La Muerte Incierta (Jose Ramon Larraz ,1973) - trailer

La Muerte Incierta (José Ramón Larraz) - Funny bloopers R us

Another movie that was believed to be lost but isn't. However, as of now it makes no difference as it's still unreleased. Boo-hoo! Would love to see it.

You seem to mind your own business ... but you don't miss a thing

I watched Joe D'Amato's DURI A MORIRE (aka Tough to Kill/Dødspatruljen) last night on a wobbly Greek VHS. Great stuff indeed! Why isn't this out on a proper DVD!?!? There is a reg. 1 DVD out but it's got fake lbx. The trailer I'm posting here is a rare one from a Danish VHS. It's a really cool trailer that I must have watched 10 times. Thanks to Diabolik for the upload.

The confusing Turkish / Italian SUPERGUYS series

There's THE FLYING SUPERBOY film, and there's the SUPERGUYS series, and then there's the 3 FANTASTIC SUPERMEN films ... have you ever tossed and turned because you couldn't quite make the connection between the dots? No need to worry any longer! My friend Henrik Larsen, supreme editor of OBSKURIØST magazine, spent some time sorting out these films a while back and this is the info he came up with:

Henrik reckons THE FLYING SUPERBOY isn't a stand alone film but is related to the THREE SUPERGUYS series as Robert Widmark plays the same kind of character as in that series:

There are three official SUPERGUYS films + two unofficial entries. The first unofficial film precedes the series (and do notice that via the German title the film is actually related to the series on the German market! "Teufelskerle" = Superguys)

1. ZWEI TEUFELSKERLE AUF DEM WEG ZUR GRÜNEN HÖLLE (1974). Aka AMAZONS FOR TWO ADVENTURERS
-No Turkish involvement but Ernst Hofbauer who co-directed the film also co-directed the three official films. And "Robert Widmark" and Wolf Goldan play almost the same characters as they do in the first Superguys film. Widmark is in ALL the films so there's a connection.

2. ZWEI TEUFELSKERLE AUF DEM WEG INS KLOSTER (1975). Aka THE THREE SUPERGUYS
-German-Turkish production. Hofbauer is co-director and Widmark & Goldan play the main-characters.

3. THE FLYING SUPERBOY (1975) aka BAS BELASI
-Turkish production. Widmark plays the same kind of character again.

4. ZWEI TEUFELSKERLE AUF DEM WEG NACH ISTANBUL (1976). Aka THE THREE SUPERGUYS STRIKE AGAIN
-Cuneyt Arkin is in this one.

5. DREI TEUFELSKERLE MACHEN ALLES NIEDER (1977). Aka THREE SUPERGUYS IN THE SNOW


- Arkin was also in one of the THREE FANTASTIC SUPERMEN films (SUPERMENLER/3 SUPERMEN AGAINST GODFATHER) but other than that there's no connection between the two series.

aka Three Superguys in the Snow

German trailer for THE THREE SUPERGUYS STRIKE AGAIN:






Thanks to Henrik Larsen for the info and to the nice members of Cinehound forum whose cover scans I used.

Darkness befell the land

...or at least my computer!

I've been off line for two days... and I'm STILL off line... as my computer has decided to switch off and now all I can get is a dark screen with a line that says the computer is missing some abbreviation which I don't know what is and that I need to re-boot with my cd boot disc. My computer is a laptop ... one of those that come WITHOUT a bloody cd boot disc!!! I'm on someone else's computer and won't be online until I figure out what the hell is wrong with it and what to do about it. I've got 2 billion tons of stuff on that computer I SOOO do not wanna lose. Later (maybe!!!)

The Knife (featuring Jenny Wilson) - "You Take my Breath Away"

This is the fabulous Swedish indie band THE KNIFE. On this track they're joined by guest vocalist Jenny Wilson (on the right). I quite like this. :D

"Love can be weird"

I was transferring an old video tape to dvd-r the other night, it was an episode of Jonathan Ross' "For One Week Only" show that I taped from Channel 4 (England) a long time ago. At one point in the programme Nicolas Cages says, "You heard it here, Nicolas Cage said it: love can be weird!" Yeah, how true. Tonight during my travels thru Cyberspace I stumbled over the above video clip. Somewhere in some lurid back corner of the world wide web there's this guy who digs up women on skid row and asks them about their situation. It's not an honourable documentary show made to draw everyone's attention to poor women in order to help them mind you. I believe the camera guy is as far down in the sewage as they are. He's probably just not fucked up on drugs. So why watch it? It's a (brief) journey into a world some of us are far from. Is it psychotronic trash? I guess, yes. Is it entertainment? No, but interesting none the less. The moment where the camera pans over the empty book shelves and the camera guy laconic comments, "Your invisible dolls, huh" puts it all in perspective. And if it doesn't wait till he comments on the sheets.

PS: Don't watch if you're prudish.


NB: the site where the video is stored is a commercial one so there may be a spam page popping up when you click "play". Just close it like any regular page.

New German BIONIC BOY dvd is a bootleg

A little while ago I posted about what I called a new official DVD release of BIONIC BOY & DYNAMITE JOHNSON from Germany. Unfortunately, Bobby A. Suarez' son, Roberto S. Suarez II, informed me that the DVD is a bootleg!


Roberto S. Suarez II:

Dear Jack,

Thank you for your continued interest on my late father's movies. I have read in some thread about your fascination for his films. However, I believe that the DVD release of the two Bionic Boy movie is coming from an illegal source. Sad to say but as far as we are concerned the only territory that there is a legal right to sell Dynamite Johnson is MPI/Dark Sky Films who currently owns the North American territory for the said movie. Bionic Boy part 1 is owned by Intercontinental films.

------------------------------------------

That's too bad. Fred Anderson of Ninja Dixon blog has bought the DVD and he tells me the films look like they've come from a Beta-master and are presented in non anamorphic widescreen.

Too bad the company were too greedy to pay the copyright fee (probably not very much) to issue a legit release.

Thanks to Roberto for the info.

The Velvet Underground - Under Review

Aka The Velvet Underground - Vanishing Point
Dir: Tom Barber

I watched the documentary film THE VELVET UNDERGROUND - UNDER REVIEW (oddly enough retitled The Velvet Underground - Vanishing Point) tonight. I knew nothing about the film other that it existed and actually I only discovered it by chance on Amazon UK the other day. When someone in the comments' section said something along the lines of it being "The VU film to end all VU films" I felt it was of the utmost importance that I order it right away! ^_^

The film runs 85 and I must admit it is pretty good! It goes in deep and covers in detail the band's very early period around the "Banana Record" and in fact covers their entire life span - except for the period around the last record which is a bummer is you ask me. I know close to nothing about that part and to me stuff like that would have been interesting to dig into; it's an obscure period (both John Cale and Lou Reed had gone by that time) as it's basically uncharted waters. Everyone just wanna talk about the Reed/Cale/Nico period. Oh well, some other time, some other documentary film I guess (if I were a docu film maker I would make a film ONLY about that last record. LOL).

Cale and Reed are nowhere to be seen but Maureen Tucker is here and that's good enough. Doug Yule who replaced John Cale and later took up singing on the last record (after Lou Reed left) is also interviewed in great detail. One aspect of the film that I really like (as in REALLY REALLY like!!) is that the director avoided having other contemporary big-shots blabber about how "awesome" the VU were. Most rock documentary directors usually make sure to include at least a handful of comments from "celebs". I'm sure Tom Barber could have had the singer from Pearl Jam or Kid Rock tell us how much the VU means to them. Thank gawd he stirred away from that.

Both versions are available from Amazon UK and according to customer comments the two DVDs carry the exact same contents including extras. The Vanishing Point version is the cheaper one and it has a better cover (if you ask me). Go here: Vanishing Point and Under Review.

CritCon's FRED ADELMAN dies

A number of the reviews I've used on my other site "When the Vietnam War raged... in the Philippines" were written by FRED ADELMAN. Originally Fred wrote them for his long-running on-line zine/review site CRITICAL CONDITION but Fred always said I could pick and choose whatever reviews I wanted from his site and use them there. Fred said that the more people who discovered these films the better. And I couldn't agree more.

Unfortunately, there won't be any new reviews. Yesterday, I learnt that Fred passed away last month. I knew Fred was ill, in fact almost two years ago he told me he suffered from a terminal illness. And yet you still don't expect these things to happen. People you know aren't supposed to die. This is sad beyond belief.

Fred watched many action and horror moves but in contradiction to so many other genre film fans Fred also seeked out his thrills in "unusual" territories. He had discovered the Filipino films long before I did. I mean a loooong time before I did! On his site he made a special section dedicated to Cirio H. Santiago film. Fred's reviews have always been thoroughly written and full of detailed info.

Yes, this site is all about violent movies but it still doesn't prepare you for the harsh realities. Before he got ill Fred was in law enforcement; he was a crime scene investigator and a few years ago I asked him about his thoughts on these violent Filipino war movies; He said there was no connection. These films aren't real, he said. I remember he said that if the smell of blood would be something you could actually smell when you watch a gory film then most people would stop watching them because it's simply a disgusting smell. But, anyhow, that was then. This is now, and now Fred isn't here any more.

I never met Fred in person as I live across a big ocean from where he was but I knew him for a long time thru Dvdmaniacs film forum and later via Facebook. Anybody who got into a verbal fight with Fred soon discovered he was a hard-ass. He took no prisoners. But if you were his buddy he was the nicest guy around. One time he sent me a pile of rare Filipino and Indo films on DVD-R and asked nothing in return. Fred's zine Critical Condition (CritCon for short) ran from the early 80s and all the way until he passed away (originally as a real print zine and later as an on-line review site). It's highly recommended. But, of course, looking at it now is sad. It's all Fred. And Fred isn't here anymore.

Rest in piece, my friend.


Also check Andy Copp's good post about Fred here.

Black Cat is a many spendoured thing in many different shapes and forms

I've just won two different versions of Stephen Shin's cool Hong Kong film BLACK CAT from 1991. The very first time I watched the movie was at a Chinetown cinema in Melbourne in the early to mid 1990s. Needless to say, I loved it right away and still do.

As I'm sure you know it's a remake of Luc Besson's French movie NIKITA. It was also remade in the US as an okay film and then later also as an awful TV series and I believe they've even made yet a new (different) TV series, also in the US. I love the French movie but I actually think the HK remake is the better film!

In contradiction to the original film the HK movie spawned no less than three sequels. When I initially got the film on home cinema format it was a 3rd or 4th generation VHS dupe off a Mandarin dubbed print. It was problematic as some of the scenes in the original Cantonese print are spoken in English (these scenes don't have English subs); In the Mandarin dub they dubbed both the Cantonese and English scenes into Mandarin but obviously didn't provide English subs for the now non English spoken scenes (since it was for the Chinese Mandarin market).

Later I got hold of a VHS dupe off the Dutch video tape (dubbed entirely into English) and it's this tape that I've now won an original copy of. Winning bid: 99 pence!! (i.e. one dollar and 53 cents!!). The second version that I won is the HK laserdisc. xD

The first time I actually bought an original release was in the early 2000s when I bought a VCD from a second-hand video store in Copenhagen; Someone has handed in a box of HK films on VCD. They weren't HK VCDs mind you and to this day I still have no idea as to where they were released. China or Taiwan probably. There's no English text or titles on the cases and some of them had crappy quality. I remember showing the BLACK CAT VCD to a couple of friends at a video night shortly after and towards the end of the film the bloody VCD just froze and despite several attempts it wouldn't finish. Terrible! Haha.

Obviously BLACK CAT is easy to get on DVD nowadays but it's fun to collect these different releases.

PS: I linked to the HKMDB in the above but it's merely so you can check the film's info, who's in it, etc. I'll advise you not to wast time reading their reviews, unless you want a good laugh. I love the HKMDB for their film info but it seems to me most of them don't actually like HK movies at all. Very strange when you consider it's a HK film data base!! 99% of the reviews of BLACK CAT are 100% negative. I mean... they're so negative it's to the point of being ridiculously funny. Why do they even bother to watch HK films when they obviously don't like them. This isn't a response spurred by this one movie, it's something I've notice for quite some time.

Probably he funnies of these almost aggressively negative reviews:

Embarrassing to watch. This movie doesn't seem like much more than an opportunity for the camera to drool over Jade Leung. We get lots of running shots for maximum jiggle, there's a wet t-shirt scene when she's inexplicably sprayed down by a fire hose even though she's changed to the wall, there's the full backal nudity, and of course the whole thing is shot through with her being sadistically beaten. It's like some thirteen year old boy's wet dream.

And for what? A boring movie that leaves logic on the cutting room floor. I watched this for the first time several years ago and thought it was bad. I decided to give it a second chance last night. My mistake. They should bury this in a cave in one of those mountains next to Manhattan.

Oh Pam

Here's an unlisted YouTube clip from Shout! Factory from their new DVD release of THE ARENA which stars Pam Grier! Niiice!! The film is part of Shout's LETHAL LADIES Vol. 2 set, the other two films are Cirio H. Santiago's rarely seen COVER GIRL MODELS and FLY ME. I cry every morning when I discover I still haven't received the box from Amazon. :(

Bionic Boy and Dynamite Johnson finally on dvd!

Well, I ought to say they are finally on DVD again as they are already on DVD in South Africa but those two DVDs are long out of print and are very hard to get by now.

However, I've just been informed that the Bobby A. Suaerz produced BIONIC BOY and DYNAMITE JOHNSON (aka Bionic Boy 2) have been released on a single DVD in Germany (under the title Superboy 1 & 2) and (according to Amazon.de) luckily both films carry the English dub! And they are letterboxed!

I have no info on picture quality but seeing as the South African DVDs were pretty rough looking (direct off film prints and no care taken in regards to make the transfers look their best) chances are this DVD is gonna make the films look better than what they have before on home cinema format. If and when I get more info on the quality I'll be sure to post it here.

The Amazon Germany price is 21 euros + postage but some of the marketplace sellers sell them at around 10 euros. Amazon Germany do ship outside of Germany, some of the marketplace sellers do and some don't (like with all Amazon branches). Check the DVD here.


Thanks to Marc C. of dvdmaniacs forum for the info!!!

Sally Yeh's forgotten cannibal movie

I watched Cheuk Ang-Tong's MARIANNA tonight. It's a HK horror movie from 1982 mostly shot in the Philippines. One of the two female leads is played by Sally Yeh (whose most famous role is probably John Woo's THE KILLER). Yeh's character's husband goes to the Philippines on a business journy and "bumps" into a Filipino girl who's seemingly wanted by everyone; two tribes of blood thirsty savages and a horde of cannibal zombies are out to get her. There's tons of cool stuff and heaps of gore. I was highly entertained. The film is only released on a very rare HK VCD. The dialogue is a mix of Cantonese, Tagalog, and English (Mandarin is optional instead of Canto). The VCD has Chinese and English subs. Watch it if you can find it! Oh, the ending is terrible by the way, haha

Arrow Argento Neo Giallo Box

I got the Arrow Argento Neo Collection box yesterday which contains 4 films. The Opera (aka Terror at the Opera) case contains the original 2-disc release so that's very cool! And further more it contains all three dubs of the film, Italian original audio, the original English dub, and the redubbed English dub. Denmark was one of the few countries were the US edit of the film was released originally on VHS (but not to any Argento's fans liking of course). Orion sat on the original cut for years and didn't wanna release it. Bastards.


The contents (lifted from Amazon UK):

NEO GIALLO COLLECTION SPECIAL FEATURES:

4 of Dario Argento s late Giallo works collected in this exclusive boxset
9 option reversible sleeves of original and newly commissioned artworks!
4 double-sided fold-out posters with newly commissioned artwork for each film
A host of extras for every film including Making ofs, trailers, booklets by Alan Jones (author of Profondo Argento ) and more!
TERROR AT THE OPERA SPECIAL FEATURES

Reversible sleeve with original and newly commissioned artwork
Double-sided fold-out poster
Booklet by Alan Jones
Dario Argento Filmography & Biography
Terror s Photo Album
Opera by Deamonia Music Video
The Complete Dario Argento trailer gallery [18 films]
International Version with choice of original Italian 5.1/Stereo soundtrack & English audio
US edit feature with choice of original track or Cannes Dub audio
US Trailer
International Trailer
Top 6 Gore Scenes menu
THE STENDHAL SYNDROME SPECIAL FEATURES

Reversible sleeve with original and newly commissioned artwork
Double-sided fold-out poster
Booklet by Alan Jones
The Complete Dario Argento trailer gallery [18 films]
Original Theatrical Trailer
Choice of original Italian & English audio
SLEEPLESS SPECIAL FEATURES

Reversible sleeve with original and newly commissioned artwork
Double-sided fold-out poster
Murder, Madness and Mutilation: Sleepless and the Modern Italian Giallo
The Making of Sleepless
Trailer
Photo Gallery
Press Kit [ROM Content]
THE CARD PLAYER SPECIAL FEATURES

Reversible sleeve with original and newly commissioned artwork
Double-sided fold-out poster
Booklet by Alan Jones
The Making of The Card Player
The Complete Dario Argento trailer gallery [18 films]
Original Trailer
Choice of original Italian & English audio

the fast lane

I'm visiting my dad and I'd brought the usual pile of cool DVDs with me (one being Arrow's 2 disc release of Argont's OPERA which I recieved today as part of an Arrow Argento box with four films, and another being the original version of THE WOMAN IN BLACK). However, when I sat down and turned on the telly some *lame* mainstream movie called JANE AUSTEN BOOK CLUB had just begun on Swedish TV and I must admit got sucked into it. It was actually really good, all about, uhh, relationships between people and not a gun shop in sight. No messed up people either (like, in a criminal or mental way). And then I checked Swedish TV's teletext service and discovered they were going to show DONNIE DARKO right after - so yeah I stayed on the channel for a few hours. I've known about DARKO since it came out but altho it's been on TV quite a few times, and altho I've watched bits and pieces every times it's been on, I've never actually watched the whole movie. Well, I finally managed to do so and gee wauw what a dark og weird movie. In a good way, mind you. Oh, and I wasn't left completely without reference to "our" films as at one point in the film the main character goes to a screening of THE EVIL DEAD. What else? Hmm, we had kartoffelbåde and spicy chicken wings for dinner, and earlier today I received my new MASTODON cd. I've never bought any of their records before but I taped a live gig from TV the other night and it was really good. It was recorded last year at the Roskilde Festival in Denmark. One of the guitar players wore a lumberjack shirt. I don't think I've seen bands wear those since TAD or some such grunge band in the 90s. Oh, and I also went and got my income tax sorted out. The bastards wanted me to pay for of extra income that I don't actually get (since I'm on the dole once again). I'm also doing a mandatory job course at the local jobcentre. I got up late today (as I'd only slept four hours) and missed breakfast and had to run like a spassy to catch the bus. It's 3 in the morning and I really ought to go to bed. I haven't written much here for a while, sorry 'bout that. Everybody writes blogs or websites these days and I have a feeling no one reads it. Oh well. Who cares.

Scorpius Gigantus!!!

Does this look like the best film ever made?? You betcha! ^_^

"Sons of Hank Williams"

... Cool documentary about the new breed of punky country musicians who go against the commercial country music. From TV in Denmark, in English except for a 30 second introduction. In three parts. 30 min. . . Thanks to Member-X!

Sexy stewardesses and crappy kung fu!! Whoo-hoo!!!

Trailer for Cirio H. Santiago's FLY ME is now on YouTube. Sure it a short one, but never the less a sweet one! xD

I can't believe this is finally being released! As I've mentioned before, I'm only aware of two video releases and they're more rare than getting laid at a dike slumber party!!! (to coin an old Damon Foster joke from Oriental Cinema). And on top of that Shout! had decided NOT to release the film cos their print is too worn for their liking but it was the only print they had and fans (me being one!) kept bugging them about it. I have no idea if fan barracking helped but it's coming out now anyway. Whoo-hoo!! I can certainly live with the film looking like it was shot on celluloid (not everything has to look like it was shot on video if ya catch my drift. LOL).

The Etruscan Kills Again - trailer

From Danish Ex-rental VHS Appreciation Group which you ought to check out for awesome Danish video covers! Go here (it's open to everyone but you'll need a Facebook account to see the page. Yeah, a pest!).

Love Taiwan!

Gee whiz!! One of my fave Hong Kong "girls with guns" flicks is KILLER ANGELS (starring Moon Lee). Unfortunately, it's never been released on HK DVD, VHS, LD, or VCD with English subtitles. Actually it's never been released on HK DVD at all, and if there are video tapes or a laserdisc releases I have certainly never come across them. All I've been able to find is an un-subbed VCD and an English dubbed American VHS (which I only have a bootleg off). I must have watched that VCD 15 times as it's such an entertaining movie. HOWEVER... last night... I stumbled over a DVD release from Taiwan... that says it has English subtitles!! Fucken brilliant!! I ordered it right away. It's from a well known eBay seller in HK (and he's got more copies if you want one!). It's listed as letterboxed and dubbed in Mandarin. I also bought MAD MAD GHOST (also on Taiwan DVD) and VAMPIRE KIDS (on HK DVD). Niice!