The November 5, 1971 NBC World Premiere Movie, this movie reunited Larry Hagman and Barbara Eden after their sitcom I Dream of Jeannie, which went off the air on May 26, 1970. It’s based on Velda Johnson’s novel of the same name.
I’ve often said, when it comes to horror movies, that no one should ever go home again. This movie would be another example of that, as Liza Crocker (Eden) runs from her rumpled husband Eddie (Hagman) back to her Nevada hometown, where she soon learns that her father is missing and that she also has a new stepbrother (John Rubinstein, who was also in another great TV movie, Killjoy). Meanwhile, everyone in town is acting deranged, children are randomly being drowned and she can hear a howling in the woods at night.
Vera Miles, who starred in both Psycho and Psycho 2, plays her stepmother. There’s also a strong role for Tyne Daly, who always elevates any material. But if you’re hoping for an extended reunion of Hagman and Eden, their shared screen time is minimal.
Daniel Petrie, who directed this, is a solid hand. He also made the TV movies Moon of the Wolfand Sybil, so he certainly knew how to take advantage of the budgets and limitations of television. He also made the Harold Robbins adaption The Betsy for the silver screen, as well as A Raisin in the Sun.
CBS-TV got its start in the airline disaster sweepstakes in September 1971 with this tale about transcontinental flight struck with food poisoning. To save the aircraft, the cabin crew locate a passenger with enough flying experience so that he can be coached by an experience pilot on the ground. Doug McClure, it goes without saying, is very good in his role as a Vietnam war ex-chopper pilot who’s called into action to safe the day.
While many write this off as a rip-off of ’70s airline disaster flicks — and, in a way, it is (which we will get to) — Terror in the Sky has it roots in an Alex Haley-written Canadian telefilm starring James “Scotty” Doohan, Flight Into Danger (1956). The CBC-TV screenplay was quickly rebooted as the Paramount Pictures features film Zero Hour! (1957) starring Dana Andrews — each deal with a “food poisoning” premise. Haley then took the premise and retooled n’ tweaked it again for the novel Runway Zero-Eight (1958), then again as novel Airport (1968), which, in turn, became the Burt Lancaster-starring Airport (1970). So, officially, Terror in the Sky is a bigger-budget TV remake of Zero Hour! and a loose cousin to Runway Zero-Eight. which aired on CBS-TV in September 1971.
As for Zero Hour!: Interest in the film was renewed in the ’80s when it was revealed that the Abrahams-Zucker Brothers’ (The Kentucky Fried Movie) Airplane!, which spoofed the Airport series of movies of the ’70s, was actually an almost verbatim comedy-remake of the film.
Yeah, you know why we love this, as it’s another airline disaster TV movie with bonkers casting: assisting Doug McClure are Roddy McDowall and Kennan Wynn, along with ’50s gents Kenneth Tobey (The Thing) and Leif Erickson (On the Waterfront).
Is the name of director Bernard Kowalski ringing any bells? It should. He gave us the Alien precursor Night of the Blood Beast, The Fast and the Furious precursor Hot Car Girl, and the giant monster mash classic Attack of the Giant Leeches, and the mad scientist romp Sssssss. Oh, and the western-horror about devil worshiping voodoo cowpokes, the most awesome TV movie ever, Black Noon (1971). And let’s not forget he closed out his career with TV’s Colombo, Airwolf, Knight Rider, and Jake and the Fatman.
While the rest of the world thrills to Tom Cruise cussing out castmembers concerning COVID-19, Mahon’s real-life story offers movie maniacs the kind f thrills that we breathlessly devour and share with one another. After volunteering for the British air force before America officially entered World War II, Mahon earned the British Distinguished Flying Cross and escaped from a concentration camp twice after being shot down, then became the personal pilot and manager of Errol Flynn before going into making his own movies.
And oh his movies.
Barry’s oeuvre is a madcap mix of ripped from the headlines fearmonger films like Rocket Attack U.S.A. and Cuban Rebel Girls along with horror like The Dead One and Sex Killer, then some nudie cuties like Fanny Hill Meets Dr. Erotico and The Diary of Knockers McCalla and finally, improbably, kids movies like The Wonderful Land of Oz, Jack and the Beanstalk and the Thumbelina movie that is part of perhaps the most berserk holiday movie of all time, Santa and the Ice Cream Bunny. Oh yeah — and he also made Musical Mutiny, a movie that I have yet to come to grips with*.
I hesitate to even call this a movie because it was made with all the motion of, well, a slide show. Instead, it’s a series of still images with a narrator speaking every single part. It is the very epitome of low budget, with puppets and people shot in only the murkiest of lighting.
If you ever watched Rodolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and wondered why everyone treated the hero so poorly — and why he would not only forgive them but blame himself for so much of their horrific and abusive behavior — then get ready. Calvin gets brutalized throughout this movie with even the narrator continually reminding us of how ugly he is.
*Some people, if given a time machine, would go back to meet famous people or kill Hitler. I would just go to Dania, Florida and spend the day at Pirates World.
Don “The Snake” Prudhomme and Tom “The Mongoose” McEwen were gods to us kids in the ’70. We bought the racing magazines and ripped out the glossy spreads of their cars and persons and Scotch Taped ’em to our bedroom doors and walls — right next to our Runaways (duBeat-e-o) and Suzi Quatro (Suzi Q) posters, and Roger Decoster’s mag-rips of his daring motocross jumps.
When the ABC Wild World of Sports held one of Prudhomme and McEwen’s drag or funny car races on a Saturday afternoon, the neighborhood streets cleared and everyone sat in front of the TV. The Snake and Mongoose were matched only by Richard Petty and Evel Knievel. They were the “Muhammad Ali” of racing. Everyone loved them.
So, to commemorate those “Funny Car Summers” of those youthful days of yore, let’s fire up that silver screen under the stars!
Man, when this commercial came on TV . . . EVERYBODY went to see this documentary that chronicles a summer in the life of “Funny Car” racer Jim Dunn and his family.
The most popular, best known, and best-distributed film of the night — it is also the most disappointing (to those wee eyes of long ago) of the films of the night. You know how great Pawn Stars and American Chopper were when they first went on the air — then they turned into a Kardashians-styled sit(shite)com that’s all about Chum Lee and Corey Harrison bumblin’ about the shop and Junior and Senior fighting? Where’s the neat junk? Where’s the bikes? Where’s Frank and Mike? Who in the hell let Danielle, this Memphis blond chick, and Mike’s bumblin’ brother on the set? Where did the pickin’ go? This is American Pickers, right?
Well, that’s what watching this movie is like: all family drama and little vroom-vroom. Way to go marketing department and Mr. Distributor. You broke our little-tyke hearts — and pissed off our parents, who paid the drive-in fare, because we bitched from the backseat that we were bored — and watched 99 and 44/100% Dead (or was it The Exorcist) through the rear window, instead.
You can watch Funny Car Summer on You Tube HERE and HERE.
Wheels On Fire is a classic motor sports documentary — and also one of the most obscure and hard-to-find (as you can see, it’s even impossible to find a decent image of the theatrical one-sheet). But not in the land of Oz, since this was filmed in Liverpool, Sydney. This one kicks ass because of — before there were web-cam and fiber optics — has the first ever “race cam” strapped onto the drag car, which takes you behind the wheel at speeds above 300 kilometers (miles in the States) per hour.
Again, this one is near impossible to track down on VHS and DVD — and the DVDs are grey market VHS-rips. And there’s no trailer or clips . . . denied.
Intermission! The Snack Bar is Open! Check out our classic drag racing poster art gallery while you wait in line!
Not to be confused (and it is) with the “on” movie above, Wheels of Fire focuses on the lives of five major drag racers of the era: Don Garlits, Don Prudhomme, Shirley Muldowney, Richard Tharp and Billy Meyer, as they are each followed through a complete drag racing season. Yep. This is reality TV before Robert Kardashian had his first kid (I think; too lazy to check K-Dash B-Days), the very same kids who unleashed the ubiquitously-hated broadcasting format.
As with the oft-confused Wheels on Fire, there’s no online streams of this lost, classic drag racing film. It was on You Tube in several parts, but was removed. Only this 10:00 minute clip is available, which we’re posting in lieu of an official trailer (. . . and don’t be surprised if it also vanishes to grey screen; yep, it’s gone). The now out-of-print DVDs are available in the online marketplace from time to time (and, as you can see, it’s impossible to find a decent theatrical one-sheet). The NHRA web platform and their upper-tier cable channel rerun it from time to time.
Documentarian Les Blank of Burden of Dreams fame, which chronicled the making of Werner Herzog’s and Klaus Kinski’s Fitzcarraldo, made his docu-debut with this drag chronicle — its seeds (A Rubber Tree plant, ha-ha! ugh.) planted courtesy of his first behind-the-camera gig shooting drag racers in Long Beach, California.
This one has it all: Souped-up “Blower” Mercurys and Chevys (like in Two-Lane Blacktop), rails, and funny cars. While it chronicles other racers, this one is a showcase for Rick “The Iceman” Stewart as he attempts to grab the world’s record — as Los Angeles’ Canned Heat Blues Band provides the musical backing.
Les Blank has made this easily accessible as an Amazon Prime and Vimeo VOD that’s also available for purchase at Les Blanks.com and on eBay.
And so goes our “Fast and Furious Week: Part Deux.” Can you smell the rubber Big Daddy is cookin’, Dwayne? And, do you have a hankering for even MORE drag racing films? Then check out our first “Fast and Furious Week” reviews of Burnout and Fast Company.
Poster by Dennis Preston for “The Great Bed Race” in Lansing, Michigan on August 11, 1979/courtesy of Splatt Gallery Facebook.
Update: In May 2021, we went drag racing crazy and reviewed several more drag flicks as part of our “Drag Racing Week” theme-feature of the month. Image Courtesy of Vectezzy.
Another drag racing doc? You bet. During out two month “Cannon Month” blow out in July and August 2022, we discovered this Cannon-distributed ditty. Who knew?
In August and December of 2020, we had two “Fast and Furious” tribute weeks filled with the aromas of burning rubberand bubbling oil.
Mill Creek’s “Savage Cinema” 12-pack got us started as we reviewed over 40 filmsin August 2020.
Yeah, we did another week with another 40-plus films.
You say you need more racing films? You mean we haven’t covered enough? Well, then head on over to Demaras Racing under their “Fast Films” section for their reviews on car flicks. From Mickey Rooney in The Big Wheel to a discussion of Dustin Hoffman’s ride in The Graduate to the cars in THX 1138 — so many that we missed or never got around to reviewing — they’ve got you covered.
About the Author: You can learn more about the writings of R.D Francis on Facebook.He also writes forB&S About Movies.
Before she was Lucille Bluth, Jessica Walter scared the hell out of the men of 1971 with her role as Evelyn Draper, the caller who continually asks KRML-FM* DJ Dave Garver (Clint Eastwood, making his directorial debut) to “play “Misty” for me.”
What started as a simple evening of sex — well, for Dave at least — has turned obsessive and he thinks he cuts Evelyn loose. She responds by slasher her wrists, then destroying his house and even stabbing his housekeeper (I didn’t realize DJs on 500 watt stations made enough to have servants).
While she’s in prison, Dave gets back with his ex-girlfriend Tobie (Donna Mills**) and deals with calls and letter from Evelyn that concern Edgar Allan Poe’s “Annabel Lee.” And oh yeah — she proves how cured she is by getting in bed with him and trying to stab him with a gigantic butcher knife.
Of course, she ends up taking his Tobie hostage and Dave has to punch her through a window, which is how I assume folks dealt with spurned women in 1971.
While Eastwood was sweating out his first-time behind the camera, he had help from his buddy Don Siegel (the director of the original Invasion of the Body Snatchers), who also plays a bartender, as well as Siegel’s usual team of cinematographer Bruce Surtees, editor Carl Pingitore and composer Dee Barton. It worked out — Eastwood came out $50,000 under budget and four days ahead of schedule.
Kino Lorber has just re-released this on blu ray, with some great extras to go with the new 2K transfer. There’s commentary by film historian Tim Lucas, an interview with Donna Mills, a video essay with film historian Howard S. Berger, a documentary on the film, a featurette about Siegel and Eastwood, and even the Trailers From Hell segment where Adam Rifkin discusses the film. You can get it here and it’s yet another great release from Kino Lorber, who are putting out so much good stuff as of late.
DAY 18. RESURRECTIONISTS: Watch something that came out on one of the many reissue labels that we love like Arrow, Criterion, Bleeding Skull, Scream Factory, Indicator, Vinegar Syndrome, AGFA etc.
The American Genre Film Archive (AGFA) represents the world’s largest theatrical catalog of exploitation cinema. Their home video line presents a diverse selection of movies, ranging from new preservations of classics from the vast library of Something Weird to the wildest in shot-on-video (SOV) titles.
They’ve released some awesome things over the last few years, such as Scary Movie, Godmonster of Indian Flats, The Sword and the Claw and so many more. Now, they’re heading to the deepest, dankest and scuzziest parts of Florida to bring you this burst of weirdness.
Shot in Hollywood, Florida, this tale of Stanley (Wayne Crawford under the name Scott Lawrence, he also wrote Valley Girl, Barracudaand Jake Speed) and Paul (Abe Zwick in his lone acting role) starts after they escape from Baltimore and go on the lamb. Paul begins to dress in drag and act as Stanley’s Aunt Martha while falling for Stanley, who only wants to do drugs and freaks out the moment a girl starts to undo his pants.
Thomas Casey wrote and directed this. This is the only movie he’d direct, although he also wrote Flesh Feast. That’s a shame that he didn’t make more films, because this movie captures the seedy side of life better than most. I honestly have no idea who this movie is for — at the time that it was made — but know that it’s perfectly made for maniacs like me who buy nearly everything AGFA puts out.
Florida is a weird state. The movies that come out of it are even stranger. This is probably one of the oddest. You can get this now from AGFA (through Vinegar Syndrome).
Fredric Hobbs made some strange movies, that’s for sure. Only three are available — this one, Godmonster of Indian Flatsand Alabama’s Ghost— and none of them are alike other than the fact that all three are movies made by either someone who was an artist, borderline insane or probably both.
Adam (E. Kerrigan Prescott) is a rock star — his big song is “You Cannot Fart Around With Love” — who has become obsessed with the Hieronymus Bosch painting The Garden of Earthly Delights. It’s led to him becoming unable to perform sexually and, as such, he must steal pornography.
So he does what any sex addict shouldn’t and gets a job at a burlesque theater, which ends with him stripping down to just his panties, which leads to him going into the psych ward. He can’t pay for therapy, but he doesn’t have a singing career without going through it. But suddenly, he falls for a nurse and we have a way too long softcore scene between them.
That’s when things get weird.
Hieronymus Bosch, who is now black and played by Christopher Brooks (Alabama from Alabama’s Ghost), arrives for exposition that tells us that it’s really the future and our hero — or whatever he is to us — is the new Adam after a future war and the painting is really his future, once he escapes from the doctor, who is now spraying the world with deadly gas. It ends as it must. with Adam and Eve making love on a giant flower and repopulating the world.
Say what?
This movie is totally 1971, an art film that hasn’t made any more sense with age. I wouldn’t have it any other way. Every Hobbs experience has made me question my own sanity, which is more than you should expect for an exploitation film about the evils of pornography.
The Point! was the sixth studio album by Harry Nilsson, as well as this film, which was directed by Fred Wolf, who would go on to help make the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle cartoon and the TV special Free to Be You and Me.
Yes, the creative force behind Son of Dracula helped make a cartoon and it’s exactly what you’d want it to be.
Originally airing as The ABC Movie of the Week on February 2, 1971, this film first featured Dustin Hoffman in a framing sequence. Hoffman would only allow his voice to be used for the initial airing, so his part is dubbed by Alan Barzman. On some releases, Ringo Starr and Alan Thicke did this part.
It tells the story of round-headed Oblio (Mike Lookinland from The Brady Bunch) who wears a pointed hat to fit in. However, once the king’s son knocks his hat off after being bested in a game of Triangle Toss, Oblio is kicked out.
Our hero and his dog Arrow are sent to the Pointless Forrest, where they somehow learn that even things that don’t have a point really have a point, in spite of themselves. They tell everyone this news and the king’s son knocks off Oblio’s hat again to reveal that he now has a point at the very same time that everyone loses theirs.
In 1977, a stage version of The Point! played in London, with Monkees members and Nilsson friends Davy Jones and Micky Dolenz appearing.
You can get this from MVD and watch it on Tubi. It’s worth watching and appreciating, perhaps even more today than it was in 1971.
Tarkan and the Vikings is the fifth in the series of seven films that tell the story of Tarkan, who seems at continual war with Vikings. Created by Sezgin Burak in 1967, Tarkan is rare in Turkish cinema in that he is not a remake, a remix or a rip-off. Instead, the Hunnish warrior and his wolf companion Kurt appear in their own movies which only slightly echo the Italian sword and sandal films, but are reflected through the low budget and high concept world of Turkish cinema.
The Vikings are, of course, beyond evil. They sacrifice virgins and worship an octopus god who — mercifully — emerges from the deep to menace our hero. Kartal Tibet would play Tarkan in five movies and he’s the exact action hero you want in this kaleidoscopic 74-minute blast directly to your brain. The villains do more than just shoot him in the back twice. They kill his dog. He swears to his dog’s son that he will have his horrible and bloody revenge. And oh yes — he will.
This wouldn’t be a Turkish film without the pilfered music, here being Strauss’ “Also Sprach Zarathustra” and at least one John Barry song. Seriously, I think Turkish filmmakers liked Barry more than even their British counterparts!
Eva Bender shows up in three of the Tarkan films and you’ll wish that she was in every movie that you’ve ever seen. While she plays the evil Gosha in Tarkan and the Golden Medallion and Tarkan and the Silver Saddle, here she’s Ursula, the leader of the rebellion against the Vikings.
Much like all Turkish films, the bad guys are quite literally the worst bad people you’ve ever seen with no redeeming qualities. They feed people to their pet hawks, they throw innocent women onto trampolines (yes, really) and literally throw kids in the air and slice at them with axes (double yes, really). Lotus (Seher Seniz) is a dragon lady so sinister that she does a striptease belly dance with throwing knives as our hero hangs perilously over a pit of snakes. Just writing about this scene makes me want to go back and watch this all over again.
You will learn much from this piece of art, but most importantly, you will walk away learning that Vikings chose to wear lots of pinks and purples.
You can download this from the Internet Archive or watch it on YouTube.
The second part of the Bloodthirsty trilogy — three unrelated Toho-produced vampire movies all directed by Michio Yamamoto — Lake of Dracula shares the Hammer-inspired look of the other two films, looking as gorgeous as only Technicolor-hued skies can make happen. It transplants the gothic feel of British horror squarely into teh Far East with style.
When she was five, Akiko had a nightmare of losing her dog inside a crumbling mansion until she watched a vampire (Shin Kishida, Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla) drain the blood of a woman. Now an adult, she finds herself back in the grip of that very same vampire, as he arrives in a white coffin, fully prepared to finally claim her.
He starts by taking her friend Kusaku and sister Natsuko as his thralls. As Doctor Takashi Saki has become involved in the case, he saves her as her sister expires in the sunlight of a beach, begging for her corpse to be burned so that she may never return. However, they take her to the morgue where she rises again from the dead, now a full vampire ready to help her new master take her sister once and for all.
If you watched this in Japan, the vampires all disintegrate at the end of this movie. When it was edited for American television, they just fade away.
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