and gratuitous violence like the legendary Sam Peckinpah. Best known for his honest, bloodier-than-most westerns (The Wild Bunch) and war films (Cross of Iron), Peckinpah also made some great action movies including The Getaway and The Killer Elite. This is probably one of Peckinpah’s least familiar titles, but it carries just as much Peckinpah punch as the rest.

Bennie (Warren Oates) is a bartender. A couple guys wearing high-dollar suits roll into town and offer Bennie a few G’s to track down Alfredo Garcia. As it turns out, Alfredo impregnated the daughter of a very wealthy Mexican cartel lord and now daddy wants revenge on the man who broke his little girl’s heart … he’s put a million dollar bounty on the head of Alfredo Garcia.

Bennie decides to take his girlfriend Elita (Isela Vega) on a road trip into Mexico and find Garcia, who happens to already be dead. Bennie figures he’ll find the body, take the head as proof and collect his reward. What Bennie doesn’t figure on is how much more complicated this endeavor is going to be than he ever imagined. To begin with, his prostitute-turned-girlfriend Elita was in love with Alfredo before he died, making her very uneasy about this entire arrangement. Secondly, the Garcia family are not too pleased with having their loved one’s head removed from his corpse. As if this wasn’t enough, Bennie must deal with rivals who also want the reward and worst of all, Bennie has to deal with his own conscience and doubts about desecrating the man’s grave.

The story is far more complex and intriguing than it appears on the surface. The film’s really about Bennie and his struggle over doing the right thing, which he ultimately sacrifices everything in the end to ensure. This is frequently a recurring theme in Peckinpah’s films. What begins as a harmless retrieval job turns into an all-out bloody violent battle between one man and an entire seedy underworld of gunmen. If you’re unfamiliar with the work of Peckinpah, I strongly recommend adding this to your list of his films to see.

F Gary Gray (Friday, The Italian Job) will direct “Marvin,” a biopic of Marvin Gaye, the iconic singer who was shot to death by his father in 1984. C Gaby Mitchell (Blood Diamond) is aboard to write the script.

David Foster will produce with Duncan McGillivray, and next week they will shop to studios and financiers a package that includes the complete music rights to Gaye’s catalog, including the hits that made him Motown’s biggest solo male star.

Those tunes include “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough,” “Heard It Through the Grapevine,” “What’s Goin’ On” and “Let’s Get It On.” Plan is to have the star of the film lip synch to Gaye’s recordings.

Gray has long wanted to tell Gaye’s story, but the inability to secure music rights has made it a high mountain to climb. A rival pic, “Sexual Healing,” produced by James Gandolfini, who has a role, and starring Jesse L. Martin, will focus on the singer’s declining years, because the filmmakers have rights to use songs only from his post-Motown career. That film, reportedly scheduled to start last month in Europe, has not begun production.

Gray said his movie will cover Gaye’s entire life, from his emergence at Motown through his defiance of Berry Gordy to record “What’s Goin’ On” and on up to his death.

“This is my passion project, the one that I wake up every day thinking about,” Gray told Variety. “I’m going to tell a truthful story, and there is no shortage of drama and extreme conflict in a relationship with his father that at its core is Shakespearean and tragic. This isn’t the average biopic of a rock star wrestling with drugs and women, but a man whose musical awakening became a call to action that questioned critical issues like a costly foreign war, recession, environment, inequality — issues that are relevant now.“

“Gonzo” is the definitive film biography of a mythic American writer, particularly covering his most provocative and productive period from 1965 to 1975. His wicked words continue to resonate today, at a time when politicians have become manufactured celebrities, shrouding themselves in Teflon, issuing banalities whose only value is that they rarely offend. Too often, contemporary journalists play the politicians’ game, taking them seriously with a balance they don’t deserve. Thompson never stood for that. He understood, better than any other, that when the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.

“Gonzo” is a three-dimensional portrait with a focus on Thompson’s work, whose legendary status is due as much to his scintillating writing as his outrageous antics. A die-hard member of the NRA, Thompson was also a coke-snorting, whiskey-swilling, acid-eating fiend. While his pen dripped with venom for crooked politicians, he surprised nervous visitors with the courtly manners and soft-spoken delivery of a Southern gentleman. Careening out of control in his personal life, Thompson also maintained a steel-eyed conviction about righting wrongs. Today, in a time when “spin” has replaced the search for deeper meaning, Thompson remains an iconic crusader for truth, justice and a fiercely idealistic American way.

Check out the Trailer below:

Apparently Hugh Hefner himself is trying to get Robert Downey, Jr. on board to play him in a biopic.

from IMDB:

“Robert Downey, Jr. has been tipped to play legendary porn mogul Hugh Hefner in a big-screen biopic – after reportedly impressing the Playboy entrepreneur with his lead role in Iron Man. Veteran lothario Hefner was so pleased with the former hellraiser’s portrayal of wealthy playboy Tony Stark in this year’s comic blockbuster, he is desperate to sign him up for the role. According to Illinois newspaper the Chicago Sun-Times, Hefner wants Downey Jr. to start shooting the movie – entitled Playboy – next summer . And the Golden Globe-winner is said to be keen to take on the role of Hefner – as long as the script is right. Apollo 13 filmmaker Brian Grazer has already been signed up as the film’s producer, according to the publication.”

I would love to see this, but I am not certain that RDJ (for us hipsters) would be down for this project. I am certain that we will see more info on it soon, he is captain A list now.

Of all of the post-apocalyptic science-fiction films out there, this has been one of my favorites for many years. A Boy and His Dog (1975) was directed by actor-turned-director L.Q. Jones, who co-wrote this sarcastically humorous film with Harlan Ellison, based on his novella. Once you see this gem, you’ll understand why its become such a popular cult classic.

A Boy and His Dog takes place on Earth in 2024, after the end of World War IV. A young man named Vic, played by Don Johnson (Born Yesterday), must survive on the barren surface of the planet by scavenging for food and avoiding others who would just assume kill you as look at you. Women are scarce and the men often travel in nomadic packs seeking food and sex. Blood serves as an alarm [anytime Blood senses something, a sonar-like ping sounds in his head ... funny, but effective] and a detector of females and danger, in exchange for Vic’s providing Blood with food and water.

Vic travels with Blood, his mangy dog that has developed the ability to communicate telepathically as a result of the residual radiation from the war. As it turns out, all dogs have this ability and Blood in particular is quite intelligent. Vic is a selfish and under-educated young man and Blood finds himself constantly pointing this out. Along their journey, the two stumble upon an underground civilization that has preserved the “old” society. Vic sees an opportunity when a beautiful young girl lures him below, against Blood’s better judgment. As it turns out, the girl is actually the daughter of the society’s leader. Vic quickly learns that the men of the underground city are all sterile and they lure men from above to impregnate their women. This is where the movie really gets freaky, as Vic becomes a prisoner to sexless reproduction and must find a way to escape before his captors have had their fill and dispose of him.

A Boy and His Dog is certainly not a masterpiece, but it is an important relic of the 70′s with plenty of laughs, awkward moments and social commentary to carry the film’s 90-minute running time without skipping a beat. The key to enjoying this movie is understanding that the schlock is intended. There was a rumor for a while that a sequel was planned, but Tiger [the dog that played Blood] died and the project was scrapped. Probably for the better, as A Boy and His Dog stands just fine on its own two feet and four paws.