Targets (1968) directed by Peter Bogdonovich

According to a recent article from TIME, Universal has canceled the American release of a new horror movie - called The Hunt - following two separate mass shootings that happened in America a week ago. "Now is not the right time", was part of the reasoning. From watching the The Hunt's trailer, it looks to be an ultra-violent film dealing with people who hunt people for sport. The trailer also seems to spoil who gets killed off; it looks like Amy Madigan's character does early (I like her, so to see her mercilessly terrorized and shot does not seem like fun to watch). The movie also features Hillary Swank and Emma Roberts; I don't know what their roles are, but I've read this film is supposed to satirical.

In 1994, I remember seeing Oliver Stone's satirical film Natural Born Killers, and I thought of that movie in the last week after the news of these shootings. I didn't like that film it at the time; it seemed to be presenting a society that idolizes serial killers, a concept I find really disturbing. I can't imagine anyone idolizing these latest killers in the news. I haven't watched that film in 25 years, but was thinking about rewatching it again sometime in the future. If I do I will post my thoughts about it. It was given 4 stars by Roger Ebert in his 1994 review.

Among the older films on my list to watch was Targets, which was released in the summer of 1968. It was Peter Bogdonovich's first feature film as director. The posters for Targets at the time showed an assassin/sniper, and like in the trailer for The Hunt, also warns the audience to expect violence and gives away some of the killings.  I can only imagine the advertisers at the time trying to promote this film. Targets was released just a few months after Martin Luther King Jr and Senator Robert Kennedy were shot, and one year before the horrendous murder of movie star Sharon Tate and others in her home.

Eating a sandwich before a killing spree.
What a Tarantino character might do?

I watched the movie over the weekend. It's OK. It's actually not entirely about the assassin to my surprise. He plays a major role, but the film doesn't explore his motivations and at the end we're left to our own interpretations. His dad and mom appear in a few scenes; the father is a hunter who has his own collection. The assassin's wife is depicted as hardworking, and they all watch TV together in the living room (they all live under the same roof). We don't get much background about the killer other than he's obsessed with guns (has a whole collection of them at home and in his trunk) and visits guns stores regularly, and that he's deranged. His age isn't specified, but we assume early 20s. There's no mention of him having any prior convictions, and no one acknowledges that he has a mental disturbance, or holds any political grievances. I'm amazed at how easy it was to buy his guns and ammunition at the various shops he goes to.

He basically kills people for sport, which is what he does in the film, and it's pretty disturbing to watch when he does it.

We are also are introduced to another main character, an aging horror-film star named "Orlock" played by Boris Karloff. It's not until the end when the two characters come together; the film builds up suspense until then. I liked Karloff's performance in this. Most of his sequences are comical in tone, hinting that this is a satire. Some of his dialogue, reactions, and expressions are funny, and he even plays drunk in one scene. My favorite part is when someone knocks on his door and he quips in his unmistakable voice, "Who's that knocking at my chamber door?" (a clear reference to 1967's Who's That Knocking At My Door). He also is shown watching some of his old movies various eras of his career  (which are real Karloff films; I liked these meta references).

While watching Targets, I wondered if Tarantino saw it, and wondered if it in some way inspired him while envisioning his latest movie, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.

I found similarities in the two movies.

For example, in OUATIH, we also are introduced to an aging star who feels useless and washed-up (like Orlock). The Sharon Tate character in OUATIH also watches her latest film like Orlock does in this movie. The killer in Targets (played by Tim O'Brien -- he had a short career before dying early) drives around LA in his Ford Mustang convertible with the radio playing 60s music and DJs, similar to Pitt and DiCaprio in OUATIH.

By the end of Targets, it seemed a bit more clear me that this movie isn't solely about the assassin. In fact, I think it's more about the Orlock character - a horror film veteran who faces real-life horror on the verge of retirement.

An interesting article from Slate that talks about the making of the film, and how  Roger Corman and Samuel Fuller helped shape the film. Really interesting.

From 2006 Movie City News - a report on a screening of the movie with the director in attendance speaking about the film.

From Dissolve (2013) - Bogdonovich talks about the gun violence and the film's "unfortunate continued relevance"

Another review of this film from the blog Surrender to the Void

Another blog post from Lazarus' Lair

Pan's Labyrinth (2006)

I didn't expect to enjoy this Guillermo del Toro film, but I did. In my interpretation, the film tells a story about how a young girl finds escape from the brutal realities of her world, circa 1944 in Spain during the dictatorship of Franco.

It's dark. And blends fantasy and politics very much like his other films Devil's Backbone and Shape of Water. The girl's stepfather is a military officer who often tortures or kills any spy or anti-fascist warrior that comes near him or his home.

Meanwhile, the girl discovers fairies and other mythical creatures, which may or may not be real (is it all just in her head?) But my interpretation is that they are real and interact only with her, and the new world she enters is also a real one, only open to her. I thought it was an imaginative world, at least what we see of it.

Interesting to note: The book version is this month's #1 best-selling book in Germany (source: Publishing Trends): https://www.publishingtrends.com/2019/08/international-bestsellers-july-2019/

The Birds (1963)

Another blog post from Two Dollar Cinema here

Susanne Pleshette

Tippi Hedren stars as a carefree socialite enjoying a brief flirtation with lawyer Mitch (Rod Taylor). During a birthday party for Mitch's younger sister, a flock of birds attacks the children in what seems to be a random incident. In fact, it signals the beginning of a massive assault on the residents of the town by ordinary birds. Directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Co-starring Jessica Tandy and Suzanne Pleshette as the local schoolteacher. (Part of the 2004 Outdoor Film Fest in Chicago's Grant Park)

Misery (1990)

The two lead stars of Misery - James Caan and Kathy Bates - recently reunited for a photoshoot for the annual "Reunions" issue of Entertainment Weekly.

Here's a link to the story and video clip from "The Today Show", featuring the two stars reminiscing about their time on the film:

http://www.today.com/popculture/misery-loves-company-kathy-bates-james-caan-reunite-discuss-1990-t49286

I recently re-watched this movie after almost 20 years, and was surprised how well the movie holds up and is able to thrill even after seeing it three separate times.  Also featuring small roles by the late Richard Farnsworth and the late Lauren Bacall, who are both very good in this.

If you haven't seen this movie before, I recommend it for a good Halloween watch.

Boris Karlov in The Walking Dead (1936)

Not to be confused by "The Walking Dead" TV show.

In this classic horror-gangster film (in glorious black and white), Boris Karlov plays a man recently released from prison.

As soon as he gets out, he is framed by a group of gangsters.

He's then then wrongfully convicted and then executed for murder.

Meanwhile, a zealous scientist (Edmund Gwenn) wants to experiment on the body to see if he could bring him back to life. He must have seen Frankenstein too many times.

Well guess what?

Boris does come back to life, and he slowly regains his memory. Not only that, he also seeks out those who framed him.

One by one, the gangsters are confronted, and get their just desserts.

Available on DVD.

Read a review here at the blog Just a Cineast

The Conjuring (2013) and Poltergeist (1983)

Last weekend I went to see The Conjuring, a new thriller now in theaters. I was curious about it because I heard good things from other bloggers and reviewers, and was intrigued that it was inspired by true events surrounding a real haunted house and the ghost hunters (a real-life couple) who investigated it in the 1970s.

This is a well-made motion picture that I'm highly recommending. It's the kind of movie that gets scarier and scarier as it progresses, and might not be everyone's cup of tea. But every now and then some of us are in the mood for a good "haunted house movie", and this film really raises the bar. I'd say it's destined to become something of a memorable classic in years to come. There are terrific performances by Vera Farminga and Lili Taylor, who deserve some sort of recognition come awards time next year. Especially Lili Taylor - what her character has to endure in this film is gut wrenching.

The children in The Conjuring have demanding roles, too. There are 5 young girls and each has a unique "encounter" in the house. Needless to say, there is alot of screaming.

The investigators in The Conjuring are played by Vera Farminga and Patrick Wilson, a husband-and-wife team. At the start of the movie, they are giving a lecture, and we immediately understand that they are always "in demand". As the movie progresses we learn about their history investigating paranormal events, and about their relationship together.  And they make a lovely couple on screen; the movie is just as much about their love and endurance as it is about the family in the house. If you like investigator "couples" like the ones on "The X-Files" or "Bones", then you might like this movie.

I found The Conjuring to be an impressive film and highly recommend it.

I was also in the mood to rewatch Poltergeist on DVD the same weekend. I saw that movie on television when I was about 10 and will never forget how much it scared me, and how much fun it was to talk about with my classmates the next day. I don't remember the scene with the parents smoking marijuana, though - that part must have been edited for television or flown over my head back then.  A couple of take-aways from my rewatch: I really liked how the cemetery fitted in with the whole haunting situation. And I liked how technology was used to record the ghosts - that was very creepy.  (The Conjuring features innovative audio and video recording techniques, too). I forgot how integral Beatrice Staight's character was in the movie; she plays a scientist at a local college who visits the house. I really like the scene she has when she consoles the young boy.  And her campus office looked like the same one that the paranormal investigators played by Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd had in Ghostbusters. 

The children in Poltergeist are memorable - who can forget Carol Anne and how she "talks" to the ghosts in the static on the TV. By the way, seeing all that "TV static" made me nostalgic for that again; I guess we'll only see that in old movies now. By the way, there is even a quick shot of television static in The Conjuring, which may or may not be an homage to Poltergiest. (Conjuring is set in the early 1970s, and we also see the children watching Brady Bunch, too).

The clairvoyant in Poltergiest is played by Zelda Rubenstein, who passed away a few years ago. Her character in this film has to be one of the most memorable characters in the history of horror cinema, if not cinema. As soon as she comes on the screen, you know the ghosts are going to get their asses kicked.

I also rewatched Poltergiest II: The Other Side (1986) and Poltergiest III  (1988) for the first time. I don't have much to say about them except that they are both inferior sequels. The last time I saw Part II was in the theaters more than 25 years ago and the only scene I remembered was the part where the boy's braces attack him; that scene is ingrained in my brain for life. Everything else about the film is pretty awful, especially the preacher ghost who's something of a ripoff of the Robert Mitchum character in Night of the Hunter. Part III is even worse; the name "Carol Ann" is screamed or yelled over 100 times and is totally annoying unless you are playing a drinking game.

They Live (1988) and Branded (2012)

Here's another movie celebrating a milestone 25th Anniversary: They Live. This is a movie that didn't interest me until I recently learned that it was a satire about consumerist society. I went to see a similarly themed movie last year called Branded (review below).

They Live is more entertaining and has more enjoyable actors such as Meg Foster and Keith David.  Roddy Piper plays a lonely drifter arriving in LA and discovers that America is being dominated by aliens, whose human disguises and subliminal advertising messages are visible only through a special pair of sunglasses, and later, contact lenses. It's interesting how the small group of human rebels are labeled "terrorists" and how the police (the aliens) attack and beat the resistors, including a blind preacher who tried to warm people. You know you're watching a movie made before the 1990s when there is no mention of the internet, nor any scenes involving people using cell phones. The film was written and directed by horror legend John Carpenter (The Thing, Halloween).

Last year's Branded (2012)

Last night I went to see "Branded"---big mistake. The trailer made it look somewhat intriguing, sort of a cross between They Live, The Matrix, and Inception. No way - this movie is FAR inferior in quality. Bad acting, bad direction, bad editing and screenwriting.

This trailer makes the film look like a cool Sci-Fi flick; after all, it's got Max Von Sydow as a sinister media mogul. But just like the plot of the story, the trailer a big advertising deception. It makes you think that the story takes place in America--it doesn't. The whole film is set in Russia. Much of the dialogue is in Russian too. It's a Russian film, with some American actors appearing in small English-speaking roles.

It's not sci-fi at all, really. It's more of a satire of marketing that could have been done in a 10 -minute short YouTube parody. It tries to be funny in some parts (like the opening shots in the trailer), but too often it tries to be too serious, to the point of absurdity. I was laughing so hard in the theater I almost couldn't contain myself.

About 90% of what is in this trailer comes in the last 20-25 minutes of the film....and you have to sit through an hour and a half of boring flashbacks and bizarre farm rituals that are hardly needed at all.

 

I admit I didn't do my homework and research to learn more about it.... I often like to see movies "cold"---but this is NOT one of those films.

The Monster of Piedras Blancas (1959)

The titular monster of the titular, tongue-twisting town of Piedras Blancas is a cave-dwelling sea creature and probably a distant cousin of the Creature from the Black Lagoon. The townsfolk are shocked to find headless (and bloodless) bodies on the shore, for no apparent reason. No one seems to have a clue who could be the killer except for the butcher who believes in the legend of a blood-sucking monster. Another suspect who may be hiding a secret is the creepy lighthouse keeper Sturges (John Harmon). Conveniently, his daughter is a popular, skinny-dipping babe (Jeanne Carmen) and provides a love interest for the monster. I liked the fact that the movie kind of keeps us guessing as to whether or not the shady lighthouse keeper is using the monster as a pet. There's one important clue that almost gives the secret away - the butcher winds up DEAD hours after he refuses to give Sturges any meat scraps.  After more people - including a little girl - wind up dead the same way (heads cut off, blood sucked out) the monster hunt begins. Predictably, but fun nonetheless, the film climaxes in the lighthouse, almost King Kong style. The ending sort of sets things up for a sequel which never came to be. Les Tremayne plays the town's doctor; his presence in the film automatically gives it redeeming quality in my book.

Vintage Movie Theaters: Portage Theater (Chicago IL)

Today's featured theater is the Portage (official site), located on Chicago's northwest side in the Portage Park neighborhood. According to Cinema Treasures, the theater opened in 1920 (91 years old!), so this would be the oldest theater in Chicago still showing motion pictures in the same building space using its original name.  How about that!

And the best part is - it shows classic films. Since 2006, it's become a great venue to see silents and talkies.  The Silent Film Society of Chicago and the Northwest Chicago Film Society both screen movies here. 

Today my friend and I went to a Universal Studios monster film fest and saw Bride of Frankenstein and Son of Frankenstein. The program included a raffle in between each movie. Memorabilia dealers had tables set up in the lobby.

---

In this photo from the 1970s, you can see how the theater used to have a huge vertical sign with big red letters that would shine brightly at night. Big red-letter vertical signs were almost always a part of theaters built in the 1920s and 1930s. As the sign became too expensive to maintain, it was taken down. Photo courtesy of Chicago Now-Portage Park

In this 3-minute video, I attempt to explain a little bit about its history. My apologies for the poor sound quality

Here's the cool ticket booth, and it's still being used! This is the only theater in Chicago where you can step back in time and experience this

Here's the elegant inside of the theater; renovated in the early 2000's. Seats over 1,300!

Here's what the inside looked like today for the monster film fest; lots of dealers with vintage monster/horror memorabilia, comic books, videos, etc.

Coming soon to the Portage: The classic silent Nosferatu (with organ accompaniment!) and Bride of the Monster!

I'll end this post with a quick video of fresh hot popcorn popping. Smells so good!

Freaks (1931)

I first watched this movie in 1994 and it really wasn't easy to watch. It has one of the best endings ever.

Another review from Four Star Films here

Radio interview with Julie Adams

Last night, legendary actress Julie Adams, 83, talked with radio host/nostalgia guru Sonny Starr on the West Coast-based Star Talk radio show (Sundays, 9-10 PM PST). She sounded great and was happy to talk about her film career.

It was a fun interview: among the movies they talked about: Bend of the River, Bright Victory, Tickle Me, The Private War of Major Benson, and of course, the film that she will always be remembered for, Creature of the Black Lagoon. She said she always enjoys talking about that film whenever she is interviewed or attends conventions, and takes delight in knowing this is her signature film.

She remembered Bend of the River director Anthony Mann as a great pleasure to work with, and she has fond memories of filming on location in Oregon, around Mount Hood. (The film premiered in Portland, Oregon). She and Rock Hudson were good friends, and had a similar sense of humor. They made a string of films together.

She remembered Bright Victory as one of her favorite films that she made. Arthur Kennedy was nominated for an Oscar playing a blinded veteran's return to his hometown. She also talked about working with Elvis in Tickle Me, and said that he was always polite and was a gentlemen, never was full of himself on the set.

Cheesy space movie marathon coming this summer in Chicago

There's going to be a classic horror/sci-fi quadruple feature at the Portage Theater in a few weeks -- I might skip "The Jetsons Movie" (I never was a fan of the tv show all that much) and just go the others, which I haven't seen yet.

If you have any suggestions on these films let me know what you think. I haven't seen them.
"The Reluctant Astronaut"
"The Last Starfighter"
"It Came Without Warning"



Also, this will be a triple feature in August:

Beware! The Blob (1972)

This movie is so bad that it's funny. Actually, it's intended to be a comedy, unlike the original 1958 Blob that we all have come to laugh at anyway. After all, the cast this time includes comedians Shelly Berman and Godfrey Cambridge. Robert Walker Jr (I wonder if his mother Jennifer Jones ever saw this one) and Gwynne Gilford (mother of actor Chris Pine -  I wonder if he saw this) run all over town trying to warn people about the "giant, one-celled animal", only to be dismissed by all the local authorities who think they're just stoned hippies.

The original 1958 Blob ends with the menace being disposed of in the North Pole, and in this film, he's brought back from the region in a canister by an oil pipeline layer. Kudos to the writers who at least tried to link the two films, but for the rest of the movie, it just feels like everyone's improvising, like one Saturday Night Live sketch after the other. Almost everyone plays a hippie in the movie, including Carol Lynley and Cindy Williams. There's a hippie-trashing hobo Burgess Meredith, who gets sucked alive by the giant jello mold. That scene was pretty funny. The best scene has to be where Godfrey Cambridge is attacked by the Blob just after he watches the original Blob movie on TV with Steve McQueen. Directed by actor Larry Hagman, who also appears.


I just love this trailer. Note: When Godfrey Cambridge says, "Ahh. The Blob!!" - that's not in the movie...this was cut footage of him watching the 1958 movie on TV, but retained in the trailer. "Rated GP - All Ages Admitted". lol

F

The Devil's Own/The Witches (1966) w/Joan Fontaine

"The Devil's Own": Not to be confused with the 1997 Brad Pitt film of the same name (or a 1916 silent film with Harry Carey, unrelated to either picture) This one is from Britain's Hammer Film Productions, and is also known as "The Witches" according to advertisements outside the United States.



dfordoom of Cult Movie Reviews recently posted an excellent review of this film, which insipred me to look into it further.



The 1962 novel "The Devil's Own" was written by Norah Lofts, who wrote it under the name of Peter Curtis, for a reason I don't understand (witchcraft-related?) Joan plays a schoolteacher who is exposed to the craft while teaching as a missionary in Africa. She's so frightened that she has a nervous breakdown. After returning to her native England, she becomes the head teacher of a small school in a rural village (a "village without hope" according to the eerie trailer - watch below), where she investigates the strange behavior of the townsfolk (including her 14-year old student with ties to the craft) and other unexplained mysteries. Directed by Cyril Frankel ("School for Scoundrels")



When I first heard about this film, Ms. Fontaine's last theatrical performance, I thought she accepted the movie role because she needed the money. How embarrassed I was to learn that she was in fact a co-producer (!) and insisted on starring in it, having loved the orignal novel.



Watch the trailer:



Initial release date: Nov 21, 1966

Read another review from Mondo Esoterica. Read the Tainted Archive's blog post on Hammer Films.

Classic horror marathon in Chicago IL: October 26-30, 2009

Only at Portage Theater

Click to Enlarge

Roger Corman's The Little Shop of Horrors (1960)

A horror classic from the 60s that does not take it self too seriously.

Even the trailers market it as a comedy-horror film. Much of Roger Corman's B-movie is meant to be comical. The entire concept is more funny than scary - a strange venus flytrap-like plant emerges and suddenly becomes dependent on human blood, needing to eat people, or parts of people, to survive---and grow. Seymour (Jonathan Hayes) finds the plant one day and brings it into his place of employment - a flower shop, showing it to his boss, the cynical Mushnick (Mel Welles) and Audrey (Jackie Joseph).

They are all unimpressed until the plant starts to grow, and as a flower shop attraction - brings in business for the shop. How does a seemingly innocent venus flytrap become a horror? Well, first Seymour accidentally cuts himself and discovers the plant's needs...then, well, you get the picture. The plant eats more than blood throughout the movie. There is a certain scene involving a sadistic dentist who ends up as supper for the plant. A young Jack Nicholson plays one of the dentist's patients, in a funny scene.

The film was re imagined and staged as a musical and remade into a funny - yet still creepy - musical film in 1986 with Rick Moranis as Seymour and Steve Martin as the dentist.

There are some differences between the original film and the stage/movie musical. In the original, more people end up as plant food. And Seymour and Audrey both get eaten in the stage musical, but survive in the movie (in the director's cut, they die).

The Deadly Mantis (1957)

Probably due to global warming, a 200-foot long prehistoric Praying Mantis is unthawed on the North Pole. At first, it flies to and fro terrorizing eskimos and pilots, then makes its way to Washington DC. The insect crawls up the Washington Monument "King-Kong" style. The best part of the movie is the last 10 minutes, when the insect makes its way to the Big Apple and is gassed down by the military in the Holland Tunnel. A well deserving feature on "MST3K" in 1997 (ep #804).

Other reviews of this movie:
Mike's Moviepalace (blog)

Monster on the Campus (1958)

Another Universal monster classic, Our story begins on a 50s college campus of course, when a rare giant fish from Madagascar is delivered to the lab of a biology professor (Arthur Franz, veteran of campy B-movies). Obsessed with endangered species, the doc begins to conduct some studies it, yet doesn't realize that it's filled with a powerful drug that can change any living creature back into its neanderthalic state. So when a dragon fly lands on it, it becomes a huge prehistoric creature. When a dog licks the blood of the fish, it becomes a vicious saber-toothed wolf. And when the good doctor cuts his hand on the fish's jaws, oh brother watch out - because that's when the movie goes Jeckyll-and-Hyde-esque, as the nutty professor instantly transforms into the titular beast. It's most violent part shows the monster throwing an ax into the face of a park ranger, gruesome for 1958. Troy Donohue plays one of his students. Also starring - in her only role as a lead actress - Joanna Moore (mother of Tatum O'Neal) If remade today, I bet the writers would have the savage attack some horny coeds in the bedroom of at some wild frat party. Directed by Jack Arnold ("Creature from the Black Lagoon" and "Incredible Shrinking Man"). Interestingly, this film was never featured on "Mystery Science Theater 3000" - it could have been!

Jaws (1975)

My favorite Spielberg film, this is an exciting movie about the hunt for a killer shark off the coast of the fictional town of Amity Island. Told from the point of view of police chief Brody (Roy Schieder) who's torn between the stubborn mayor's decision to keep the beaches open on the fourth of July and his gut reaction to the dangers in the water, where a skinny dipping hippy was chewed alive the night before. It takes two or three more chompings for the idiot mayor to take the threat seriously. In comes gung-ho shark hunter Quint (great character actor Robert Shaw) and collegiate shark expert Richard Dreyfuss. The three go out to sea in the second half on Quint's boat and look for the beast. John William's music is just brilliant; this movie deserves its status as a classic. Robert Shaw, from "Pelham", "Sting" and "Man for All Seasons", passed away much too soon. Such a great actor. This movie was so awesome to watch under the stars in Hollywood Forever Cemetary, where I saw it on July 4th 2009 in LA, proceeded by a tribute to Michael Jackson with some of biggest hits. People dancing and having a great time outdoors. An awesome night. In Los Angeles during the summer, you must check out the outdoor Cinespia screenings.

The Mole People (1956)

A cheesy, creepy movie from the 1950s about a group of three archeologists who enter a strange, undiscovered civilization below the surface of the mountains (of Mesopatamia).

They are abducted by strange mutant mole creatures, who are slaves of a cult group of albinos who worship the goddess Ishtar.

The captured explorers try to pose as ambassadors sent by Ishtar, and then are treated like medicine men.

The weakness of these people: Light. Even a flash from the flashlight they carry has power, and this all comes in handy as the film progresses as you can imagine.

The post makes the film look more exciting than it actually is. There's very little action, just creepiness, including some strange worship ceremony sequences.

Then there's a pretty slave girl played by Cynthia Patrick, who didn't appear in very many movies after this one came out. 

Co-starring Hugh Beaumont (TV's "Leave it to Beaver")