IN THE REALM OF SADA ABE

I just finished watching Oshima's In the Realm of the Senses and was pleasantly surprised that all the hype surrounding the film was true. When I first heard about it, I was sure that the explicitness would be one or two quick scenes added as a sort of fuck you to Japanese censors, but I was wrong. Hard core imagery is spread throughout the entire movie including some very strange scenes (an egg WTF?). As far as the film goes, as well as being notorious, it is extremely well made and beautiful to look at, excellently acted, the perfect art house exploitation hybrid.

The story of Sada Abe has also been filmed two other times to my knowledge. A Woman Called Sada Abe is a more straight forward Pinky/Roman Porno approach and very enjoyable as a Japanese sexploiter. My favorite adaptation however is Sada directed by Nobuhiko Obayashi. His version takes the very dark subject matter and makes it almost fun, adding bright Argentoesque color and a surreal story telling style. Anybody who has seen Obayashi's other film House will recognize his directorial style. All three of these are well worth checking out for Exploitation or Art House fans, and for fans of Pink film they are absolutely essential.

RALPH!

I just watched Fulci's City of the Living Dead again and forgot just how awesome this scene was.  Enjoy it again for the second time!

Net Flix streaming update

I just found some more great genre titles on Net Flix streaming. Here's a list of some of the biker and post apocalyptic films they offer.
BIKER- Peace Killers, Angel Unchained,Chrome and Hot Leather, Devils Angels, Satan's Sadists, Glory Stompers, Hells Bells
POST APOCALYPTIC- Mutant Hunt, Warrior of the Lost World, Land of Doom, Interzone, Steel Dawn
Enjoy!

Something Weird #1 Ghastley Sin

I have a bunch of the Something Weird Image release DVDs and I'm going to go through them one by one and give some quick reviews as I watch them. The first is a double feature, Ghastly Ones/Seeds of Sin,  directed by trash auteur Andy Milligan. Each follow a similar plot: a group of people gather together in a house for some reason and are killed off one by one. Before I trash the trash let me say that I loved these movies. They were gory, sleazy and filled with nudity. However, these are not good movies by any stretch of the imagination. There is horrible acting and directing and they don't make a bit of sense. After the first few minutes, I found that my brain actually stopped watching the movie and I was just staring at the images as they appeared on the screen. The movies gave me a disquieted feeling; the only thing I can liken it to is the rosary bead scene in John Waters' Multiple Maniacs stretching across two hours. I heard Waters was a Milligan fan and he must have been, because his first films are very similar in tone to the two on this disc. The Ghastly Ones and the Seed's are trash cinema at its best, but if you like your films with any semblance of professionalism you should probably look elsewhere.

Net Flix streams the sleaze

One of the great things about Net Flix streaming is being able to watch movies that are unavailable on DVD.  Alot of these obscure  sleaze and horror flix that I quickly added to my list are not on DVD and go for ridiculous prices on VHS.  So if you just want to watch these treats without adding them to your collection stream them quick because they might disappear.  Here's a list of just a few of the great titles I found. 

Sugar Hill, Super Flt T.N.T., Escape from Devils Island, Video Dead, Light Blast,Bare Knuckles, Bamboo Gods and Iron Men, Return of Count Yorga, Caged Fury, Dirty O'Neil, She, Zombie Island Massacre, Bawdy Tales,  Dagmars Hot Pants, Lone Runner, Monster Dog, Kiss Me Killer, Contamination 7, Quest for the Mighty Sword, Mutant Hunt, Hercules Against Karate, Naked and Cruel, Hell Penitentiary,  Rape Squad, Crawlspace.

As I said these are just a few of the films that I found and I haven't watched them all yet so I cant vouch for how they look, but being able to watch these for virtually free is awesome indeed.   

Suspiria out of print?

Heard a rumor that some of  Blue Undergrounds classics are going out of  print . Argentos Suspiria and The Bird with the Crystal plumage the latter in regular and Blu-Ray. As well as super sleazy Hitchhike by Pasquale Festa Campanile. Staring Krug himself David Hess. Umberto Lenzi's gore and cheese epic Nightmare City is going away to.  I can't imagine the Argentos will be OOP for long,  but the Blue Underground versions are amazing.  Get em while you can !

X-Ray Milland

Kicking off this blog with a movie that I enjoyed probably more then I should have .There was no real sex or violence to speak of, but its fun in a kind of time capsule way.  Cormans X the man with X-ray eyes.  Not officially a drug movie X was made a few years before the psychedelic revolution took off,  but the premise and freaky visuals make it hard not to think of it as one.  Ray Milland in the staring role is a doctor who discovers a chemical that enables him to see through clothes and skin .  As he continues experimenting with the chemical his visions gets more and more distorted until the freak out climax.  Cormans original idea for the main character was to be a jazz musician who's use of recreational drugs leads to the visions. This idea was rejected as being to controversial and Corman went the doctor route instead.  One of the best parts for me was the appearance of Don Rickles as a sort of carnival barker using Millands powers as a way to get easy cash .  Rickles turns in an amazingly good and sleazy performance making me wish he had a longer appearance. X  like most of the films in this era ends somewhat preachy, but all in all its a good time, paving the way to more overtly drugged out movies to come.