THE STRANGLER (1964)

  Victor Buono has always been one of my favorite character actors. From WHATEVER HAPPEND TO BABY JANE? to the 60s BATMAN TV series to that Eurotrash movie, THE MAD BUTCHER, where he kills people and turns them into sausages, he never fails to give an entertaining performance. This time he plays the title role of a pretty deranged fellow who enjoys strangling ladies in his spare time and playing with dolls. Supposedly based on/inspired by the case of The Boston Strangler(which was also the original working title) this is a pretty suspenseful trip with some echoes of PSYCHO thrown in, though the ending is a bit lackluster. 

 There was another Boston Strangler movie that came out 4 years after this starring Tony Curtis as the killer.

                                   Known in Italy as THE DOLLS OF DESIRE:

THE SCORPION WITH TWO TALES (1982)

  This is a pretty uneventful Eurotrash horror flick. I've seen it described as a giallo but it's really not. Rather than really being a mystery it's more of a case of some naughty Etruscan spirits killing off various people including John Saxon who has a pretty small role. Also dragging this down is the very low gore quotient since almost everyone gets killed by having their head turned quickly which is hardly the most exciting death sequence. Maybe the only highlights I found in this were the recycled soundtrack cues which borrowed from GATES OF HELL and NIGHT OF THE ZOMBIES and made me wish I was watching either one of those instead.

 There is an earlier actual giallo, directed by the same director as this, Sergio Martino, called THE CASE OF THE SCORPION'S TAIL which looks way better. I need to check that out at some point. 

Original way less artsy title of MURDER IN AN ETRUSCAN CEMETERY:

NECROPHOBIA (1995)

  I never knew there was another European movie about fucking corpses released in the 90s before catching this one as part of a Halloween horror movie marathon recently. Clearly influenced/ripped-off from the granddaddy off all corpse-boppin flicks the German NECROMANTIK films this Dutch entry doesn't quite live up to the grossness of it's predecessors but is still worth a look for sickos and miscreants into the weird. The plot concerns a lady who gets tied up by her lover who then proceeds to kick the bucket while in the act of humping and lay there all dead on her for a week. This leads to some serious mental issues for our leading lady. There's chainsaw hijinks, meathooks put to good use, a car chase and, of course, dead people diddling. The best part is that it's all wrapped up in an hour in case you're in a hurry.  

STUDENT BODIES (1981)

  It's kind of remarkable that this spoof of slasher movies came out in 1981 when those type of films were still being churned out in record numbers and the template had barely been set which would lead to them all becoming very predictable with set rules that they mostly all would follow.  It's also kind of weird that they chose to not include much in the way of blood and no nudity since those are both such hallmarks of the slasher flick. It's all very dumb, of course, and will really only appeal to people who are into that AIRPLANE-type of absurd humor. 

 The character of Malvert The Janitor is really the stand out highlight for me and sadly the ridiculously lanky rubber-limbed actor, credited only as The Stick, only appeared in this one film before an early death took him from us.

VELVET HIGH (1981)

  Probably the only reason I stuck with this porn all the way through was to hear which 70s rock band they would steal songs from next for the soundtrack. It starts right off with some MC5 and then we get some of The Sweet before ending with a band I've never heard of before called Toe Fat. The plot is some kinda weird sleazy porn-watchers wish-fulfillment thing where the only character our orgasm-deprived main character, Velvet(Misty Regan, credited as Misty Middleton on the poster) can be satisfied by is a chubby, habitual sexual-harasser who pumps gas(played by porn director Carter Stevens who is sometimes mistakenly credited as being the director here). A tough one to get through but it does bring the rock. AKA SEXUAL STATES(an homage to ALTERED STATES?) and TEENAGE STRIPPERS

THE LEECH WOMAN (1960)

  I was pretty disappointed that this didn't feature a literal "leech-woman" and instead featured a lady who goes around murdering men to drain their pineal gland which gives her temporary beauty and youth thanks to an African tribe that performed some voodoo ritual on her. I get that it's all a big metaphor for women's fear of aging but the film drags for quite a bit until we get to any murderous rampages. I'd probably choose THE WASP WOMAN over this for a similarly themed outing just because that one actually does have a monster.   

SPEAK NO EVIL (2022)

 I've seen the trailer for the American remake of this Dutch/Danish horror flick before every new movie I've seen in a theater for what seems like the last year. I can't say that I was very interested in watching it but I kept hearing about how brutal the original European version was so I decided to check it out. While there are some rather brutal events at the very end of the movie(involving a child and a naked Dutch couple) I can't say there's really much here to recommend this to anyone. I've read that the director, Cristian Tafdrup, was attempting to make the point that people are generally more concerned with being polite than appearing rude(inn this case even in the face of some pretty obviously bad signs). While this may be a concern in Europe I'm not sure folks being overly polite is a problem I run into very often being an American(specifically being a New Yorker!). The film leaves the viewer feeling the same frustration that the FUNNY GAMES movies do and I was certainly no fan of those either. 

SEE NO EVIL (1971)

  Mia Farrow becomes blind after taking a fall off her horse. As she is learning to navigate this new world a murderer shows up with some very bad intentions. This film is really good at building tension and Mia is, as usual, really good at portraying a vulnerable victim of circumstance here. While there are some obvious comparisons to WAIT UNTIL DARK from a few years earlier the plot is different enough to give this it's own uniqueness. AKA BLIND TERROR

                 Shown in England, Australia and other places as BLIND TERROR:

 

HENRY: PORTRAIT OF A SERIAL KILLER (1986)

  While this movie plays it fast and loose with the actual events in the life of serial killer Henry Lee Lucas' and his demented buddy Otis Toole it still manages to crank out a compelling look into the minds of a couple of white-trash sleazebag psychopaths.  The great Michael Rooker, in what might be his greatest role, delivers a real downer of a performance but don't let that dissuade you from this if you can handle some true-crime with a very liberal interpretation of reality. 

 There was a sequel in 1996 without Rooker starring and I've never heard anyone say much good about it. 

                     Some Joe Coleman artwork really spices up this poster!:

SOUP TO NUTS (1930)

 Historically important since this is the very first appearance of The Three Stooges on film. Not necessarily a great movie though. The Stooges, consisting of Shemp, Larry and Moe(credited under his real name of Harry Howard). here are goofy women-crazy firemen. They're not really the stars though which brings this one down a bit. Our main character is played by Ted Healy who was the leader of the vaudeville group before they ventured out on their own. AKA RUBE GOLDBERG'S SOUP TO NUTS(this was allegedly written by Mr. Goldberg(this seems to not be true) and he and some of his wacky inventions show up in the film) 

A very young Billy Barty does running headstands over and over!:

STRANGE DARLING (2024)

  I'll give this movie extra credit for being a modern production that was actually shot on film and for using the old TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE scrolling b.s. message about it being based on a true story at the beginning. I made the mistake of reading a "review" of this before watching which was just an excuse to spoil the big plot-twist for everyone. Thanks jackass! Unlike that retarded reviewer, and his attempt to dissuade my enjoyment, I actually did still enjoy this mix of serial-killer hi-jinks, drugs, sex-games and revenge and wouldn't think of being self-centered enough to ruin it for anyone else looking to check this rare example of something new(not based on something old) that doesn't completely suck out.  

INSTANT DEATH (2017)

 Lou Ferrigno was in his 60s when this movie was made but he still takes his shirt off quite a bit and seems to be in excellent shape. I have to believe he would easily beat Arnold Schwarzenegger in a pose down these days! The film itself though is filled with some pretty terrible acting and a completely predictable action-movie revenge plot where Lou's granddaughter gets killed and his daughter gets raped and blinded and then it's gun-fu time.  AKA RAGE(why a movie that I doubt ever played in a theater anywhere needs an alternate title I have no clue)

Unfortunately the YouTube version of this movie has all the violent bits cut out:

LEGEND OF THE SHADOWY NINJA : THE NINJA DRAGON (1990)

  Go Nagai is one of the most important figures in manga and anime, pretty much inventing the giant robot genre. This here shot-on-video production is currently his only foray into live-action as writer and director. It's not up to the level of some of the better animes he was involved with(MAZINGA Z, DEVILMAN, GRENDIZER etc.) but it's an ok watch with some absurd elements(the movie comes to a halt while we watch 2 lady wrestlers battle it out and it all ends with a spaceship popping up) and gore(a guy gets his face ripped right off!) thrown in between all the expected ninja/kung fu action.