UNEARTHED FILMS BLU RAY: August Underground’s Mordum (2003)

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The sequel to August Underground, this shot on digital video — in Pittsburgh — movie is supposed to look like snuff and does a pretty good job of getting close, one assumes.

Peter Mountain (director and writer Fred Vogel) now has a girlfriend, Crusty (Cristie Whiles) who also has a relationship with her brother Maggot (Michael Todd Schneider).

After nearly attacking his girlfriend — she gets him off by self-mutilating herself instead — they got to a crackhouse and beat the owner with a hammer. This is followed by watching a drug abuser die, assaulting a kidnapped woman and cutting a man’s penis off. This is about ten minutes in, so you know, if you want to turn back now, this would be the time.

There’s also a scene where they caused a ruckus in the old Incredibly Strange Video in Dormont and I wish the whole movie was just an hour or so of Bruce walking the camera through the aisles and showing what movies he just got in versus watching people defile corpses and cut themselves, but I didn’t make this one, you know?

This film was also directed and written by Whiles, Jerami Cruise, Michael Todd Schneider and Killjoy, who is Killjoy DeSade from the bands Necrophagia, Viking Crown, Eibon, Wurdulak, Forlis, The Ravenous and Enoch.

Unearthed has given this movie a packed blu ray including commentary with Jerami Cruise and Ultra Violent Magazine‘s Art Ettinger plus a Toetag commentary; new interviews with Vogel, Cruise and Maggot; a Necrophagia music video; memories of Killyjoy; deleted and extended scenes; a photo gallery; trailer and even breakdowns of some of the most disgusting and terrifying scenes in this.

A warning: This movie isn’t for everyone. It wasn’t for me. I see no redeeming value in non-stop murder presented as near pornography with no conclusion other than the credits. Yet some people like extreme movies and to prove that they can make it through some repugnant material. Who am I to tell you what to watch? That said, the actual blu ray is so well made and Unearthed has gone all out on it. If you’re a fan, here it is.

You can get this from MVD.

MILL CREEK SCI-FI CLASSICS: Bride of the Gorilla (1951)

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Edward G. Robinson Jr. was originally in this movie but was fired by the producers after his arrest for writing a bad check for $138 to the Laguna Beach Garage.

Director and writer Curt Siodmak had already written The Ape, The Wolf Man, Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man and I Walked With a Zombie before making this his first directed effort. He had ten days to make it.

Deep in the Latin American jungles — a bad place to be if you stay too long — plantation manager Barney Chavez (Raymond Burr) has murdered his boss and stolen away his wife Dina Van Gelder (Barbara Payton). Bad news for them: Al-Long (Gisela Werbisek), a witch, has seen the crime and cursed Chaves to transform every night into a gorilla. A cop by the name on Taro (Lon Chaney Jr.) puts the murder of the rich man and all the gorilla killings together. The natives believe Sukura, a demon, is the killer. And as for Dina, Barney seems way too into going out alone amongst the wildlife at night when he should be in bed with her. By the end, Lon Chaney shoots a weregorilla and Burr sees his own reflection before he dies, which feels like the reverse roles for what we should be watching.

Speaking of bad checks, Payton got arrested for that, plus had a reputation as a drinking party scene girl before she even started acting. Even after rehab, her parents would indulge in heavy drinking with her. Two years after this movie, Payton was paid $1,000 for her autobiography, I Am Not Ashamed. It had unflattering photographs of her and she discussed how she was homeless and had been beaten while a call girl. She’d die in 1967 at the age of 39 of heart and liver failure. Her parents died of alcoholism a few years later.

Woody Strode is in this as a cop. He’d have an affair with Payton, which would have caused a big uproar in 1951.

Don’t have the box set? You can watch this on Tubi.

Tales from the Crypt S1 E5: Lover Come Hack to Me (1989)

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Directed by Tom Holland and written by Steven Dodd and Michael McDowell (Beetlejuice, Thinner), “Lover Come Hack to Me” is based on the story “Lover, Come Hack to Me!” Haunt of Fear #19. That was written by Bill Gaines and Al Feldstein with art by George Evans, colors by Marie Severin and lettering by Jim Wroten.

“It’s good to have you back, you horror-hungry humans. You know by now who’s here to feed your fear. It’s me, the Crypt Keeper with another flesh-creeping scream story for your shivering pleasure. I’m calling this bite of bitter bile: Lover Come Hack to Me. So plump up that coffin pillow and settle back your bones. We’re going to take a little ride to honeymoon hell!”

Peggy (Amanda Plummer) has married her fiancee Charles (Stephen Shellen), who informs her aunt Edith (Lisa Figus), who worries about her rich niece that she’s out of a place to live after the honeymoon. On the way to that vacation, their car breaks down and they end up in an abandoned house where they make love and notice a gigantic axe on the wall. Charles actually falls for her, overcome by a woman he was never attracted to. That night, Charles has a nightmare where he watches Peggy kill another lover. It’s actually her mother and he tells her about what he saw when he wakes up. It was all not a dream and he pulls out a gun. There are no bullets and she kills him, secure that he has given her the gift of a daughter and that she won’t need a man ever again.

Amanda Plummer would play a killer again — spoiler — in So I Married an Axe Murderer.

Talking Black Gunn on Making Tarantino: The Podcast

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I was excited to discuss Black Gunn, a 1972 Jim Brown film directed by Robert Hartford-Davis, who of course made Corruption, which is not a women’s picture. This episode has so much movie talk and discussion of just how much Jim Brown means as the first black action hero, Hartford-Davis’ incredibly scummy UK history working with the Ford brothers and his lost movie Nobody Ordered Love, Luciana Paluzzi’s Italian movies and Thunderball, Bruce Glover being way bigger than we imagined, Gary Conway being Rick Dalton and Tony Giorgio being the devil in Night Train to Terror.

This was so much fun to do and I appreciate Phil editing how much I go on and on, which can’t be easy.

You can listen to it wherever you find podcasts or check out the official Making Tarantino website.

Or you can listen to it here:

https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/makingtarantinothepodcast/episodes/Black-Gunn-1972-e2be7s5

You can also check out the podcasts I’ve been on with this Letterboxd list.

LIONSGATE STEELBOOK 4K ULTRA HD AND BLU RAY RELEASE: The Wicker Man (1973)

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The Lionsgate steelbook release of The Wicker Man is gorgeous. Just look at that illustrated package and then marvel at what’s inside it: the final cut of the film in time for its fiftieth anniversary, reborn in 4K. Plus there are exclusives like “Revisiting the Locations of The Wicker Man,” “The Wicker Man at 50,” the lost ending of the movie, an interview with Britt Ekland, an archival interview with Robin Hardy and Christopher Lee and a series of features that will reward fans of the movie. The edition I have is exclusively from Best Buy.

The Wicker Man begins with Christopher Lee, a Hammer star, talking to writer Anthony Shaffer about more interesting roles. Shaffer had read the David Pinner novel Ritual — which had first been written as a script for Michael Winner, and I can’t even imagine what he would have done — and turned that inspiration into his own story.

Shaffer’s vision for the film was unique. The story delves into the intersection of modern religion and ancient pagan practices. It departs from the typical blood and gore of horror, opting instead for a creeping, unknown terror that lurks in the shadows. This unique approach is what we now refer to as folk horror.

The Wicker Man stands at the crossroads of art and horror, somewhere between movies like Performance and The Devil Rides Out, but with a twist, as the traditional rules of horror no longer apply. The concepts of good and evil, as defined by Judeo-Christian beliefs, are absent in this story. Instead, it’s a journey into the unknown, exploring ancient ways that have existed long before the modern era.

Christian Sergeant Neil Howie (Edward Woodward) is initially presented as the virtuous hero. He is on the island of Summerisle investigating Rowan Morrison’s disappearance, yet the villagers refuse to admit that she ever existed.

He’s shocked at these people’s ways, which include putting frogs in their mouths to cure illness and dancing around phallic maypoles. He finds images of past May Queens. He meets Lord Summerisle (Lee), who leads this village. And he sees the answers that he seeks, despite perhaps not liking them.

There’s also tempted by Willow MacGregor (Britt Ekland, who was three months pregnant; she was dubbed by Annie Ross, and her body double was dancer Rachel Verney), and there’s a scene where she dances with a wall between her and Howie that is volcanic. It has no nudity, but it’s filled with sensual energy.

Director Robin Hardy also made The Fantasist and The Wicker Tree, a very loose sequel to the original movie. Hardy first published the sequel as a novel, Cowboys for Christ, about American Christian evangelists who travel to Scotland and end up in a similar situation. Lee plays the Old Gentleman, who is either Summerisle or not.

Shaffer also wrote The Loathsome Lambton Worm, a direct sequel that begins immediately after the ending of The Wicker Man. In it, Howie is saved by his fellow police officers. The movie features a fire-breathing dragon and is much more fantastic than the first one.

I love that I am still discovering things in this movie even so many years after I first saw it. The 4K version gives you a deeper and more beautiful experience as you explore Summerisle. I’ve found myself just staring at the cover in joy and wonder.

MILL CREEK SCI-FI CLASSICS: The Brain Machine (1972)

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James Best, before he taught Tarantino and chased the Dukes. Gerald McRaney, before he was a Simon and was with Delta Burke. An ESP experiment gone wrong and well, a lot of talking. That said, it’s very 1972 and looks every bit as dated as you’d imagine, so I saw that as a very relaxing place to spend time in.

Director Joy N. Houck Jr. also made Night of Bloody Horror and Creature from Black Lake. He wrote this with Thomas Hal Phillips, who plays the General, and Christian Garrison.

I think this was a government experiment so that anyone who wanted to know about MK Ultra in 1972 would watch this movie and be bored into thinking that it’s not worth caring about. It’s like The Alpha Incident but somehow more boring, so imagine. Please just imagine. Actually, just do that. Maybe you don’t need to watch it.

Hey — Cannon released it on home video in Germany.

Don’t have the box set? You can watch it on Tubi.

Spagvemberfest 2023 and Arrow Video Savage Guns box set: Wrath of the Wind (1970)

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The plan? Wealthy landowner Don Antonio (Fernando Rey) wanted Marcos (Terence Hill) and Jacobo (Mario Pardo) to put a stop to the revolutionaries that threaten his profits. Marcos will kill anyone for money and easily does his job before he figures out that he did wrong. What helps is that he gets interested in a gorgeous woman connected to them named Soledad (Miss Italy 1959 Maria Grazia Buccella) and then decides to work on the side of the common man.

Directed by Mario Camus, who wrote this with Manuel Marinero and Mario Cecchi Gori, who would go on to script Il Postino, this may be a movie more interesting for the titles it went under than what it actually is. Also known as The Wind’s Anger, The Wind’s Fierce and — sold as a comedy and it isn’t — Trinity Sees Red,* this is the last non-comedy that Terence Hill would make for a bit. Hence this being sold as a Trinity movie.

*In Germany, it was called Der Teufel kennt kein Halleluja (The Devil Doesn’t Know Hallelujah), Trinity: I Open Graves With My Pistol in Greece and Vultures Are Waiting in Finland.

Arrow Video’s Savage Guns box set has high definition 2K restorations of all four films from the original 35mm camera negatives, with El Puro newly restored by Arrow Films. Plus, you get brand new introductions to each film by journalist and critic Fabio Melelli, an illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the films by author and critic Howard Hughes, a fold-out double-sided poster featuring newly commissioned artwork by Gilles Vranckx and limited edition packaging with reversible sleeves featuring original artwork and a slipcover featuring newly commissioned artwork by Gilles Vranckx.

Wrath of the Wind has an alternate 106-minute Spanish-language version of the film, featuring additional and extended scenes not found in the Italian or English versions. There’s also new audio commentary by author and critic Howard Hughes, a short film by filmmaker Francisco Lacerda and the alternate Revenge of Trinity opening.

You can get this set from MVD.

MILL CREEK SCI-FI CLASSICS: Bloodtide (1982)

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When you see the names Brian Trenchard-Smith and Nico Mastorakis listed as producers, you know that you’re probably getting into something good. Also known as Demon Island, this film was directed by Richard Jeffries, who is probably better known for the films that he’s written like Scarecrows and Cold Creek Manor. He’s only directed one other film, the 2008 TV movie Living Hell.

It’s funny, when I discussed this movie earlier today with Bill from Groovy Doom, he referred to it as “the monster movie with no monster.” That’s an apt description.

It’s also about a treasure hunter named Frye (James Earl Jones) whose underwater scavenging brings back an ancient sea monster that demands virgin blood.

Meanwhile, Neil and Sherry (Martin Kove and Mary Louise Weller, who appeared in Q The Winged Serpent the same year as this movie) have come to the island looking for his missing sister Madeline (Deborah Shelton, who also sings the song over the end credits with her then-husband Shuki Levy). Plus, Lydia Cornell stops hanging out with Cosmic Cow on Too Close for Comfort and shows up as Jones’ girlfriend.

Inexplicably, Lila Kedrova from Zorba the Greek and Jose Farrar — well, he’s less of a surprise as Jose may have been the first actor to win the National Medal of Arts, but he’s also in spectacular junk like The Sentinel, Bloody Birthday and The Being — both appear.

Arrow’s write-up promised “blood, nudity and beachside aerobics.” This delivered, as well as some great dream sequences and moments where beachfront rituals seem to go on forever. That said, I had a blast with this movie, as any film that has Martin Kove skipping around the waves holding a miniature engine while the ladies go wild and James Earl Jones yells at everyone will hold my attention.

Don’t have the box set? You can watch this on Tubi.

MILL CREEK SCI-FI CLASSICS: Battle of the Worlds (1961)

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Known in Italy as l Pianeta degli uomini spenti (The Planet of Extinct Men), this was directed by Anthony Dawson, who is better known everywhere other than America as Antonio Margheriti.

Dr. Fred Steele (Umberto Orsini, The Antichrist) and Eve Barnett (Maya Brent in her only acting role) are looking forward to leaving the island that they work on and getting married. However, a rogue planet called The Outsider is on a collision course with our world so no time for love Dr. Steele. However, Professor Benson (Claude Rains in one of his last acting roles) — who lives away from mankind with his dog Gideon — believes that our world is safe. No one else agrees and some, like Commander Robert Cole (Bill Carter, who is also in Larry Buchanan’s fantasy The Trial of Lee Harvey Oswald) and his wife Cathy (Jacqueline Derval) travel to the planet to see how they can stop it.

The Outsider doesn’t hit the Earth but does something even odder. It goes into orbit around the planet. As Earth ships approach, flying saucers attack and The Outsider begins spiraling into the atmosphere causing disasters. A team is sent to investigate the planet and Benson believes that some intelligence is controlling all of these ships and the planet itself.

In the final attack, Cathy is mortally wounded and Benson refuses to leave, as he believes that life without scientific knowledge is not a life at all. He tries to communicate with the computer at the core of all of the planet — the crew is long dead — but it’s too late as nuclear warheads blow out. the planet real good. The movie closes with Benson’s dog Gideon waiting for him. Way to break my heart.

Writer Ennio De Concini also adapted The Four of the Apocalypse for the screen, wrote The Girl Who Knew Too Much and directed Hitler: The Last Ten Days, Daniele e Maria and Gli 11 Moschettieri. He’s listed as Vassilij Petrov in the credits. This film re-teams he and Margheriti after Assignment: Outer Space.

If you don’t have the box set, you can watch this movie on YouTube. You can also download it from the Internet Archive.

MILL CREEK SCI-FI CLASSICS: Attack of the Monsters (1969)

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Attack of the Monsters is really Gamera vs. Guiron. That’s the name it was given by American International Television. That’s so weird to me as there are a bunch of other Gamera movies and you’d think that this series would have some popularity, you know?

At this stage in the Gamera series, the special effects are starting to not feel so special and there’s even more padding than in past films. But you know, Guiron looks so awesome — he has a giant sword nose and throws shuriken from around his eyes — that I can’t help but love this movie.

Two boys find a flying saucer and are taken on an adventure into space, where Gamera magically appears and rescues them from an asteroid field. But then, they go into hyperspace and a new Gyaos appears to attack their ship. That’s when Guiron shows up and slices that beast — which just gave Gamera so much grief — into small little bits, even beheading it, which seems way too far for what is supposed to be a kiddie film.

It turns out that the Space Gyaos are all over this planet called Terra, which is on the other side of the sun. Somehow, those scientists — some of the dumbest smart people in the world are in the Gamera movies — have never found their planet.

There are also twin alien women named Barbella and Florbella who control Guiron, who eventually gets out of control and cuts their spaceship in half. Florbella then kills the injured Barbella, explaining that useless members of their society are euthanized. What is she, in charge of the stock market?

Finally, Gamera does what you’ve wanted him to do all along: he slices that monster in half. Yes, unlike Godzilla, Gamera straight up eviscerates and annihilates his foes. Godzilla would just heat blast them. Nope. Gamera is like, “You’re not getting up from this one.”

Don’t have the box set? You can watch this on Tubi.