Mr. Wong, who appeared in twenty magazine stories, four issues of the Dell comic book Popular Comics and six movies — five of which are on this set — was said to be six feet tall, educated at Yale University and had an American-looking face. As an agent of the United States Treasury Department, he’s able to go between the world of white people and the secretive Tongs in San Francisco to solve cases that no one else can.
Aided by Captain William Street and reporter Roberta Logan, Mr. Wong is the star of this Kino Lorber box set. It has five movies on it and all look really great. They’re short and sweet — often under 70 minutes — and were made for Monogram Pictures, one of smallest studios in the golden age of Hollywood.
The films include:
Mr. Wong, Detective (1938): A series of murders leads Mr. Wong to an international spy ring that wants to bring poison overseas to aid the enemies of America.
The Mystery of Mr. Wong(1939): The Eye of the Daughter of the Moon, a rare precious gem, keeps getting stolen, leaving dead bodies of those foolhardy enough to purloin it.
Mr. Wong In Chinatown (1939): A secret plot to buy airplanes turns into murder, but Mr. Wong is on the case.
The Fatal Hour(1940): A cop is killed and it leads to stolen diamonds.
Doomed to Die(1940): A Romeo and Juliet romance, murder and actual footage of a boat sinking that cost hundreds of human lives.
The Kino Lorber blu ray release of the Mr. Wong Collection has new HD masters of each of the five films — with a 2K scan of the fine grains — and this comes with audio commentary for Mr. Wong, Detective by Tom Weaver and Larry Blamire.
I had a great time with this set, as the movies fly by and present a wise detective who always gets the job done. Now, we could argue that Boris Karloff is as far from Asian as Bela Lugosi — who also played a Mr. Wong, an evil one in 1934’s The Mysterious Mr. Wong — but we should try to enjoy this for what it is.
You can get the Mr. Wong Collection from Kino Lorber.
June 29: Junesploitation’s topic of the day — as suggested by F This Movie— is Free Space! We’re excited to tackle a different genre every day, so check back and see what’s next.
No matter what you or I think or believe, Glenn Danzig is making exactly the kind of movies that he wants to make.
Following Verotika, he decided that the next film he’d make would not just be a Western, but a Spaghetti vampire Western and the minute I read that, I realized that Danzig is making the movies that I want to see as well.
Despite saying that he’s watched a lot of Bava and Fulci, it feels like Danzig has made the kind of movie an Italian director that not many people discuss in the U.S. would have made. The closest comparison I can think of is the work of Alvaro Passeri, who is somehow at once sub-Bruno Mattei level in directorial skill but has ideas and a lack of anyone telling him no, which leads to absolutely aberrant cinema like The Mummy Theme Park and Plankton.
More likely, I think that Danzig wanted to hang out with his friends and a bunch of adult stars while cosplaying as both vampires and characters straight out of a Giulio Questi or Tonino Valerii while someone filmed the lost weekend. After spending a few million, his account called and said, “Glenn, I know you want my skull, but seriously, we need to recoup some investment. Can you call Cleopatra Records? I mean, yes, they used to release weird cover tribute CDs that had Electric Hellfire Club played KISS songs, but now they’re releasing movies.” And then Glenn howled and said, “Yea.”
The Death Rider (Devon Sawa) has just arrived at the Vampire Sanctuary (there is no irony in the cinematic universe of Danzig, things are named what they are) and has the admission fee: one naked virgin (Tasha Reign). He asks for sanctuary — yes, from the Vampire Sanctuary, I get it — from its owner, Count Holiday (Julian Sands, R.I.P.).
The Vampire Sanctuary (I swear, I am not getting paid every time I use those two words) is more like a saloon from an old cowboy movie, filled with working girls like Carmilla Joe (Pittsburgh native Kim Director, who was on The Deuce and in Blair Witch 2: Book of Shadows) and her assistant Mina Belle (Ashley Wisdom, Verotika) and gunslingers like Kid Vlad (Victor DiMattia, Timmy Timmons from The Sandlot), Drac Cassidy (Eli Roth, yes, that Eli Roth), and Bad Bathory (Danzig himself and when his name flashed up on scream I cheered even if I was home alone).
So yes, Danzig wears a cowboy hat in this, but he really wears all the hats: director, writer, producer, composer, cinematographer and editor. The choices are, well, big choices. The kind of choices that only could have been made by Glenn Danzig.
If takes as long to get to the Vampire Sanctuary (cha-ching!) and past the opening credits as it does for Jan-Mikl Thor to drive a van to a suburban house in Rock ‘n Roll Nightmare, that was the vision of Glenn Allen Anzalone.
If Danny Trejo is going to show up as Bela Latigo, well, that’s 100% from the brains and balls of Lodi’s favorite son.
And if there’s no real plot other than random gunfights, naken women, vampires biting naked women and gunfights around naked women with vampires shooting silver bullets at one another, then you guessed it. This is all the vision of the man who wrote, “devil on the left / angel on the right / there’s no mistake / who’ll I be with tonight.”
But how many movies are going to just throw Lee Ving at you as a bartender service Sean Waltman a drink while the Soska sisters look on and the camera zooms more often than three Italian movies and two jess Franco films all added up?
Actually, I think that Danzig has had the same Saturday late nights as me, watching three Franco movies in a row until all the endless scenes of dialogue just pound your brain into a druggy haze. He delivers this same drone goodness as we spend what seems like days watching Death Rider do what he’s been named for: ride. Ride that horse over that Danzig-sung theme song! Ride into the night! Ride past the villains that survive!
Ride into our hearts.
I hate that anyone would call this so bad it’s good or even watch it in any way other than with sheer joy. These are kinds of movies that get inside my heart and make me so protective.
The last of the five William Nigh-directed, Boris Karloff-starring Mr. Wong movies, this one starts when Cyrus P. Wentworth (Melvin Lang), the head of a shipping company, is killed by Dick Fleming (William Stelling), the son of his rival. He had wanted to marry Wentworth’s daughter Cynthia (Catherine Craig), but her father refused. Now, she wants Mr. Wong to prove that Dick is innocent.
The Wentworth family has been dealing with another tragedy as one of their ships, the Wentworth Castle, caught fire and sank with all 400 of the passengers and crew. That footage is real and is the burning of the SS Morro Castle, which caught fire on September 8, 1934 during a trip from Havana to New York City.
Mr. Wong has contacts within the tongs, Chinese secret societies, which help him find out the truth. He also, as always, has help from Capt. William Street (Grant Withers) and Roberta Logan (Marjorie Reynolds).
I’m kind of sad to come to the end of these five movies. But hey — now that I have the set, I can always go back and watch them all over again.
The Kino Lorber blu ray release of the Mr. Wong Collection has new HD masters of each of the five films — with a 2K scan of the fine grains — and this comes with audio commentary for Mr. Wong, Detective by Tom Weaver and Larry Blamire. You can get it from Kino Lorber.
The body of policeman Dan Grady has been pulled out of San Francisco Bay and his friend Captain Street (Grant Withers) is overwhelmed by the loss. He asks his girlfriend, journalist Bobbie Logan (Marjorie Reynolds), and James Lee Wong (Boris Karloff) to solve the mystery.
It turns out that Dan was investigating some smugglers of precious gems, which puts jeweler Frank Belden (Hooper Atchley), smuggler Harry Lockett (Frank Puglia) and Tanya Serova (Lita Chevret) into the role of suspects, but before long, everyone gets rubbed out and only Serova’s boyfriend — and Frank’s son — Frank Jr. (Craig Reynolds) is the last one standing and perhaps the real killer. Or maybe not, if Wong’s suspicions are correct.
The radio in this movie was a Philco Mystery Control and yes, there was a remote control radio in 1940. The rotary dial could pick one of eight preset stations, turn the volume up or down and turn the radio off. It couldn’t turn it on, though. It cost $159.50, which today would be $3,465.
The Kino Lorber blu ray release of the Mr. Wong Collection has new HD masters of each of the five films — with a 2K scan of the fine grains — and this comes with audio commentary for Mr. Wong, Detective by Tom Weaver and Larry Blamire. You can get it from Kino Lorber.
We’re guest-starring with the Neon Brainiacs this week!
Here’s what they have to say:
“We’re avoiding hugs this week, maniacs, as we dive into the 1980 toxic waste PSA that is The Children. Bringing us this weird slice of 80s horror are the hosts of Drive-In Asylum, Bill Van Ryn and Sam Panico. While we dissect the flick, we also discuss topics such as standard procedure for dealing with abandoned buses, old-time industry nicknames that sound like giallo film titles, and apple routes. And in true crossover fashion, Sam shares a movie-related cocktail recipe towards the end of the episode!”
You can listen to this episode here or anywhere you find podcasts!
I love remake remix and rip-off movies and no one knows more about them than Ed Glaser, who I interviewed when he released his book How the World Remade Hollywood. Now, he’s started to improve his Deja View videos and they’re beyond must-see.
3 Dev Adam: This video not only tells the story behind “Serial Killer Spider-Man™ & Cop-tain America,” but also has the first HD footage of the film seen that has been seen in fifty years from a newly-discovered 35mm print!
Robo Vampire: How did this movie get made? Did Godfrey Ho actually direct it? Where did these vampires (who aren’t even robos) come from? Find out in this video.
Carla (Millie Valdes) and Dean (Ernesto Reyes) have left behind the hustle and bustle for the quiet of the woods. Except that they’re living next to a cult whose leader is able to telepathically communicate with The Spirit, which is a lot like Bigfoot.
Directed and written by Jon Garcia and co-written by Zach Carter, the movie has Carla and Dean coming to terms with a miscarriage, which may be why they’re missing so many of the signs that perhaps their new home is not safe. Or maybe all that depression might make them perfect candidates to join Arlo’s (Jesse Tayeh) growing collection of worshippers.
I’ve always said that I would have never survived the seventies, because I would have totally either led or been in something like the Process. Even I see the dangers of picking Bigfoot as the person to worship. Did you see Night of the Demon? Bigfoot will straight up tear your dick off.
The Oregon woods in this look amazing and I’d just like to be The Spirit, wondering them and hoping that all the humans would leave.
The Chattanooga Film Festival is happening now through June 29. To get your in-person or virtual badge to see any of these movies, click here. For more information, visit chattfilmfest.org and follow us on Facebook,Twitterand Instagram.
Gwen (Samantha Westervelt) and James (Amanda Drexton, who co-directed this with Michael A. Drexton and co-wrote this with him and Westervelt) are going nowhere and doing nothing but still have to get to a baby shower for Gwen’s sister where the only gift left on the registry is Baby’s First Wellness Kit, complete with essential oils and tarot cards.
Except it’s $150.
And they have nowhere near that kind of money.
The journey to get the money will take them through Los Angeles and into the heart of glittery darkness. Gwen wants to show her family that she can be a success — or at least not a major foul up — and arrive with the gift. But when there are cult leaders (Corey Feldman), a thrift store called Twin Sneaks, Reggie Watts, the liberation of succulents, a cockroach gathering and a shrine to Nicholas Cage. And oh yeah, neon smoke farts that will revolutionize the online sex industry.
Gwen and James feel like the kind of people who have been friends forever and might be holy terrors when you see them in a bar or they show up at your party, but when everyone is telling stories about them, they realize that they kind of love them afterward even if in being in their orbit can be a hurricane.
I’m a sucker for comedies where friends are oblivious to the world and defeat it just by being themselves.
The Chattanooga Film Festival is happening now through June 29. To get your in-person or virtual badge to see any of these movies, click here. For more information, visit chattfilmfest.org and follow us on Facebook,Twitterand Instagram.
Poundcake is a slasher killer who hunts white cis men and quite literally pounds them to death. As we see the Greek chorus of podcasters comment throughout the film, no one really cares that white straight men are being killed, much less the fact that they’re chained around the throat and sexually assaulted. And then Poundcake moves on to those very same men as a target, but ones that are woke, and yet the lack of caring seems to continue.
You know how it seems like every comedian has a podcast? Well, it feels like almost every character in this movie has one, too.
Either you’re going to absolutely love Onur Tukel’s (That Cold Dead Look In Your Eyes) film or you’re going to hate almost every moment of its running time. At once, it asks you to be enraged about the bad deeds of white men of power while also tearing at every single other group, as if being equally offensive makes up for the offensive ideas like, oh, rape can be funny.
It’s also about Asian women being anti-black, woke white men becoming too weak, dudes who want to be gay but want to do it with their wives around so that it’s not as gay, bad standup and then the fact that we should all just try and get along.
The actual slasher part is just a small portion of the movie. The podcasts and reaction are the rest and some parts work — everyone wants to be connected to the killings, even if it’s by the smallest of ways — and others don’t, as you start to lose track of who all these people are and if they even matter because, after some time, they don’t.
This is one of those movies that people will get upset and say, “You just don’t get it.”
Well, I did, it wasn’t as smart as it thought it was and where it could have really been incendiary, it came off as a prankster child so smugly sure of its own success that you don’t want to agree with any of it.
The Chattanooga Film Festival is happening now through June 29. To get your in-person or virtual badge to see any of these movies, click here. For more information, visit chattfilmfest.org and follow us on Facebook,Twitterand Instagram.
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