Category: Movies

“Cryo” – The Poster and Trailer are Here!

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Cryo looks like scary fun.  Don’t ya think?

Sometimes the real nightmare is being awake. Five scientists awake from a cryogenic sleep and find themselves trapped in an underground facility. With no memory of who they are or how long they’ve been asleep, they begin to realize they may have been part of a scientific experiment gone wrong. After a series of strange events, the scientists find themselves being hunted. They do not know who is hunting them or for what reason, but the scientists begin to suspect that one of them may be the killer.

RIP: James Bama

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Last night word began leaking that James Bama had died.  I wanted to wait for a verified source.  Sadly, it is true.  James Bama died yesterday, just 4 days short of his 94th birthday.

James Bama grew up wanting to be a cartoonist.  He had his first professional sale, a drawing of Yankee Stadium, at the age of 15.  After a stint in the service, Mr. Bama began his career as a commercial illustrator.  He created art for paperback covers, movie posters, and magazine illustrations.  James Bama is perhaps most widely known for the 62 paperback covers he did for the Doc Savage series.  Later in his career Mr. Bama became known for his many western paintings.

James Bama was inducted into the Illustrator’s Hall of Fame on June 28, 2000.  He was inducted into the Monster Kid Hall Of Fame at The Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards in 2005.

I first became aware of Mr. Bama’s art with his beautiful renditions of the Universal Monsters on the Aurora Monster Model Boxes.  I can remember how much my buddy and I loved the art, often more than the models.  It wasn’t until I was older that I learned Mr. Bama’s name as I saw more and more of his art.  What a wonderful and varied career he had.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to James Bama’s family, friends and fans.

“Love and a .45” (1994) / Z-View

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Love and a .45 (1994)

Director:  C.M. Talkington

Writers: C.M. Talkington

Starring:  Gil Bellows, Renée Zellweger, Rory Cochrane, Peter Fonda and Michael Bowen.

Tagline:  In The End There Are Only Two Things That Matter…

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

A convenience store thief (he’s got it down to a science) and his fiancé are on the run for Mexico.  Chasing them are cops, two loan sharks and the thief’s crazy ex-crime partner.  Love and a .45 tries hard to be outrageous, hip and cool.  Characters named Watty Watts, Starlene Cheatham, Billy Mack Black, Dinosaur Bob and Creepy Cody give you an idea of what we’re dealing with.  Tarantino Lite.

Renée Zellweger is so young here that she doesn’t look like the movie star she would become.  Rory Cochrane as Billy Mack Black is good.  I saw Love and a .45 years ago and liked it better than my recent viewing, so your mileage may differ.  Love and a .45 gets 2 of 5 stars.

“The Ghoul” (1933) / Z-View

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The Ghoul (1933)

Director:  T. Hayes Hunter

Writers:  Roland Pertwee & John Hastings Turner based on the novel by Frank King and the play by Frank King and Leonard J. HInes / Rupert Downing … adaptation

Starring:  Boris Karloff, Cedric Hardwicke, Ernest Thesiger and Ralph Richardson.

Tagline: An Ancient Curse Is About To Be Unleashed.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Prof. Henry Morlant (Karloff) is dying.  Morlant believes if he dies holding an ancient sacred jewel stolen from an Egyptian temple, he will be reborn.  Morlant has the jewel wrapped in his hand and warns of harm that will befall any who interfere,  When a thief steals the jewel, Morlant returns from the dead to take his revenge.  Part of the fun for the audience is trying to determine the identity of the thief, but I was just ready for Morlant to kill ’em all.

“The Alligator People” (1959) / Z-View

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The Alligator People (1959)

Director:  Roy Del Ruth

Writers:  Orville H. Hampton (screenplay), Charles O’Neal (story), Robert M. Fresco (uncredited)

Starring:  Beverly Garland, Bruce Bennett and Lon Chaney Jr..

Tagline: Her honeymoon turned into a nightmare of horror!

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Joyce Webster (Garland) is on her honeymoon with her new husband (Bennett) when he suddenly runs away.  After years of searching the clues lead Joyce to her husband’s family estate on a secluded bayou. (Years of searching?  Wouldn’t her husband’s family be the first place she looked?)

There she meets the one-handed alcoholic Manon (Chaney) and her anti-social mother-in-law.  Manon takes Joyce around the swampy estate which is full of gators.  As Manon shoots gators, he explains years ago one took his hand and he’ll kill any alligator he can.  Joyce also learns that secret experiments are being performed on alligators.  As Joyce pries deeper she learns the horrific reason her husband ran away…

If only The Alligator People was as good as its poster.  As you can tell from the photo below, the special effects are lacking.  Sadly, at this point in his career Lon Chaney, Jr. playing an alcoholic didn’t require much acting.  If you like bad 1950s monster movies, you’ll like this.  Despite the less-than-stellar alligator make-up there are some fun scenes of Garland in peril surrounded by alligators.  There is also a fun fight between Manon with his hook hand and the alligator man.  Unfortunately, the title of the film is misleading, but I guess The Alligator Man doesn’t sound as exciting as The Alligator People.  With that said, The Alligator People earned 2 of 5 stars.

Reservoir Dogs (1992) / Z-View

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Reservoir Dogs (1992)

Director:  Quentin Tarantino

Writers:  Quentin Tarantino and Roger Avary

Starring:  Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen, Chris Penn, Steve Buscemi, Lawrence Tierney, Kirk Baltz, Edward Bunker and Quentin Tarantino.

Tagline:  Seven Killers, Six Colors and One Perfect Crime.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Six thieves, unknown to each other, are brought together by a crime boss for a jewel heist.  The robbery goes sideways from the start. Both cops, civilians and crooks are killed.  The surviving thieves meet at the rendezvous warehouse and attempt to discover the rat.

Reservoir Dogs is arguably Quentin Tarantino’s finest film.  Well written and directed with a cast up to the task.  Reservoir Dogs earns 5 of 5 stars.

“Highlander” (1986) / Z-View

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Highlander (1986)

Director:  Russell Mulcahy

Writers:  Peter Bellwood and Larry Ferguson (screenplay) from a story by Gregory Widen

Starring:  Christopher Lambert, Sean Connery, Clancy Brown, Roxanne Hart, Beatie Edney  and Jon Polito.

Tagline: There can be only one.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Highlander is an example of catching lightning in a bottle.  Everything, the director, the cast, the editing, the locations and music came together to create a fun ride.  In the wrong hands, Highlander could have crashed and burned, but the original (avoid the sequels!) takes flight.

The opening scene finds Russell Nash (Lambert) in the audience at a professional wrestling match.  While Nash could have been at any other event, picking pro wrestling sends a signal to the audience.  Professional wrestling is about bigger than life personalities who represent good and evil.  While the bad guy often seems to be bigger and stronger, good usually prevails!  Highlander follows that formula.

From the beginning of time they have walked among us.  Immortals who can only be killed by beheading. When two immortals meet they fight to the death for when there is only one left alive in the world, that immortal will receive the prize.  That time is upon us!

This is Russell Mulcahy’s finest film.  Sean Connery may have been born to play James Bond, but I cannot think of anyone who could have done a better job as Ramirez (and the two characters are vastly different).  This was Clancy Brown’s breakout role – he’s big, terrifying and perfect as Kurgan.  Christopher Lambert is the star and this is his finest role.  Queen was hired to provide one song for the film, but after seeing a rough cut wrote two more.  Honestly, I had my doubts how well Queen would work with the story, but I was wrong. The music helps make the movie so good.

If you’ve never seen Highlander, give it a go.  It’s definitely a film of the 80s, but still holds up.  Avoid the sequels.  As for the original Highlander, with me it rates 5 of 5 stars.

“Cop Land” (1997) / Z-View

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Cop Land alt poster created by Andi Ewington

Cop Land (1997)

Director:  James Mangold

Writer: James Mangold

Starring:  Sylvester Stallone, Harvey Keitel, Ray Liotta, Robert De Niro, Peter Berg, Janeane Garofalo, Robert Patrick,  Michael Rapaport, Annabella Sciorra, Noah Emmerich, Cathy Moriarty, John Spencer, Frank Vincent, Malik Yoba, Arthur J. Nascarella  and Edie Falco.

Tagline:  No One Is Above The Law.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

James Mangold brought together an all-star cast to create a modern day western.  Freddy Heflin (Stallone) is the Sherriff of Garrison, New Jersey.  Garrison is a small town where a high percentage of the folks who live there are New York City police officers.  They work in the city and then drive over the bridge to their nice safe little town.  Most residents don’t know that a small group of the cops living in Garrison have mob connections.

Freddy Heflin always wanted to be a New York City cop, but hearing loss in one ear made him un-hirable. Hefflin owes his job as Sherriff of Garrison to Ray Donlan (Keitel). Heflin admires Donlan and the New York cops that live in Garrison.  They have a  camaraderie that he wants to be part of.

An Internal Affairs investigation involving Ray Donlan and several other police officers leads to Garrison, Although Heflin doubts the legitimacy of the complaints, he later discovers the concerns are legit and the corruption goes much deeper than anyone knew.   Heflin wants to do the right thing but finds himself alone and outgunned.

When you look at the cast that Mangold brought together for this relatively low budget film, you know it goes back to the screenplay.  Mangold created a rich story with multiple characters, all having an integral part in the tale.  Many folks who thought Rocky was Stallone and doubted his acting ability were surprised to see him hold his own against heavyweights like De Niro and Keitel.  Ray Liotta also shines in his role as Freddy’s lone cop friend who is intent on getting out of Garrison.

Cop Land is a film that gets better with every viewing.  I loved it and rate it 5 of 5 stars.

“The Northman” Red Band Trailer is Here!

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The Northman red band trailer is below.  Heads will roll.

From visionary director Robert Eggers comes THE NORTHMAN, an action-filled epic that follows a young Viking prince on his quest to avenge his father’s murder. With an all-star cast that includes Alexander Skarsgård, Nicole Kidman, Claes Bang, Anya Taylor-Joy, Ethan Hawke, Björk, and Willem Dafoe.

“Corrective Measures” Starring Michael Rooker and Bruce Willis – The Trailer is Here!

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Below is the trailer for Corrective Measures starring Michael Rooker and Bruce Willis.  With the recent news about Bruce Willis’ health, watching this will be bittersweet.

CORRECTIVE MEASURES takes place at San Tiburon, an Ubermax prison hidden in the Great Northwest, resided by monsters, cyborgs and supervillains, all equipped with 24-hour power inhibitors and shock-collars. The overseer, Warden Devlin (Michael Rooker, “Suicide Squad”) is as corrupt as his charges. His sole interest is in getting his hands on Julius Loeb’s (Bruce Willis, “Die Hard”) untraceable fortune. But Julius Lobe, AKA “The Lobe,” is the most notorious prisoner, and a super genius who may not be so willing to part with his riches. The already fragile peace of the prison descends into chaos with the arrival of Payback (Dan Payne, “Watchmen”), a murderous vigilante with red intentions, and Diego Diaz (Brennan Mejia, “Power Rangers”), a driver on a trumped-up sentence. As tensions between the inmates and staff heighten, “The Conductor” (Tom Cavanagh, “The Flash”) sends shocks through the prison system and order is officially turned upside down. CORRECTIVE MEASURES is the story of an everyman’s journey into darkness. The film also stars Kat Ruston (“The 100”), Kevin Zegers (“Rebel”), and Hayley Sales (“Deadpool 2”).

“Jaws” by Alistair Little and “The Creature from the Black Lagoon” by Vance Kelly!

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Today at noon, Bottleneck Art Gallery will release two new prints.  The one above is the Jaws print by Alistair Little and the second is The Creature from the Black Lagoon by Vance Kelly.  You can click on the art above and below to see bigger versions.  Click over to Bottleneck Art Gallery for details if you’re interested in either (or both)!

“Ecco” – The Poster and Trailer are Here!

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The poster and trailer for Ecco are here.  The poster gets an “A” for effort, but falls a bit short of making me want to know more.  The trailer on the other hand does the job.  I’ll keep an eye out for Ecco.

ECCO is available on digital May 17th, 2022!

Michael is a ghost. Living in the shadows with his new family, years away from his former life as a nomadic, covert assassin. His peace and anonymity are shattered when his old employers return to bury their last surviving operative. With his truth exposed, Michael must protect his family and pursue his only chance at redemption when he hunts those behind the organization where all his sins were born.