THE LOSERS (1970)

 Filmed in the Philippines where life is cheap! What you get here is a great mashup of a biker flick mixed with a Vietnam action movie. Not to be confused with THE BORN LOSERS from a few years earlier this one stars William Smith as the leader of a biker group called The Devils Advocates(which was also the name of the gang in RUN, ANGEL, RUN ) who get sent on a mission into Cambodia to free a prisoner of those filthy commies there. Vic Diaz shows up, of course, since we're in the Philippines and there's lots of gun-fu and huts exploding. 

 This movie was shown playing briefly in PULP FICTION which I'm sure boosted it's popularity amongst film nerds. 

AKA NAM ANGELS:

Known in Italy as A BUNCH OF BASTARDS:

and known in France as THE DEVIL'S MACHINES:

GIRL BOSS BLUES: QUEEN BEE'S COUNTERATTACK (1971)

 The first of the GIRL BOSS BLUES series despite the title sounding like it's a sequel(AKA QUEEN BEE STRIKES AGAIN). This would be followed by 6 more movies of which I think I've seen maybe half. I caught this one as part of a marathon of Japanese girl gang movies yesterday and quite a few of those also starred Reiko Ike and Miki Sugimoto. They also all had pretty similar themes of young girls getting mixed up with The Yakuza, great soundtracks and they seem to all start out as women-in-prison films before our main characters get released back into the underworld of Japanese crime. This one does stand out for one particular scene of a group of bikers incorporating fucking on motorcycles into a race. Beyond this it all does become a bit of a blur.

 

HOLY WEDNESDAY (1974)

  Also known under the title FANGS, which make this sound like more of an animals-attack movie(which it kinda-sorta is) I first caught this one as part of an all day horror movie marathon and this was by far the highlight of the day. Obviously taking it's inspiration from WILLARD(and more directly STANLEY since it features a man who really loves snakes!) it veers off quite a bit for a large chunk of the movie and just plays like a crazy hicksploitation film. Large Marge(Alice Nunn) has a big part as one of our protagonists, bestiality, go-go dancing, theological discussions on the nature of meat-eating and marching band music also play a part in this. The underlying message here seems to be don't fuck with a man's schedule! An exploitation classic that needs to be seen more. AKA SNAKELUST

CAGED MEN (1971)

 The highlight of this Canadian men-in-prison flick for me was seeing pro wrestling legend Abdullah The Butcher as one of the prominent inmates here. Known as Canada's first gay film because it features some male-on-male rape and some cross-dressing, this is a pretty decent tale of revenge even if I'm more pre-disposed to enjoying those boob-filled women-in-prison spectacles. 

 The star of the original MY BLOODY VALENTINE Paul Kelman  shows up as another one of the prisoners. AKA I'M GOING TO GET YOU ELLIOT BOY and CAGED MEN PLUS ONE WOMAN(are they referring to the guy in drag or Elliot's horrible girlfriend?)

THE INCREDIBLE KUNG FU MASTER (1979)

  They shoulda probably called this THE 2 INCREDIBLE KUNG FU MASTERS since the plot revolves around a couple of teachers who start off as buddies but then due to jealousy open up rival martial arts schools. Sammo Hung plays another adept fighter who, as usual, likes to eat a lot. A mix of comedy and seriousness that never really works all that well. AKA KUNG FU MASTER NAMED DRUNK CAT and THE KUNG FU MASTER. Released on video as THEY CALL ME PHAT DRAGON.

Crappy old VHS cover:

PORNO MONDO: AN IN DEPTH STUDY OF PORNO FILMS (1971)

 A really dull pseudo-documentary about the very early days of hardcore adult films. They get a bunch of porn actors to portray different makers of these films and be interviewed about them while also cutting in a bunch of scenes of screwing and sucking. Rene Bond shows up as the writer of scripts(because classic porn is so well known for it's great storylines!) and sadly never even gets naked. The film is obviously espousing a viewpoint that is very strongly against censorship, so that's nice. Too bad they couldn't do it in a more entertaining manner.

         Playing with a porno from 1970 which I think was actually titled ERNIE'S JOINT?:

DEATH RIDERS (1976)

 There was a big fascination with stuntmen back in the 70s. No doubt this was spurred on by the popularity of Evel Knievel. As a documentary this is probably more interesting to me as a time capsule looking back at a crazy decade where it seemed like anything goes than anything else. Of course your propensity for nostalgia will determine how you rate this since it's not a particularly informative documentary but more of a slice of life for some folks with a unique occupation. AKA STAR SPANGLED BUMMER

WEEKEND OF TERROR (1970)

  Robert Conrad and The Six Million Dollar Man himself(Lee Majors) kidnap 3 nuns and hold them hostage for a ransom. Pretty decent made-for TV movie from back when those things were still good. I feel like if you threw in a few sleazier elements this could have been a classic exploitation flick for drive-ins and grindhouses. 

BURNOUT (1979)

  Lots of scenes of cars drag racing fill out this slim tale of an aspiring driver(Mark Schneider) who argues with his dad(Bob Louden) a lot. There's not much I can say about this except watch it if you really like copious amounts of stock footage of race cars. Despite the sexy poster there's no sex in this one. Director Graham Meech-Burkestone would thankfully go on to do makeup on a few other films instead of directing anything else. 

A SCREAM IN THE STREETS (1973)

 Quite a bit of this sexploitation flick is taken up by long drawn-out sex scenes, which I guess is, if that's all you're looking for, a recommendation but it really breaks up whatever narrative momentum the movie is able to muster. While it's not quite hardcore there are a lot of limply hanging wieners on display. The plot that wraps around these sex bits concerns two cops on the hunt for a rapist/murderer who somehow escapes detection by dressing up as a very unconvincing lady. Clearly not the most trans-positive PC movie but that's the 70s for ya.  One weird recurring thing that happens in this is people getting hit with or running through glass and not getting a scratch on themselves. I guess people were just tougher back then. While not the worst softcore sex flick you could watch I can't help feel like it could've been edited a lot better. 

   

BEST FRIENDS (1975)

 Richard Hatch, who was Apollo in the old BATTLESTAR GALACTICA TV show, stars in this drama about a couple of pals driving around in an RV with their chicks. Very leisurely paced film where not a lot happens for long stretches. It does get a bit more intense during the big finale and then forgets to actually have an ending. Some of the posters make this out to be some kinda American Indian revenge exploitation flick but that's only dealt with in a very minor scene. The majority of the film is a more introspective look at growing up and touches on some possibly homo-erotic bromance between our main 2 characters. Not a bad film to put on if you want to take a nap.

THE FARMER (1977)

  Kinda similar to, another movie from the same year, ROLLING THUNDER, what we get here is another revenge-tale of a wartime veteran(this time it's World War II instead of Vietnam). It's a bit different here though as things start off dealing more with some gangsters before our farmer(Gary Conway who was previously the star of  that LAND OF THE GIANTS TV-show in the 60s) gets involved in the action. Rape, acid poured into eyes, people thrown out of windows, racism and plenty of gun-fu round out the action. While not quite up there with THUNDER it's still worth a look if you don't mind lots of folk music intercut with your vengeance. AKA BLAZING REVENGE

LADY STREET FIGHTER (1977)

  Not to be confused with the Japanese SISTER STREET FIGHTER film this is an American action flick filmed in either 1977 or 1975 depending on what website you choose to believe but allegedly not released until 1980. The story involves a hitwoman(writer/producer Renee Harmon) who gets targeted by a gang of assassins who kill her twin sister. From there it's a revenge-o-rama which also shoehorns in a love story, a weird orgy scene where some celery gets fellated and lots of bad dubbing. There's not a whole lot of martial arts and this is one of those movies that becomes very entertaining in its awfulness. Highlights include a full grown woman playing a 5-year old girl, a man flipping the bird while being burned alive and Liz Renay(of John Waters' DESPERATE LIVING fame among other things) doing a striptease. A real gem of crap cinema!

 There was a sequel made in 1990, but not released until 2018, titled REVENGE OF LADY STREET FIGHTER but from what I read that was comprised of a whole lot of the original movie with only about 10 minutes of new footage inserted. Does not sound like essential viewing.

THE BODYGUARD (1973)

  Sonny Chiba plays Sonny Chiba here except in this universe Chiba is not just an actor playing an ass-kicking karate man but also a super dangerous martial artist out to destroy gangsters who push drugs so he takes a job as a bodyguard which puts him into their sites. Doesn't really make much sense like most things that happen in this film. There's quite a bit of bloody violence including a guy who gets his arm ripped off, a decapitation and much bone breaking. Sadly the version I watched of this was a crappy pan-and-scan DVD from back in the day so I mighta missed a few things. Stick with THE STREET FIGHTER for a much better example of Chiba's skills. AKA VIVA CHIBA! THE BODYGUARD

 Quentin Tarantino ripped off the Ezekial 25:17 quote from the beginning of this movie like he rips off pretty much everything else he's ever done. 

THE OTHER SIDE OF THE MIRROR (1973)

 Made in 1973 but not released unitl '76, this is sort of a proto-slasher film from Eurotrash legend Jess Franco though not really all that horror-related. It's really more of an overly dramatic tale of a lady(Emma Cohen) with some serious daddy issues. Papa here(Howard Vernon) decides to hang himslef because his daughter is in a shitty relationship. This leads to some murderously bad stabby behavior aand somehow a mirror gets involved in all of this. A bit of a slow one, there are some long musical bits plus I caught a showing of this towards the tail-end of a recent theatrical Franco marathon so I wouldn't rank this too high in the overall Franco pantheon. AKA INSIDE A DARK MIRROR and THE OBSCENE MIRROR(this is supposed to be the more hardcore version which includes Lina Romay!). 

                                 Jess sure does love that jazz!:

 

IRON FIST: THE GIANTS ARE COMING (1970)

 Caught this on a double feature of very oddball superhero movies recently with ROBOT NINJA. Not sure which one is weirder but being made in Turkey this is clearly more foreign to me. The Iron Fist of the title is actually on of our bad guys who has a metal fist that he shoots out of, the other is a rather effeminate Fu Manchu character who are both battling it out to find some secret treasure or something. Our hero is a cop who doesn't actually seem to have any superpowers but sometimes, for reasons that are never really explained, wears a superhero outfit to help him fight crime(I guess it gives him that extra oomph he needs!). This ensemble consists of a kind-of Superman outfit with Batman's belt and a mask(I guess they just used whatever costuming they could find?).  Complete with surf music(including some Ennio Morricone and Blue's Theme from THE WILD ANGELS), a hook-handed henchman, belly dancing and machine-gun gals this is a good one for trash movie fans. Sadly there are no giants to be seen. 

MURDER IN A BLUE WORLD (1973)

  A pretty decent riff(rip-off?) of A CLOCKWORK ORANGE featuring a gang of destructive, rapist hooligans in a society where they try and rehabilitate violent criminals using some futuristic shock treatment. They even have their inspiration show up playing on TV. While it's usually not a good idea to remind people of the better movie you're copying they do manage to make this different enough not to bore ya by throwing in a murderous nurse character(Ana Vernia) who enjoys stabbing men right through their hearts. Alternate titles include CLOCKWORK TERROR(this American release is supposed to have a couple of extra scenes) and TO LOVE, PERHAPS TO DIE. 

The original Spanish title translates to the very giallo-esque A DROP OF BLOOD TO DIE WHILE LOVING or something like that:

THE WEEKEND MURDERS (1970)

  Caught this as part of a giallo marathon down at the local weirdo arthouse theater yesterday. When it first started I wasn't sure if it even was a giallo since it's set and filmed in England with what are supposed to be a bunch of upper crust rich English types. Little did I know that most of the cast is comprised of Italian actors and the director was also an Italian fellow, Michele Lupo, responsible for a bunch of those old swords n' sandals movies and a personal favorite spaghetti crime flick MEAN FRANK AND CRAZY TONY. Kind of similar to his FRANK AND TONY movie this one straddles the line between comedy, with it's bumbling cop characters and seriousness, with all the murdering going on. It does seem more like a spoof of the whole giallo genre than anything else but it certainly seemed to be a crowd pleaser with all it's goofiness. Sadly it seems to be pretty obscure. 

Known in Italy as CONCERT FOR A SOLO GUN?:

ILSA: SHE WOLF OF THE SS (1974)

 THE NIGHT PORTER predates this as far a Nazisploitation films go and there were plenty of roughie and porn movies with the same Nazi theme but this is really the one that set the template for all the sleaze and sadism that was to come from this much maligned subgenre. Dyanne Thorne is amazing in the title role of a sexy. castrating, bitchy commander of a prisoner of war camp. Torture abounds, blood flows copiously in what is basically a women(and men)-in-prison movie injected with a large amount of ultra-violence. A true downbeat classic of sick-o cinema!

 There were 2 actual sequels, ILSA, THE HAREM KEEPER OF THE OIL SHIEKS and ILSA, THE TIGRESS OF SIBERIA and 1 sorta sequel, Jess Franco's WANDA THE WICKED WARDEN AKA GRETA THE MAD BUTCHER which was retitled to ILSA, THE WICKED WARDEN to make it part of the series. There was also a planned 4th movie to be called ILSA MEETS BRUCE LEE IN THE DEVIL'S TRIANGLE which was sadly never made. 

CHINATOWN KID (1977)

  Alexander Fu Sheng, who would tragically end up dying in a car accident 6 years later at the age of 28, stars here in the tale of a poor Chinese immigrant who winds up in San Francisco's Chinatown having to deal with gangsters. It's a great vehicle for him and shows his transformation from naïve youngster to becoming part of a gang himself. It's hard not to imagine that in some alternate universe the fame that came Jackie Chan's way could have been Fu Sheng's if things had worked out differently. 

 There are at least 2 different cuts of this. A 90-minute cut with a less downbeat ending and what I find is the preferable  115-minute version with a lot more of a deadly conclusion and some additional scenes of Fu Sheng being a naughty gangster. There might also be some combination of these 2 out there. 

Germany: