Letters are arranged from newest to oldest.
To contact The Unknown Movies,
click this link
June 21, 2009
Hello,
Here is a list of movies you need to review:
* The Day Time Ended
* Winterbeast
* Equinox
* We Are The Strange
* Godzilla's Revenge
* Ong-Bak: Muay Thai Warrior
Also if you care here is my site:
http://kaijuworld.piczo.com/?cr=7
Jake McConnell
June 19, 2009
[re:
Free Money]
Your wondering why this film is so
inconsistent at times and why Brando chose it? Well
according to the DVD commentary Brando didn't choose
this project, because Free Money was actually Brando's
project from the beginning. The director pretty much did
whatever Brando told him to do, he rewrote significant
portions of the script every day to accommodate whatever
new ideas Brando came up with, that explains a lot about
why the film is so surreal and unfocused. Despite all
that though, I will admit to getting some enjoyment from
this film from the sheer weirdness of it.
Michael Prymula
June 13, 2009
Your Sinbad Of The Seven Seas
page is a gold mine for people like me who love the
movie's camp value and unintentional humor. I discovered
the movie in a video rental about ten years ago, got up
to the snake rope, and realized, dang, I've seen
good-bad movies before, but this is transcendent.
So I started showing it to my friends, and it caught on
with them as well. It has become a staple of the culture
of the regulars at my web site, http://www.rinkworks.com/.
Finally I decided I needed to pay the movie the kind of
tribute it deserves. I started a webcomic for it, in the
vein of DM of the Rings and Darths and Droids. The first
comic is here:
http://www.rinkworks.com/sinbad/?c=1
I thought that, since you are obviously a fan of the
movie in the same way I am, that you would be interested
to know of this. If you cared to link to it from your
review page, that would of course be welcome. But I
didn't write this email just to ask -- honest. I first
read your site many years ago now
and consider it among the very best bad movie sites on
the web. Keep up the great work.
-- Sam.
June 12, 2009
THANK YOU SO MUCH for having a review
of The Godsend
(1980) on your site.
I saw this movie at the drive-in when I was about 7 and
never forgot the movie... but I did forget the title. I
posted a few years ago on a horror site asking if anyone
knew what movie I was describing and someone just
recently responded with The Godsend. Doing a
search to see if that could be the movie I was
remembering, I found your site.
After reading the review... IT'S THE MOVIE! Seriously, I
have been trying to think of the title of this movie for
YEARS. Not a few or 5 or even 10... but 25 or so years!
I found a copy of it on eBay and now I wait for it to
arrive and I'll probably be disappointed in it HAHA. I'm
prepared that a movie I liked when I was 7 won't be as
good now that I'm 36.
Thanks again!
Shelley
There are plenty of movies I
have reviewed that I have wondered if anyone else has
seen, or will see. The Godsend was one of those
movies. I'm glad to know someone else has seen it, and
I'm glad to know I helped your search. Thank you for
your e-mail! But let me warn you again before you get
your copy - it's a pretty crummy movie!
June 2, 2009
[re:
New York Cop]
In this film you were wondering about
why the film seems to jump ahead so abruptly, well on
IMDB the US version is listed as the cut version,
whereas the Japanese one clocks in at 93 minutes,
meaning a whole 5 minutes were trimmed for the US
release, and I'm pretty sure important continuity
related material was most likely cut from the film.
Michael Prymula
May 30, 2009
[re:
The Hippie Revolt]
Hi. It sounds like a bad joke: "The
hippies are revolting!" "Tell me something I don't
know."
I once saw a TV movie, of which I don't recall the
title, but it had Eve Arden as schoolteacher/sleuth
Hildegard Withers ( so it was probably a busted pilot
for a series), set among the hippies. One scene has at
least some of them plotting to make money, er 'bread',
by staging an orgy for the tourists: "You're supposed to
be so stoned that you don't notice the straights peeking
in the window. Okay, Action ! No, not couples ! Gimme
some trios and foursomes!" Something like that. This was
American TV after all. Its an actual fact that tour
buses DID go through Haight-Ashbury so that people from
Podunk could snap photos of the hippies in their natural
environment. Not that different from tourists going to
Chinatown. I have never understood what there is to gawk
at in the sight of Chinese people minding their own
business. But here in Vancouver, at least a third of the
population has some sort of oriental background:
Chinese, Vietnamese, whatever.
Sandra
May 26, 2009
Hey, I really think you should review
more films made by Nu Image since you enjoyed 2 of
they're previous efforts -
Bridge Of Dragons, and
The Peacekeeper, I consider a spiritual successor
to PM entertainment, since most of they're films look
pretty expensive and manage to entertain on many levels,
and they've aso managed to attract a few well known
actors, such as Jeff Fahey, Ernie Hudson, Dennis Hopper,
Tom Sizemore, Tia Carrere, Charles Napier, Richard
Lynch, Christopher Walken, Joan Chen, Steven Bauer, Paul
Sorvino, Ron Silver, Charlie Sheen, Martin Sheen, Anne
Heche, Billy Bob Thornton, David Keith, Michael Madsen,
Jennifer Tilly, Patricia Arquette, Robert Downey-Jr,
Billy Zane, William Forscythe, Joe Pantoliano,
Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, Eric Roberts and several others,
some of Nu Image's best films IMO are Air Strike,
Marines, Special Forces, Cyborg Cop,
Cyborg Soldier,
Operation Delta Force 4: Deep Fault, U.S. SEALS,
U.S. SEALS: Dead Or Alive, the Shark Attack series,
Sharks In
Venice, Mercenary For Justice, Hammerhead: Shark Frenzy,
Raging Sharks, Detention, Derailed,
Direct Action,
Windfall, Operation Delta Force 3: Clear Target,
Live
Wire: Human Timebomb, Submerged, and Until Death. I
think you should check out some of those films.
Michael Prymula
An excellent suggestion. I have
found in recent years that films from Nu Image (and its
sister company, Millennium Films) have higher than
average production values for direct-to-video movies. I
don't know why I haven't reviewed more of them. I'll
have to remember to keep an eye out for them.
May 19, 2009
[re:
Outtakes]
I remember when Jack and his wife Edie
were making this film at Lake Point Tower in Chicago.
They were basically grabbing anyone to be in the movie.
A guy I worked with at the health club there at the time
played Eddie Murphy and a girl I was dating had some
role in it...maybe Marilyn Monroe or something. Anyway I
googled the movie because it had to be the worst movie
ever and it appears you agree.
Daren Mullins
April 24, 2009
Howdydo.
Your Stuckey's Last
Stand review mentioned the CBS Late Night
Movie. Man, that was one goldmine of gunk. I recall:
The Five Man Army
(reviewed)
Beware The Blob
Count Yorga
The Extraordinary Seaman
Hammerhead (from a multitude of 007 knockoffs)
Harpy (bizarro TV flick about a vengeful bird of
prey)
Happy Birthday, Love George (bloody shocker
directed by the great Darren McGavin)
Hell's Angels On Wheels
Hell's Angels '69 (not bad, really)
If He Hollers, Let Him Go
The Losers (a.k.a. Nam's Angels)
The Night Digger (moody chiller written by Roald
Neame to help wife Patricia Neal secure work after years
of inactivity. She returned the favor by cheating on
him.)
The Night Porter (airing this Nazi drama raised a
furor - pun intended - since it was theatrically rated
X)
Rider In The Rain (one of Chuck Bronson's finest,
common as flies during early vid days and now forgotten)
Someone Behind The Door (Chuck B's worst!)
Silent Night, Bloody Night (The print, like much
of the cast, was hacked t'pieces)
The Traveling Executioner
You Can't Win 'Em All (Chuck Bronson turkey
filmed in Turkey, with a cast of thousands)
As you noted, all were recent and in color, but most
shared another similarity: they were made by
independents, who, besides creaky public domain crud,
really kept the station projectors spinning. Back then,
major studio fare trickled into TV sets, partly, I
suspect, due to studio fossils who still resented TV's
intrusion into their medium. B&W like Sunset
Boulevard ('50) and the lame Tracey/Hepburn
Adam's Rib ('49) got their "World Television Premiere" in
the mid-60's.
Regards
Mike Mueller
April 14, 2009
It's 3am here, so I can't be bothered
filling this e-mail with useless stuff. I'll just get to
the point:
A great movie I think worth adding to your site is
Dagon. Based off The Shadow Over Innsmouth by
H.P. Lovecraft, it's a surprisingly decent b-grade
horror movie.
Israel Storey
March 23, 2009
[re:
Race With The Devil]
Can you help me find Bad Times at
the Evil Dead Hotel? Sorry, had to throw that in
there.
Seriously, I feel your pain at your job, I did basically
the same thing for a year, except we had one of those
cardboard crushing machines. And I can sympathize about
the vacations, I didn't get to go to Disney until 3
years ago (at age 32); my parents once took us to
"Pennsylvania's Grand Canyon". Woopee!
To the point, I remember seeing this movie on a Sunday
movie showing sometime in the late 70s early 80s. Scared
the crap out of me. Saw it again a few years ago, and
thought "why did this scare me?", but 20 years will do
that you. Great review, pretty much just as I remembered
it.
Bryan Verhanovitz
March 9, 2009
Just saw
Sabotage earlier
today, and it was the North American R rated version,
and I was very surprised to see that Sherwood's death
scene was uncut, I'm not sure why, I'm guessing that
it's only the Canadian version that was trimmed.
Michael Prymula
February 12, 2009
Hey Mr. Wizard,
Really enjoyed your web site. It really takes me back to
my teen years when I bought one of the new VHS machines
and started my copying career. "B" movies were always a
favorite then for reasons only younger men would know
but I came to love them.
One movie that I just rediscovered is one called The
Groove Tube circa 1974. My eyes have gotten too bad
to read the credits on the best of days but we have at
least three people in there that that are very well
known today. The only name I can pull off is Chevy Chase
but one of the others is on one of our popular NY cop
shows and the other is a well known comedy actor from
way back that still shows up. I am sure many could call
their names quickly but alas, my memory is about as good
for names is my eyes are at reading them. You can DL it
from VUSE or I can get you a copy somehow.
Some commentary on the movie
Cinderella. If you
watch it way too many times like I have you can start to
separate the good actors from the bad and the budget. I
honestly and truly believe that Cheryl (Rainbeux) Smith
was never given a fair shake. She did at least one other
B about cheer leaders, the name escapes me. She died way
too young. As a comparison to Alice In Wonderland,
Cinderella was way better for acting and
emotional delivery of material. The actress in Alice was
also the one that played the main female role (99% sure)
in A Boy And His Dog with the then unknown Tom
Cruise where she acted less and pulled off more clothes.
Cinderella also had at least two soft core porn actress
of the time somewhere in there. I recognized the names
but not the faces.
Take care as it is always good to find someone else that
enjoys these type of movies.
Lon
Thanks for your letter. One
small correction: It was Don Johnson in A Boy And
His Dog, not Tom Cruise.
January 23, 2009
Howzit?
FLIX, the Showtime movie channel, has been showing the
movie Cold Turkey
the past several weeks. I found your site after doing
some research on it. I think your review is WRONG WRONG
WRONG!!! This movie is a minor masterpiece, funny, and
fast-paced. I don't know what else you expected from it.
If anything, the movie is perhaps too ambitious, but I
think Norman Lear and the others involved hit just the
right tone. Perhaps you haven't seen it recently. For
instance, you mentioned that Bob Newhart's character is
introduced and doesn't appear again until near the end
of the film. Not true. Merwin Wren is seen throughout. I
also found your description of Van Dyke's Reverend
Brooks as being off the mark. Just a few quibbles. I've
always loved this movie, seeing it on TV in the early
seventies, and I appreciate that you mentioned it on
your site, which, BTW, is very entertaining and
informative. A DVD release of Cold Turkey, with
guest commentary from as many of the actors as possible,
would be a wonderful package. I doubt, however, that
we'll ever see it. Anyway...thank you and keep up the
site!
Your friend,
Jason Ellison
(PS. A bit of trivia...supposedly the voice of the
talking "Smoking Doll" in the movie was provided by
Maureen McCormick, of Brady Bunch fame!)
Well, I'm not the only one who
has given the movie a "good, but not great" review. Not
having a copy of the movie, I will have to wait until a
DVD release to check Newhart's character again. Though
looking at the very slow dribble of older movies MGM is
releasing on DVD these days, it looks like it will be a
long wait.
January 21, 2009
Hi, just here to talk about some
Die Hard ripoffs that I enjoyed, in general I find
most of them to be pretty entertaining in a mindless, a
few I enjoyed were: Crackerjack, Taking Of
Beverly Hills (which was one of the very first
rip-offs), Breakaway (A.K.A. Christmas Rush),
Terminal Rush, Blast (2004), Sudden
Death, and both Under Siege films, I happen
to own the first 2 films on the list, though I should
mention that the copy of Crackerjack I have is a
promo copy, it's easily identified as one by the fact
that the words Prop. Of Republican Entertainment are on
the bottom of the screen for the entire film, and
there's also a screener game that plays during the film
for a contest to win certain prizes where a guy a
occasionally voices over the film( it doesn't happen
during any important moments though, so it's not like
you'll miss anything) to ask people if they have the
winning card for a certain prize, it happens 4 times
during the film total, it's not too big a deal but it's
sorta annoying. Anyways the main question I wanted to
ask you was if you would be willing to send me your
copies of Act Of War and
Body Armor (which
I'm sure you wouldn't mind giving away too much) and in
exchange I'll send you my copies of Crackerjack
and Taking Of Beverly Hills.
Michael Prymula
Just because I have reviewed a
movie doesn't mean that I own a copy of it. Many of the
movies I have reviewed I have rented from video stores,
and that includes Act Of War and Body Armor.
If you want your own copies of the movies, you can click
the Amazon link at the foot of each review. By the way,
I have seen Crackerjack and Taking Of Beverly
Hills, and I thought both of them were terrible.
January 16, 2009
[re:
Rats: Night Of Terror]
Please join and tell friends to join
the group "It's Filled With Rats!" on Facebook.com
Long live the Rats!!!!
What a classic!
Zac
January 2, 2009
Hello Greywizard,
I've just been enjoying reading your review of
The Brothers Lionheart.
A Christian von Schack emailed you some comments about
this movie and suggested that you might also like
Mio, Min Mio aka The Land of Faraway. I can
also recommend this film which was available on English
language VHS about 10 years ago (don't know if it's
still available though or whether you can get it on
DVD). The film features the great Chris Lee as the
villain, and a very young (pre Empire of the Sun)
Christian Bale!
Keep up the good work.
Cheers,
Dave McDougall
December 16, 2008
Greetings Greywizard,
I stumbled across your Unknown Movie site when trying to
refresh my memory of Hugo The Hippo. I'm one of
those animation nuts (actually I _am_ an animator) who
will collect hard-to-find cartoons if they A) have a
certain style or B) tried in one way or another to be
above the standard kiddie crap out there. I agree with
your assessment with The Last Unicorn and
personally I think the best animated TV special EVER
done was Rankin Bass's The Hobbit. That was one
cartoon that had it all: gorgeous character designs &
backgrounds, evocative musical score, songs straight
from the book kept short & sweet, clever use of limited
TV animation, and great pacing.
Anyway, I just wanted to say how much I enjoyed perusing
your site (when I really should be working). I do also
have a suggestion for your "unknown family genre."
Perhaps it's well known in Canada so that's why it's not
in your site. It's called, The Mouse & His Child.
I remember seeing it only once as a child in the mid or
late 70's (a lot of out-of-the-ordinary animated films
seem to have come out then). I think it was made in
Canada (though well-known American animators worked on
it). I certainly haven't seen it since, at least not
here in the States. It had kind of a dark story,
something about toys vs. rats.
Nepenthe's The Plague Dogs could also be Unknown
Movie-worthy. But I won't ask you to review it, that
would be too cruel. It's not a bad film, but it IS a
relentlessly depressing film, gorgeous animation aside.
It was done by the same studio which made Watership
Down after that movie's (relative) success. Some
inside scoop: The Plague Dogs was one of the first
films a young Brad Bird worked on. He worked under
animation great Rhetta Scott, who could animate any
animal and was the first woman animator hired by
Disney. (she was the only person who could animate the
scary hunting dogs in Bambi.) Brad alienated
himself from the rest of the studio when he dared to
suggest to make the film funny. He was 'persona non
grata' after that. Humor does not lend itself easily to
a serious film about the evils of animal
experimentation. But he had a point. If they at least
kept to the book's happy ending & lightened it up a
little, perhaps the film would have done better.
There were a lot of brave new animated films coming out
in the late 70's/early 80's. It's a shame
American audiences weren't ready for films like
Watership Down, Rock n' Rule, & others trying
to push more mature themes. I saw Animal Farm &
Watership Down at the impressionable age of 8,
which inspired me to become an animator. I wanted to
make films where animal characters could do straight
drama and didn't have to have stupid songs or sidekicks.
Anyhow, I'm sure you've heard enough from me. Does
The Mouse & His Child ring any bells for you?
Take Care,
Toongirl
I have heard of The
Mouse & His Child. I remember watching a little of it
on TV as a child. When I was older, I saw it at a video
store, but I never rented it - and I'm kicking myself to
this day for not taking the opportunity to watch it in
its entirety.
As for The Plague Dogs, I
did see it several years back. I know what you mean
about it. It was very well made, but very dark and
depressing. I'm not sure if I'd want to see it again to
review it for my web site and subject myself again to
its downbeat nature.
December 16, 2008
Hi Greywizard,
I found this link for the motion picture
exhibition/distribution magazine 'Box Office' and it had
an interesting little article from December, 1975 about
Ed Montoro's FVI, and some of his movies "Beyond the
Door" and "Grizzly". Just click the article to zoom in
and read. If you turn to page 81 of this article site,
there is an interesting 'Season's Greetings' page from
Montoro and FVI with his signature.
http://issuu.com/boxoffice/docs/boxoffice_121575/6
I thought it might be something of your interest!
Best Regards,
John Blythe
November 15, 2008
[re:
Dracula 3000]
I'm
surprised that an el cheapo film like that was able to
come up with a classy, Giger-like poster. It's a ripoff,
but it looks good.
Sandra
November 2, 2008
Hi, I just want to thank you for your
relentless crusade on heavily encouraging people to
watch PM Entertainment films as it made me check them
out, and I've been fulfilled ever since, cause they
really are some of the best DTV films you'll ever see.
Shame that most people don't know what they're missing.
Luckily for me I was able to rent most
of the PM films you've reviewed from Family Video (it's
somewhat of a chain store, though only like a dozen
states have them, and they've got some pretty rare films
on DVD) except for
Executive Target, which I had to order from
Borders Marketplace (Yes, it's related to the famous
book store chain, and it's got plenty of rare films for
as low as $2 a lot of the time!, you should get some
older films off they're sometime) and
The Sender, which
despite your negative review, I still want to see, and I
also saw Road Ends
today, and though I'm not big on dramas, I liked it well
enough (though the trailer made it look a whole lot
better then it really was) though trimming 10 or so
minutes form the film probably wouldn't have hurt it
any.
Anyways, there's several other PM
films I think you should review, first off there's the
first PM film I ever saw- Pure Danger (directed
by C Thomas Howell himself BTW), it's got a similar plot
to Night Of The Running
Man, only with diamonds instead of a briefcase
full of money, and the main character (who's played by C
Thomas Howell BTW) actually has somewhat of a motivation
for taking the diamonds as he's on parole and is given a
hard time by his parole officer and his cafe (located in
the middle of nowhere in Nebraska BTW) is about to close
due to lack of business, and of course he and his
girlfriend get hunted down by two rival gangs after they
snatch the diamonds. The film has plenty of car chases,
including a memorable one through a junkyard, and it has
a pretty unique ending that's different from the endings
to nearly every other action film you've ever seen. Then
there's Guardian Angel, a Cynthia Rothrock film,
and I know you're probably thinking aw hell no! But this
film is pretty good actually, as Cynthia gets in plenty
of well-choreographed fights that don't have lots of
jerky editing, and it also has a very menacing female
villain, I can honestly see you liking this film. And
there's also a great early PM film called Zero
Tolerance, a cool little vigilante film about a guy
who hunts down the five leaders of a large secret
organization called The White Hand, it's not as polished
as PM later films, but it's still good enough for a
watch. And Firepower, an entertaining martial
arts film with almost non-stop fighting and very little
story, but the fights are so well done you won't care
much about the story anyways. And for more good PM
Sci-fi films, check out Cybertracker, and
Cybertracker 2, two very entertaining films which
are sort of a mix of Terminator and Robocop,
but with even more action, especially part 2 which is
almost nonstop action and is barely strung together by
the story, and Don Wilson gives a better performance
then usual in those films, though be aware that part 2
does have a few continuity errors form the previous
films, such as one character who died in part 1 being
alive and well in part 2, so it's best to think of that
one more as an alternate universe type of sequel ala
Braddock: Missing In Action III. And finally, if
it's a latter day PM film you want to see, then check
out Running Red, it has a surprisingly ok
Speakman performance, along with a better plot that
although fairly predictable, is still well done enough
that it doesn't annoy the viewer, and it has one of the
best opening car chases of all time as well. Hope you
enjoy those films if you see them, cheers!
Michael Prymula
Wow, so all my writings about PM
Entertainment movies not only got at least one person to
check them out, but made a new fan of them! Your e-mail
made my day, thank you. I hope you will continue to
spread the word at your end. And thank you for the PM
movie suggestions. I haven't reviewed a PM Entertainment
movie for some time, so I'll try to find one of your
suggestions and review it soon.
October 7, 2008
Hi.
I just watched for the first time the movie
Free Money (Brando,
Sheen, et al) and thought it was a hoot and wondered why
I had never heard of it, let alone see it.
Then I started reading reviews on the internet and
realized why.
Anything made in Canada does not get wide distribution
in Canada because Americans control film distribution in
my country. And film reviewers in the good ole' U S of A
seem to be in league with them.
Bigoted barely describes the attitude, and it seems to
mask the underlying feeling of envy that the only good
movies are made in the USA and so anything out of Canada
is, well, "alien," even if it has familiar American
faces in it.
I am from quite a very distant part of Canada from where
the movie was made (Quebec) so I could not recognize the
location until I heard a few words spoken in French. I
guess that's what turns of American
reviewers: fear of strangers (zenophobia).
Cheers,
KD
There is nothing stopping
Canadian distributors from widely releasing a movie in
Canada. Men With Brooms, Foolproof,
How She Move, Eastern Promises, Fido, Trailer
Park Boys: The Movie, and a number of other
English-Canadian movies have gotten wide releases in
Canada with theater counts equal to theater counts for
American movies that are released in Canada. (Later this
month, the Canadian Paul Gross movie Passchendaele
will get released to over 200 theaters in Canada) Also,
in Quebec, French-Canadian movies typically get wide
releases in the province that rival the release of
American films. When Canadian distributors put the time
and money into making a movie get a wide release, they
have no problems getting their films in theaters.
Yes, most Canadian movies don't get wide releases. But
the reason is not because Americans stop them. Most
Canadian movies are not mass market movies. Sure, they
may get great reviews, but the typical Canadian wants
escapist fare when they go to the movies - not an art
movie. A Canadian distributor would be crazy to spend
the time and money for a wide release of a typical
Canadian film.
September 14, 2008
Although I am not a big film buff, I
have encountered some obscure movies over the years,
such as Didn't You Hear
and Cold Turkey.
So I thought that you might enjoy them, if you can find
them.
The first is called Executive Action, which was a
very well done treatment of the conspiracy theories
surrounding the JFK assassination. I seem to recall that
Burt Lancaster was in it, but I am not sure. I
was given the option of going to a sneak preview one day
at school, and this is the movie that we saw. I have
never seen it mentioned anywhere else since, except at
the IMDB.
The next was an unusual film with Walter Matthau called
A New Leaf. I think that it was supposed to be a
romance, but I am not sure. Never heard of it since I
saw it.
You may have heard of a comedy called If It's
Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium, with Susanne
Pleshette. There are some absolutely marvellous moments
in this film, which takes a shot at the stereotypical
American tourist on a six day tour of Europe.
Made-for-TV movies rarely were very good, but there was
one called A Cold Night's Death which I thought
was exceptional. IMDB lists it also under the title
The Chill Factor. It starred Robert Culp and Eli
Wallach as scientists doing high altitude research on
monkeys.
One of my favorite British science fiction films was
released in the US as Five Million Years To Earth,
although it is known in Britain as Quatermass And The
Pit. It was not a big budget film, but it manages to
evoke some strong emotions, I think.
I feel that all of these movies were well done, and some
of them certainly deserved more attention than they
received, especially Executive Action.
Have fun!
Scott
Thank you for those suggestions.
I have seen A Cold Night's Death and Five
Million Years To Earth, and I enjoyed them both. As
for Executive Action and If It's Tuesday,
This Must Be Belgium, I have them both on my Rogers
Video Direct list (Rogers Video Direct being the
Canadian equivalent of Netflix.)
August 27, 2008
Your Wizardry-
I'm certain that you haven't had many responses from
people who saw Didn't
You Hear? back in 1971.
Well, I did. It's an experience I'll never forget. I
know, I've tried.
Back in the day, I was a film critic for my high school
newspaper. The paper's business office got a free pass
for the critic and a friend to see a sneak preview of
"an innovative new youth-oriented film" called Didn't
You Hear?
To put it mildly, it was like nothing I'd ever seen. The
characters were more like caricatures, the acting was
wooden and the plot had so many holes you could sail the
"Queen of Sheba" through it. Although this was several
years before The Rocky Horror Picture Show made
it acceptable to shout back at the screen, several
people in the theatre were anticipating the next
repetition of each character's mantra, i.e., "Plunder
and Pillage", "It's Happy Birthday World Day" and the
inevitable "Death. It's a very special thing".
My review, as you might have guessed, was less than
kind. I liked the camera work, especially the views of
the ocean from the yacht, I liked the wardrobe (from
Sears!), and called the theme song "pleasant", but
concluded that this film could only be a hit "if all the
dialogue were eliminated".
Now, I don't know if my teenage review had anything to
do with why Didn't You Hear? was pulled from
distribution for an additional 12 years. This
development made it difficult for me to convince people
I told about it that this film actually existed.
Two or so years ago, my husband came rushing into the
kitchen, an urgent look on his face. "You gotta see
this!" he shouted, "That damn movie you're always
talking about is on TV!"
Sure enough, there it was. The yacht. The island.
"Death. It's a very special thing". I watched, and came
to a somewhat different conclusion. "Didn't you Hear?"
could be a hit--if only it was re-titled "Ingmar
Bergman's Peter Pan".
Pattye Stringer
August 20, 2008
[re:
Blind Fury]
I love this movie, though I've only
seen it twice. I rented it once in VHS, picked more or
less at random off the martial arts shelf in a moment of
boredom, and immediately watched it again, slo-moing
through some of the fight scenes that had caught my
interest the first time. There's something I really like
about the sense of humor of this film. I think they got
the tone just right.
You might want to mention Sho Kosugi as one of the bad
guys (he might even be the final, toughest bad guy
though I can't recall for sure). Kosugi is an actual
ninjutsu, made a small number of decent ninja flicks
himself in both English and Japanese, and I think for
both personality and skills he is a great deal of fun to
watch on the screen. I wish he'd made more movies.
Randy Poe
July 26, 2008
[re:
Salvation]
I'm surprised the biggest problem with
the movie didn't strike you: there was no such thing as
a female Knight Templar. They were an order of warrior
monks. No Ladies Auxiliary. And if the kid is already
dead, why hide her out instead of burying her? It would
have been more logical if the director had played the
adult Michaela, and left the two Templars male.
Sandra
I did know there were no female
knights, and I was going to mention it. In fact, I wrote
down in my notes a whole list of things that were wrong
about the movie while watching it. But I only mentioned
some of these errors in my final edit due to space
constraints and also that I was in a rush to get the
review online.
July 16, 2008
Hi,
Idaho Transfer
is a movie I must have seen shortly after its release,
late at night in German TV when I was still living with
my parents. As I am 50 now, that must be very long ago
indeed. One example is the
fashion to wear jeans with climbing boots. That took
years to come to Europe...Hey, and the sisters almost
undressed in the machine... Why that was necessary made
me scratch my had even more than Leslie with the
knife....But for sure I loved it.
I never forgot this movie, mainly for the feeling of
being lost, of the crazy suspense what would be found
after the last time travel, little things like the train
and the coke can mountain, not to speak
of the screwdriver/key and the yell. The end left me
stunned - literally - for ages...
Today I searched for it at Amazon and ordered it. Then I
asked a friend if he knew it. He did not, but sent me
your review on http://www.badmovieplanet.com/unknownmovies/reviews/rev344.html
I want to thank you for the review, it is excellent and
made me once again imagine so many details...
I also want to thank you for not giving away the end.
All the best
Hendrik Ehlers
Luanda, Angola
July 5, 2008
IMDB.com has a listing for
FVI and one
of the films is called Predator: The Concert.
This was the intended sequel to Grizzly and is also
known as Grizzly II: The Predator. The film was
made in 1984 but only released to TV in small quantities
in 1987. The cast includes George Clooney, Laura Dern
and Louise Fletcher. The plot keywords include
"Unreleased Film" and "Unfinished Film."
Jason Kreitzer
June 4, 2008
[re: Didn't You Hear]
Thanks for the information about the
movie...I am a fan of Mort Garson and heard one of the
songs from the movie and became curious and started
researching and found your page.
I am writing to tell you that I fully understand what
you mean when you see a movie that almost seems as
though it was written entirely just 'for you.' It's
moments like these (i think, anyway) that make life
worth living, these little surprises along the way.
I wanted to ask you if you've ever seen a movie called
The First Time. I rented this back in the late 80's
and it was one strange movie..I watched it over and over
and was showing it to friends. I just thought you might
like it because it is obscure and unusual...Wallace
Shawn plays a wacky film professor named Jules
Goldfarb..It's the story about a kid named Charly that
goes to college and has all these wierd
experiences...Quite bizarre, but worth the investment if
you like oddities. I believe it was released in the
late 70's or early 80's. I know there are two movies
with that title and it's this one:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085546/
I going to look for the soundtrack of Didn't You Hear.
Take care,
Jim
I did see The First Time
years ago, though I don't remember too much about it.
From what I remember, it was a quirky, somewhat
interesting movie, though not quite the laugh-fest it
thought it was.
June 1, 2008
Hello I have been thinking about
tracking down the R/X rated
Cinderella for a
while and finally sat down tonight to get started. I
came across your site and your review.
I was the projectionist at a Drive-in theater near
Middletown, Ohio (north of Cincinnati) in the late 70's.
It was the Dixie Cruise-In which has since been torn
down and is now the site of the local Moose Lodge. This
was a "family" theater that showed only G-Rated
movies EXCEPT for once a year we showed this
R-Rated Cinderella which I thought was hilarious.
I don't see any copies on eBay right now but if I can
track down a source I will send you an email and let
you/everyone know!
NewPhoenix
May 17, 2008
Hi!
Read your review of Flicks some years back, and
took attention to "Cat & Mouse At Home", knowing that i
would never ever see it. However, due to broadband and
Youtube, the segment is available at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIFa_ATVKdc
Apparently it was shown with Mtv's Liquid Television.
Just like you said, most of it is spot on, from gags to
most of the artwork, with a huge amount of affection for
the old cartoons coming thru. Just a few minutes moore...
The Director of the segment/short has a live-action
movie coming out called The Visage. Anyway...
Maybe it's a bit tricky with Youtube linking, but if
someone asks for it...
Keep up the good work!
Regards / Matti Nilsson,
Sweden.
P.S. : and... as a movie with foreign flavor for
reviewing... I would recommend Camp Slaughter, a
horrible Swedish slasher in, so called, English. Awful
and boring to no end, slower than an iceage.
April 19, 2008
[re:
Evil Roy Slade]
You mention that it's a busted pilot.
That brought back a distant memory of a summer long ago,
some time before 1971 when ERS was filmed. Back
then they used to show busted pilots in the summer, for
a bit of variety from the endless reruns. I recall
seeing a busted pilot for a half-hour comedy called
Sheriff Who? The premise what that there was this
little western town being terrorized by a bad guy, and
every week they would hire a new sheriff in the hopes of
finding one who could do something, but the man wouldn't
last more than one episode. The name of the bad guy?
Evil Roy Slade! I do believe that week's Sheriff was
played by (wait for it) Dick Shawn. As I recall, at the
end, he decided to give up law enforcement to become an
interior decorator: "I want to colour co-ordinate the
west!" I guess the producers just couldn't let the idea
drop, the same way busted pilot Nick Knight
turned up years later as Forever Knight, which
actually lasted for several years and spawned a couple
of spin-off novels. It's good to recycle!
Sandra
February 3, 2008
Hello,
I just wanted to thank you for your review on the move
Didn't You Hear, I saw this movie when I was
about 12 or 13 years old, I'm hoping that this is the
same movie I saw, But I really think it is because I've
always remembered the name of the Star, that is Dennis
Christopher.
I Tried to find this movie a few years ago to no avail,
but I went searching again today for this movie and came
across your article on it. As a result I found a new
copy on Amazon.com, I just wanted to thank you, because
although I cant really remember a lot about the movie
there was something about it back then that moved me and
I as well cant forget the movie. I ordered it on Amazon
and cant wait to see it again.
For a while there I was wondering if I was the only one
who saw it besides my best friend who went with me back
then. Thank you So Much.
Carol Fisher
January 28, 2008
[re:
Abraxas]
I basically paid $.50 for this movie,
and I think I'd rather have gotten the gumballs. (It's
on a double DVD, with Slipstream, yet another baaaaad
movie, from the $1 bin at Target) Holy cow I wonder how
movies like this get made. The creepy town it was filmed
in, gives me the heebie jeebies! What else is there to
say, you said it all pretty much. As a lover of bad (cheezey)
movies, this one isn't even "so bad it's good". It's
right up there with Super Troopers. AYYYE.
H
January 2, 2008
I stumbled on your site looking for an
unknown movie that I don't seem to know the answer to. I
was born in 1980 throughout the 80's I grew up watching
many great movies that are unknown to today's audience.
As each year goes by, I seem to remember the names
slowly but surely. I am trying to complete a collection
of very rare 1980's movies that barely anyone even knows
about. There are just a few left that my brain just
refuses to find in the file system inside my brain. As
you can imagine, some of the movies I can't remember
were viewed by me when I was young. What was my mother
thinking to let me watch horror movies that young?!
Anyway, I have three suggestions of movies for you to
review that I DO know the titles to:
Hamburger...The Original Motion Picture
Pulse
&
Morgan Stewart's Coming Home
I might have more later.
Great site by the way.
Chris Redfield
November 23, 2007
I found your site while looking for
information about my roommate from my freshman year of
college, Howie Lichter. Yes, that’s really what he went
by. I know it sounds like a prank call, "paging Howie
Lichter". Anyway, it was interesting to read about this
movie. Here’s what I know:
Howie was assigned to be my roommate by Western
Washington University in the fall of 1983. He was a
graduate of Lakeside School in Seattle, an expensive
private grade and high school. He had a thing for U2 and
the English Beat, and liked to date ugly girls who put
out. He fancied himself pretty worldly, and liked to put
on a Japanese robe and play with a samurai sword or his
painting kit. He was a drama student, and half of what
came out of his mouth was said just to mess with people.
We got along OK, but were hardly best friends. He told
me that he was in a movie called
Revenge Of The Teenage
Vixens From Outer Space, and I dismissed it as
more of Howie’s bullshit. ...Until I saw the movie in a
video store years later and rented it. Sure enough,
there was Howie, in a real movie. Yeah, it’s also a
really BAD movie, but still...
Kind of off the point, he also thought it would be
really funny to mail in a draft registration card with a
note saying a particular guy we knew wanted to kill
then-president Reagan. We had a swarm of Secret Service
agents at the door of our dorm room the very next
morning. His prank was much more successful than he
expected. I still laugh when I think about those agents
reading poor quivering Howie the riot act.
Anyway, I’ve wondered what happened to Howie Lichter
after we parted ways. He was a character.
Leif Jackson
October 17, 2007
Hello,
I just stumbled upon your website today and I love it.
It's brought back a ton of childhood memories. I was
born in the late eighties, so I haven't seen most of
these movies, but some of them I have. For several years
I had been trying to find out the name of a movie I had
rented often as a child and thanks to your site I found
it: Robot Jox. I remember going to the theater to
see Star Kid (my dad hated it, I liked it). Your
website has inspired me to start getting into the
lesser-known flicks.
I have a suggestion for you: 1963's The Terror
directed by Roger Corman and starring Boris Karloff and
a young Jack Nicholson. I saw it at 3 AM on a local
station last summer. It was filmed on a reused set in
only four days.
Keep up the great work!
Drew Wiley
October 8, 2007
Hi there,
I loved your site but I noticed you haven't reviewed any
by Troubled Moon Films. They are fantastic B-films that
use a lot of home-made CG effects. They have films like
Fungicide, Suburban Sasquatch, Tartarus
and Zombies By Design. Plus, they are about to
release Infinities Lock within a few months. I
thought you may enjoy to check them out at http://www.troubledmoonfilms.com
Thanks so much.
Sissy J. of Philadelphia
September 10, 2007
Hi
The first two Ator films are my favorite movies. I have
watched them dozens of times. The third film, was also
very good, but I was not very impressed with the fourth,
released in 90. Anyway, these films have a very large
cult following and I am wondering if you have ever heard
of the Ator series being revived with new movies?
Obviously Miles is too old to play Ator now, but I
really feel that there is enough material here for
several more films. A shame the early 80s Conan rip offs
genre lasted for such a short time. Thanks for your
help.
J
I haven't heard anything about a
new Ator movie. I'd be surprised if they announced one,
since the series seems to be only loved by a small cult
of bad movie fans.
July 9, 2007
Hi,
I found your site because I was searching on
Troll 2, and I'm a
huge fan! Creedence is my favorite...my friends and I
always imitate her lines! But I was surprised to see
two BAD movies that were missing from your site...
The Granny (VHS only) and The Ice Cream Man
There aren't quite as bad as Troll 2, but definitely
terrible! My favorite line from The Granny (feat.
Stella Stevens) is "you're the load I should've
swallowed!" They are both "horror" movies. Rent
them...you won't be sorry (or maybe
you will...haha!).
Andy
June 9, 2007
I stumbled on your site last night
after trying to find out about Thief and the Cobbler
(after taking 10 minutes to figure out the title from 16
years back). Surprise of all surprises, yet another,
blurrier memory earthed up from the sludge. He did the
absolutely terrifying
Raggedy Ann & Andy cartoon film I saw at age 5!
It was just a scant memory but your review brought it
all flooding back.
I am surprised and pleased someone has watched so much
oddball stuff, most of which I've seen, but I'm
especially pleased for your keen eye/appreciation of
animation and your willingness to review childrens'
movies. There are plenty of 'clut/z-grade' film review
sites (which, don't get me wrong, I certainly
appreciate) but very few dedicated to the warped and
quality control-free world of PG & G-rated films.
I grew up in a ridiculously conservative family wherein
I was not allowed to watch PG-13 movies until I turned
13, and expected never to watch an R-rated movie ever in
my entire life (although everyone knows how meaningless
that boundary is). Consequently, I've seen almost every
G and PG-rated movie ever made (although my parents
seldom rented movies from more than 20 years ago, so we
never got to laugh the night away with the Marx Brothers
or Three Stooges). Additionally, the small-town cheap
theatre showed G & PG movies for free in the summertime,
a new one each week for 16 weeks, for kids 12 & under.
So the innocuous films were a babysitter at home and
during trips to town, where my parents were buying
vibrators for all I know.
Here are some movies that, if you haven't seen, I think
would be right up your alley.
• ANOTHER weird-assed Pinocchio cartoon from 1987:
Pinocchio And The Emperor Of The Night. Pinocchio,
among many other misadventures, is turned again into a
puppet (apparently no made-up sequels want him in flesh
incarnate) and subsequently captured by the horrifying
demon of the title. No original characters are really
included: he does have some insect companions, most
memorably a flagrantly moustached, over-the-top military
bee.
• Bingo, if you can stomach it, an early-'90s
live-action flick that bored the shit out of me even as
a standard-free unscrupulous child. I think it was made
by Disney! It's about a badical boy who is befriended by
a golden reteiver who escaped from the circus.
• Bogus, possibly the worst movie I have ever
seen. Unfortunately, I had to suffer through it twice:
once in the free theatre and another time several years
later at the insistence of a child I babysat, who had
rented it and was excited to see it. In it, an
insufferable little boy (much like the one from the ABC
made-for-tv reincarnation of Steven King's "THE
SHINING") has to relocate after his mother dies. To
continue the circus theme, she was a very trashy circus
performer before her death in, IIRC, a car accident. The
little boy is shuttled over to be taken care of by
Whoopi Goldberg, who I believe sells silverware for a
living. Before ending up in her house, he imagines a new
friend in the form of a cartoon squiggle face which
eventually turns into a burly, wacky Frenchman, played
by Gerard Depardieu. A bunch of really boring shit
happens wherein Bogus (imaginary Frenchman) does the
obligatory help-the-kid-get-confident act. Then the kid
has some kind of crazy circus heaven/hell fantasy and I
believe the movie ends there.
The Plague Dogs, an excellent and overwhelmingly
depressing animated feature by Martin Rosen. It, like
his earlier animation of Watership Down, is based
on a less-popular Richard Adams novel. Two dogs escape
from a vivisection/animal experimentation plant to roam
the countryside and starve, accidentally causing death
and disaster after disaster. I won't spoil the end, but
it's really very sad, even more bleak than what I've
described.
If you are interested in further recommendations, I
would be happy to share them. Thanks for your wonderful,
detailed site.
All best,
Abbie
June 3, 2007
Hello,
First, Love the site, very entertaining. I remember
watching a movie called In The Company of Wolves
a long time ago. No one else I talk to seems to know
this movie, I believe it was made in the 80's. A weird
rendition of Little Red Riding Hood, that's the basic
plot. I would love to read your review of this movie, as
I haven't seen it since I was little (7 or 8).
Thanks,
Chris
June 2, 2007
Hi,
Great site, I've just started browsing it. I thought I'd
write and tell you that the movie
Prime Time is
apparently public domain now, because I have just picked
it up on Mill Creek Entertainment's "Drive-In Movie
Classics" 50 movie pack. The set also has
Rituals (under the
name The Creeper, and 3 Argento flicks. Not but
for $16
Thanks
Aaron
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