You may wonder — how is a remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers by Abel Ferrara, the director of Driller Killer and Ms. 45 any good? It’s great, helped by a tense script by Nicholas St. John (who worked with Ferrara on nine movies), Stuart Gordon (Re-animator) and Dennis Paoli (Castle Freak). Yes, this is the third adaption of Jack Finney’s book, but each of the three films have their own reasons for existing and reasons that I enjoy them.
This movie disappeared from theaters, despite a four star review from Roger Ebert. Warner Brothers originally scheduled the film for release in October 1992, but when they saw so many serious horror films coming out, they released Innocent Blood instead and dumped this in theaters in January.
Unlike the other versions, it takes place on a military base and puts Gabrielle Anwar’s young character against the aliens, which are violently shown taking over human bodies, including her stepmother Carol (Meg Tilly), father (Terry Kinney) and most of the base, including commanding officer R. Lee Emery. Forest Whitaker and Christine Elise (Child’s Play 2) also have short roles that they really make the most out of.
This is somehow an even darker version than the 70’s remake, which is pretty much as nihilistic as it gets. The budget is obviously lower and the FX are much grosser, so it feels like it fits into the early 90’s pre-CGI direct to video space quite well.
Ed Gale played both Chuckie and Dolly Dearest. Knowing this fact has not helped me at all in my life, but perhaps it will bring better fortune to you.
Americans Elliot and Marilyn Wade (Sam Bottoms and Denise Crosby) take their kids Jessica and Jimmy (Candace Huston and Chris Demetral) to Mexico where father is about to run the doll factory, because that’s how things go in 1990’s direct to video — yes, it played one small theater run — movies.
Jessica soon bonds with Dolly Dearest and accidents start claiming the lives of everyone in the house. This is the kind of movie where an entire doll factory must be blown up to protect a child. That would be the type of movie that I completely endorse.
I’m also totally for any movie that features Rip Torn as an archaeologist who just spews exposition.
Dolly Dearest was directed by Maria Lease, who went from acting in movies like Love Camp 7 and Dracula vs. Frankenstein to being a script supervisor, editor, writer and director.
This movie is completely ridiculous, like some strange mash-up of Demonoid with Child’s Play. That’s the kind of magical thinking that we need more of.
There isn’t a person reading this review who didn’t experience the childhood fear of monsters under the bed or in closets. And if you’re reading this review, you could probably rattle off quite a few films about monsters under the bed, in closets, or under the stairs. Probably even a few evil doll or Teddy Bear flicks.
That childhood fear and anxiety of confronting what lurks in those shadows—not just of the supernatural, but in one’s youthful reality—is at the core of this old school horror tale. And when we say old school, we mean ‘60s Hammer Studios and not ‘80s slasher blood-spatter.
Pete is your garden variety geek who moves into a new neighborhood and is besieged by bullies while he pines for the fawn-eyed girl with sun-browned hair next door. He finds an unlikely ally in a faceless monster residing in his new home that threatens to kill him and his aunt if he isn’t in bed every night by sundown.
One you consider this Ohio-shot ultra-low budget indie by Ben Rood was self-financed and produced at a cost of $40,000 over a three-year period courtesy of the filmmaker’s dual income as a part-time employee as a furniture mover and firefighter, you’re willing to overlook to usual cinematic faux pas that come with first time films made without studio backing. You know how we root for the self-made filmmaker at B&S About Movies, with guys like Andy Milligan (Guru the Mad Monk) and Don Dohler (Nightbeast). Rood shows that same inventiveness and promise (but with a greater skillset than Milligan and Dohler) with Don’t Run. So, it’s a given that with an extra zero in the budget, we’ll be seeing more from him at B&S About Movies.
“This film’s story—my story—is not just about the plane crash but also about my personal relationship with the genius that was Ronnie Van Zant—whom I loved like a brother and still miss to this day.” — Artimus Pyle
While much has been said about Southern Rock legends Lynyrd Skynyrd over the years through several documentaries, this drama’s period-correct costuming by Lisa Norcia and set design by Eve McCarney—in conjunction with strong performances by its cast of unknown actors—will bring fans something extra beyond those “talking head” chronicles. In fact, being “inside” the plane and seeing it unfold—instead of being told what happened—is an emotionally tough watch (brought to fruition by an extremely well-executed CGI effect).
Ian Michael Shultis, an ex-EFL football player for Germany’s Furstenfeldbruck Razorbacks, shines in his leading man debut: his role as Artimus Pyle is just the beginning of a long career. The multi-talented Taylor Clift as Ronnie Van Zant — who does his own vocals on the classics “Free Bird,” “Call Me The Breeze,” and “Sweet Home Alabama” — also has a bright future ahead of him. And keep your eyes open for ex-Rough Cutt, Quiet Riot, and Dokken bassist Sean McNabb in his small but effective role as ’70s iconic impresario David Krebs (Aerosmith, Ted Nugent, Scorpions); here’s to hoping he scores himself some larger roles as well (he’s been part of FOX-TV’s Sons of Anarchy franchise).
This long-gestating rock bioflick (stymied by lawsuits; see this article at Ultimate Classic Rock) recreates the ill-fated October 20, 1977, crash in the swamps of Mississippi through the eyes of former Lynyrd Skynyrd drummer Artimus Pyle (who narrates the film via vignettes). Following a concert at the Greenville Memorial Auditorium in Greenville, South Carolina, the band boarded a two-prop plane bound for Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where they were scheduled to appear at LSU the following night. (The crash came just three days after the release of their fifth album, Street Survivors.) Pyle not only survived the crash that claimed the life of the band’s founder and frontman Ronnie Van Zant (along with guitarist Steve Gaines and his sister, back-up singer Cassie Gaines), he also physically pulled the remaining survivors out of the wreckage before staggering towards the nearest farmhouse to seek help.
The aftermath of the crash is typical of the rock ‘n’ roll business: Artimus joined the band upon the recording of their third album and wasn’t “under contract” with the record company—thus, Pyle was responsible for his own medical bills. And when the FAA discovered “drugs” (proved to be vials of legal ginseng extract) in Pyle’s recovered luggage, they called in the DEA and threatened to charge Pyle with drug trafficking.
Only in the corporate meat grinder that is the music business.
You can get your copy of Street Survivors on Blu-ray, DVD, and VOD formats on June 30 and pre-order copies though the MVD Entertainment Group. In addition, Cleopatra Records is releasing a standalone official film soundtrack (performed by Artimus and his sons Marshall and Chris). Cleopatra also released Verotika, the feature film writing and directing debut by Glenn Danzig.
Update: August 2021: We’ve since reviewed Cohn’s ventures into the CGI shark-verse with Shark Season (2020) and Swim (2021). Both are fun water romps.
About the Author: You can read the music and film reviews of R.D Francis on Medium and learn more about his work on Facebook. He also writes for B&S About Movies.
Neil Jordan has flirted with horror throughout his career, with movies like High Spirits, Interview With a Vampire and The Company of Wolves. This film is closer to psychological horror, with a mother feeling a psychic connection to a serial killer of young children. If it had more fashion in it, it could very nearly be a giallo.
Claire Cooper (Annette Benning) is an illustrator and mother who keeps dreaming if an underwater city and the murder of a young girl, which just might be a premonition of the sudden disappearance and death of her daughter Rebecca. The police won’t listen when she starts to grow mentally closer to the man she believes has killer her girl, Vivian Thompson (Robert Downey Jr.).
This movie is based on the book Doll’s Eyes by Bari Wood. The same author also wrote Twins, the book that David Cronenberg adapted as Dead Ringers.
I love the underwater city parts of this movie — shot in the same tank as Titanic — and the total downer of an ending. The difference between an artist like Jordan or a maniac like Martino or Lenzi means that I would love if this movie had been shot in 1975 with Mimsy Farmer in it way more than the actual movie, but that’s my “in dreams.”
This was the directing debut of Sofia Coppola, who also wrote the script, which was based on the novel by Jeffrey Eugenides. It’s also the start of the creative relationship between Coppola and Kirsten Dunst.
I’d listened to the Air soundtrack numerous times, but never watched the movie. Thanks to quarantine, I’ve given in to my wife’s movie picks, which is how just about every movie this week has ended up on the site.
In the late 70’s, specifically in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, the Lisbon sisters rules the hearts and minds of teenage boys. These unapproachable goddesses — Therese, Mary, Bonnie, Lux and Cecilia — won’t survive the summer.
I really wanted to like this more than I did. I often fight the urge to tell my wife how much I dislike the films she picks. However, if given my choice, she’d be stuck watching something like Starcrash. Despite the sheer despair of this film — not what I really wanted to see while dealing with a plague just outside our door — it also made me realize how lucky I am to have such a wonderful person in my life.
Don’t Open the Door! was originally released regionally in Texas under the title Don’t Hang Up in May 1974. It was then acquired by Capital Films Corporation, who re-released it in 1979.
Director S.F. Brownrigg made this movie with producer Martin Jurow (Breakfast at Tiffany’s), using a cast mainly made up of actors from Dallas-based actors.
The story is simple: young girl returns home to care for her sick grandmother and encounters weirdness at every turn. It’s Brownrigg’s skill that makes this movie unique.
Despite the lurid feel of this movie, it still has a PG rating. Life was cheaper in 1974.
Susan Bracken plays Amanda Post, who begins the film assured and cocky before returning to Allerton, the Texas town where she watched her mother get killed as a child. This would be the only theatrical film Bracken would do and it’s a shame because she’s great in this.
We live in a world of caller ID that renders so much of this movie a moot point, such as the reveal that the calls are coming from within the house. While that trope replays itself in so many 70’s horror films, I always find it so delightful.
Larry O’Dwyer, who plays the sinister Claude, was done with acting after this movie too. Again, a shame.
If you were born later than me, you may find this movie slow moving and not as filled with terror as you hope, particularly with the sinister VHS cover image that I attached to this review. Not all movies need to have a killing every two minutes and have geysers of gore. This movie does so much more with less.
If you want to know more about this movie and where it was filmed, watch my friend J.H. Rood’s film Don’t on the Internet Archive.
BONUS: You can listen to Bill Van Ryn, J.H. and me discuss this movie on the second week of our streaming web show, Drive-In Asylum Double Feature.
Beyond being a historian of exploitation films, Frank Henenlotter has made some outright insane movies like Frankenhooker and Basket Case. What other kind of mad genius would hire horror host Zacherle to be a worm named Aylmer, who creates drug-like relationships with his hosts while demanding to eat the brains of everyone they love?
That blue phallic worm secretes a highly addictive hallucinogen directly into the brain, forcing Brian to leave behind his life, his girlfriend and any hope of normalcy, all while being pursued by the old couple that had imprisoned the parasite and who know way too much of his history, leading to some of the longest and most hilarious expository dialogue I’ve seen in a film.
During the fellatio scene — yes, a woman puts Aylmer inside her mouth — the crew walked out, refusing to work on the scene.
There’s a great moment where Duane and Belail from Basket Case meet Brian on a train before he ends up killing his girlfriend. I realize that’s a spoiler, but nothing can prepare you for this movie. It’s truly one of a kind.
You can watch this on Tubi or on Shudder with and without commentary by Joe Bob Briggs.
Jonathan Grisham had two books turned into movies in 1993, with the other being The Pelican Brief. This one is directed by Sydney Pollack and has a pretty big cast between Tom Cruise, Holly Hunter, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Gene Hackman, Ed Harris, Paul Sorvino, Gary Busey and Hal Holbrook.
Mitch McDeere (Cruise) is ready to graduate from Harvard when he gets an offer from small Memphis attorneys Bendini, Lambert & Locke. They ask for strict loyalty and confidentiality. They charge their clients high fees, which Mitch loves, because he gets an amazing house, a new car and his student loans all paid off.
He learns the secret that not all of their clients are legal, so Wilfred Brimley gets him laid and uses the photos to keep him in line. Cruise’s character, however, can’t deal with it all and decides to go to the feds, who are just as shady as the criminals.
In the original script, Mitch is killed. Once Cruise signed on, the ending changed. That’s how things work in Hollywood.
Paul Walter Hauser got known for playing Shawn Eckhardt in I, Tanya. Here, he’s playing another real life media story, the character this movie is named for, Richard Jewell.
This is directed by Clint Eastwood, who does one take for every scene and people love him for it. Yes, the same reason these same people made fun of Ed Wood.
As much as this movie presents the media killing the life of Jewell, it does the very same thing to reporter Kathy Scruggs, who died of a prescription drug overdose in 2001.
There’s a scene where she offers sex to Jon Hamm’s FBI agent in exchange for information, a moment that the editor-in-chief of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution stated was “entirely false and malicious.” Employees of the newspaper went even further, claiming that the movie should have a disclaimer that “some events were imagined for dramatic purposes and artistic license.”
Olivia Wilde defended the film and wondered why no one held Hamm’s character to the same standard. That’s probably because his character, Tom Shaw, is a composite based on many people and not an actual person who lived and breathed and left behind people that cared for her.
That makes it hard to believe in this film’s defense of Jewell when it commits the very same attacks on Scruggs. That said, Hauser is good and I always enjoy seeing Sam Rockwell show up.
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