No Capes Here

Abar, The First Black Superman (1977)
Dir - Frank Packard

I honestly don't remember too much about this one. That's what I get for waiting weeks before entering it in this blog. Sigh.

However, there is some pretty atrocious acting (especially with the kids) and there is little-to-no attempt at masking the "message" of the film. Two outstanding moments have to do with one of the kids calling the other a "watusi wobbler", whatever the fuck that is, and the other is the shocking revelation at the very end of the film. Speechless.

Into the Blue

The Return of Captain Invincible (1984)
Dir - Philippe Mora

Since we had technical difficulties with our Weird Wednesday selection Micah suggested this early 80s superhero comedy starring Alan Arkin and Christopher Lee. It was quite fun, funny in parts and turned out to also be a musical! Some of the songs sounded very Shock Treatment-esque and when the credits roll it's because Richard O'Brien and Richard Hartely, the guys behind ST and The Rocky Horror Picture Show, did a few of them. Actually the best songs were theirs. I must find a soundtrack somewhere... or I'll just make one myself.

Rockin' in the Woods

Hard Rock Nightmare (1988)
Dir - Dominick Brascia

Watched this VHS on our Horror Movie Night BYE week and was very pleased. I love any kind of heavy metal horror as it is but this has some great tunes and a keyboard player who openly admits to idolizing Paul Schaffer - not very metal. Some great kills, one of which I modified and added some text to create an anti-drug PSA. Take a look...

Pimps and Hoes

Truck Turner (1974)
Dir - Jonathan Kaplan
Weird Wednesday

A classic blaxploitation I had yet to see and now it will probably become one of my favorites. Isaac Hayes is fantastic in the lead role and it's a very different way to see Star Trek's Nichelle Nichols. Some great action, an incredible death scene and some hysterical pimp outfits.

Let's All Go to the Lobby

Popcorn (1991)
Dir - Mark Herrier
Horror Movie Night

I love this movie! It's a horror flick for fans of not only the genre but old theaters and the age of showmanship lead by William Castle. There might be a low body count but the make-up FX are fantastic!

Full review next week on Gordon and the Whale.

Holy Tomatoes!

TerrorVision (1986)
Dir - Ted Nicolau
Tuesday Night Trash

This is a film that I've seen a few times before and love. It's goofy and fun with a very cool designed monster and Jon Gries as a metalhead! What had me out to see it on this night was the first of a new series at the Texas Theatre called Tuesday Night Trash. They are going to show older, off the beaten path films along with other assorted oddities.

For the inaugural film it kicked off with an odd "short film" by a local Dallas guy who goes by the name George Quartz. I'm not too sure how to feel about this, I really enjoyed parts of it but overall wasn't too impressed. Quartz, I believe, has something to do with the programming of TNT so that would explain why they showed this. If you want to see it for yourself it's here on Vimeo.

The features are supposed be shown on their original format and for TerrorVision that meant a VHS screening. This was a pretty poor tape as the image looked over saturated and the sound was very muffled. Not sure if it was a bad copy or projection problems. I will give the venue the benefit of the doubt.

Not sure how many of the TNT screenings I'll be able to make it to, since my Tuesdays are usually booked, but I'll try to go again. Next one is on July 5th and they're showing Necropolis, which I've never seen.

Banjo Pluckin' Fun

Hooch (1977)
Dir - Edward Mann
Weird Wednesday

A fun little southern tale about moonshiners who must deal with some east coast Italian mafia types. The VHS Micah has was a former rental and the box has this listed as an action, but it's far from high on in that. There is an extended hoedown scene that ends with sugar pouring out of the ceiling - probably my favorite moment. Danny Aiello is in this and looks stylish in his very awesome outfit of a football jersey tucked into very short cut-off jean shorts and flip flops. Sexy! IMDb has a very small section of the cast listed and it's a shame that my favorite character, the bearded old timer shiner, isn't even on there, even though he's one of the main characters. Everyone should know his name and find films featuring his badassness - William T. Hicks!

Sergei Loves ALL Women

The Final Sanction (1990)
Dir - David Prior
BTSNAT 2.5

Movie number five came from our participant from the farthest away, Jay (@sleestakk), who flew down from Chicago for our marathon. Awesome! He brought this little gem on VHS featuring the action chops of Ted Prior against Robert Z'Dar (Maniac Cop) in a one-on-one battle to the death for their respective countries - those being USA and Russia respectively. Why? Who the hell knows?! For these guys being such "great soldiers" neither one of them can aim a gun for shit. Ted has plenty of time to lay on the charm and show off his chiseled physique and that's what he does best.

Bonus Fun Fact: This is the third David and Ted Prior film I've watched in the past two-and-a-half weeks. The others are Sledgehammer and Aerobicide.

But How Do You Feel About Raisins?

Psychos in Love (1987)
Dir - Gorman Bechard

Very fun and self-aware horror comedy that was filmed especially for the home video market. Things get quite silly and a little long at times but it always brings back the laughs. There are also numerous, identical, tirades about how much the main characters hate grapes. Never knew someone had such strong feelings about fruit. Great fun!

Don't Mess with My Wednesdays!

Snakes (1974) aka Fangs
Dir - Art Names
Weird Wednesday

So this is a Weird Wednesday favorite at the Drafthouse in Austin and it is only fitting they show it for the 10th anniversary of the program. This is very special with a bunch of hot snake action. It's a blend of snakesploitation, hicksploitation and, as my buddy dubbed it, Sousasploitation! I have never heard so much love for the march man John Philip Sousa as I did in this film. Bonus points for having the actress who played Large Marge in Pee Wee's Big Adventure in this as an odd lesbian general store owner in love with the 4th grade teacher.

Watch Out for those Tomatoes

The Curse (1987)
Dir - David Keith
Horror Movie Night

Semi-faithful Lovecraft adaptation with Wil Wheaton, one of the Dukes of Hazzard and maggot filled apples. Really liked how a character just disappears and how everyone treats a ~8 foot in diameter glowing meteorite like it's no big deal. Guess that's what Tennesseans did in the 80s.

My full thoughts will be on Gordon and the Whale next Wednesday!

Paging Dr. Howard...

Young Doctors in Love (1982)
Dir - Garry Marshall

This was picked from the massive stack of VHS Reel Distraction has at his place. It is an early 80s spoof comedy on the hospital drama in the vein of Airplane!, but it doesn't really reach the gut-busting levels of its predecessors. At times there are some very funny moments it's pretty uneven and too middle-of-the-road to bring the real laughs. One are where it really excels is with the cast. Michael McKean, Ted McGinley, Michael Richards, Harry Dean Stanton, Richard Dean Anderson, Taylor Negron and many more make up this VERY impressive cast. I just wish there would have been more crazy, over-the-top comedy moments.