Sunday, June 15, 2008

Nightmare City

Nightmare City (1980)
Director: Umberto Lenzi
Starring: Hugo Stiglitz, Mel Ferrer
Personal Rating: 4/5

"Miller (Hugo Stiglitz) is a reporter on to something when he sees passengers disembark from a plane and start attacking and murdering whomever they come across -- no, they are not upset with their service, they are zombies -- or more accurately ghouls who need human blood to stay alive. While flight attendants may contend that more than one ghoul is on any flight, this group was contaminated by a man exposed to radiation that leaked from a nuclear plant, and they are hereafter identifiable by their black-face make-up, if not their eating habits. When Miller tries to notify the citizens that these monsters are on the loose, he is rudely stopped by a nasty general (Mel Ferrer) who does not want to make the public unnecessarily hysterical. The monsters have a molecular structure that is not affected by bullets, and so in imitation of the accepted code that zombies only die with a shot to the head, the general launches his attack "aiming for the control center" of each zombie head, before everyone is converted into the blood-thirsty monsters."-© Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

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Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Female Demon Ohyaku

Female Demon Ohyaku (1968)
Director: Yoshihiro Ishikawa
Starring: Junko Miyazono
Personal Rating: 4.5/5

"The Legend of the Poisonous Seductress" saga begins with this bloody tale of an actress who seeks vengeance against her tormentors after being wrongly imprisoned. Ohyaku (Junko Miyazono) was just an innocent actress when she was accused of a crime that she didn't commit. Subsequently thrown into prison and brutalized by her fellow inmates at every turn, the once fragile girl is gradually transformed into a sword-wielding warrior whose back is adorned with a maniacal demon. Now, her blade clenched firmly in clinched fists, Ohyaku sets out on a violent quest to cut down anyone and everyone who ever dared cross her."-© Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

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Sunday, June 8, 2008

The Dead Next Door

The Dead Next Door (1988)
Director: J.R. Bookwalter
Starring: Peter Ferry, Bogdan Pecic
Personal Rating: 3.5/5

"The feature debut of ultra-low-budget horror auteur J.R. Bookwalter, this fast-paced zombie mini-epic is very likely the most expensive movie ever shot on Super-8 film. Playing with the long-established mythos of George A. Romero's Living Dead trilogy, was produced with the help of many of the The Dead Next DoorEvil Dead crew: financial backer Sam Raimi is credited as "Master Cylinder" and one of the characters is named after him; Evil Dead co-writer Scott Spiegel plays a role; and some character voices are dubbed by Bruce Campbell. The story centers on the members of the "Zombie Squad" -- an assault team trained in the hunting and extermination of the living dead -- and their mission to track down the scientists who developed a zombie-making virus and find the rumored antidote. Of the many lethal obstacles in their path, the deadliest comes in the form of a religious cult whose leader sees the zombie epidemic as a precursor of Armageddon -- and is hell-bent on expediting it. Very stylish for what is essentially an epic-scale home movie (and gushing with plentiful home-style gore effects), this remains Bookwalter's best effort and contains numerous witty homages to the Romero films which inspired it."-© Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide

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Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Sex & Fury

Sex & Fury (1973)
Director: Norifumi Suzuki
Starring: Reiko Ike
Personal Rating: 5/5

"This was the first of two films in which Japanese exploitation star
Reiko Ike played the character of Inoshika Ocho. After a brief prologue depicting the murder of Ocho's policeman father, it is revealed that she has grown up to become a professional gambler. Sex & Fury chronicles Ocho's exploits as she searches for her father's killers, each identified by unique tattoos on their backs (a deer, a boar, and a butterfly). Along the way, she also crosses paths with Shonusuke (Masataka Naruse), a radical set on murdering prominent politician Kurokawa (Seizaburo Kawazu) and Christina (Christina Lindberg), an American spy posing as a gambler. The various storylines frequently intersect, prompting a dizzying array of plot twists, overheated sex scenes, and gory swordplay. The pulp-heavy storyline is skillfully directed by Norifumi Suzuki, a veteran director of commercial Japanese fare who pumped up such sexy, violent spectacles with surrealistic visual flourishes and stylized sets and costumes. Sex & Fury was followed by Female Yakuza Tale: Inquisition and Torture, a sequel helmed by another Japanese exploitation film legend, Teruo Ishii."-© Donald Guarisco, All Movie Guide

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Sunday, June 1, 2008

The New York Ripper

The New York Ripper (1982)
Director: Lucio Fulci
Starring: Jack Hedley, Almanta Keller, Howard Ross
Personal Rating: 3/5

"A blade-wielding psychopath is on the loose, turning The Big Apple bright red with the blood of beautiful young women. As NYPD detectives follow the trail of butchery from the decks of the Staten Island Ferry to the sex shows of Times Square, each brutal murder becomes a sadistic taunt. In the city that never sleeps, he's the killer that can't be stopped."

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