It is with a heavy heart that I comment on the passing of our very dear friend, Leonard Nimoy. Nimoy proved to be a man of many talents. Among his accomplishments were successful turns as actor, director, writer, singer, and photographer. We all best remember him for his iconic portrayal of the Vulcan First Officer aboard the starship Enterprise, Mr. Spock. The “Star Trek” role endeared him to fans and established his place as one of the most beloved fictional characters in the history of, well, the world! Nimoy’s work as psychologist Dr. David Kibner in “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” is to me [More]
Legendary science fiction and fantasy writer Harlan Ellison has passed away. Call him an iconoclast, outspoken, a larger than life character who didn’t suffer fools, especially those he felt tampered with the integrity of his work. He reached a settlement with CBS 40 years after his script for “Star Trek”-TOS, “City on the Edge of Forever” had been delivered to reclaim his share of the profits generated from his work. He had more impressions on the television industry collected in his series “The Glass Teat”. Acidic observations to say the least. I count Ellison as an early influence in my [More]
Legendary, ultra violent western from director Sam Peckinpah. A group of aging outlaws plan just one more big heist before “peacefully” riding off into the sunset. OK. That was really lame! But it’s a familiar tale of thieves taking down one more score before disappearing with the loot and presumably staying out of any more trouble. The really electrifying action takes place at the end of the film when the four man bunch takes on a Mexican stronghold of soldiers numbering in the hundreds. You will witness tons of graphic blood splattering, grenade tossing, and Peckinpah’s patented usage of slow [More]
Great World War 2 set action adventure movie starring the unlikely combo of Richard Burton and Clint Eastwood. Burton was a movie star at the time and Eastwood was suddenly hot after his run of spaghetti Westerns. Why not toss them together and pour them into this macho, adrenaline-fueled blockbuster? This picture clocks in at around 3 and a half hours but it certainly won’t seem so! In the days before Star Wars and Indiana Jones, this movie was the shit. Completely absorbing espionage caper where a team of Allied agents attempt to go deep behind German lines to recover [More]
An attempt to bring to the silver screen a work by author Ray Bradbury. Three futuristic stories are “illustrated” through the conduit of a mysterious wanderer whose body is covered in tattoos. Rod Steiger plays the tattooed man who explains the story behind various of his body art. Steiger and Claire Bloom appear in the three episodes playing different characters. Very brooding, dark film that wears it’s ’60’s era influences on its sleeve sometimes not so well. I must say that this is not one of my favorite films and not one I would readily return to. Trippy at times and [More]
Rusty West’s You Tube videos and books talking about missing people, weird occurrences and Bigfoot have become some of my favorites. I just like his writing style and narration. I think it is very direct and entertaining. But also very spooky! Case in point, in this collection of tales, is the tale of the raided chicken coop. That one gives me the chills. Check out Rusty.
Ah!!! Here is a delightful little trifle called “Race with the Devil”. Two vacationing couples take their RV out into the wild and make the mistake of setting up camp smack dab in the middle of human sacrifice country! Truly terrible luck. After this unfortunate incident, the movie becomes one long chase sequence as the blood thirsty devil worshippers continue in hot pursuit of the couples. Great action and some nice turns by the always dependable actors Warren Oates and Peter Fonda. This one is definitely not an Easy Ride.
I have never really liked this movie. On recent viewing, I can see why. The entire production is revolting. It starts with the fact that this is a big budgeted movie based on a best selling book, “Relic”. Don’t expect to watch this and think it reliably follows the novel. There have been many editorial liberties taken. (So what else is new, you ask?) This movie is awash in guts and gore being spewed in all directions. There are generous helpings of entrail ripping, blood splatterings and heads being severed. Ugh. I don’t think I found one likeable character in the entire story. Maybe [More]
A disquieting tale of the destruction of a remote research station by unknown forces. The culprits are right under our noses but we don’t find out until the very end of the movie. Dread and paranoia in abundance as Robert Culp and Eli Wallach attempt to put a halt to the rapid erosion of the human community at a snowbound scientific research center. Will they find a solution in time? Similar surroundings and situation to “The Thing” but without an other worldly threat. An ABC Movie of the Week entry.
Sickening 1960’s precursor to the “Saws” and “Hostels” of today’s sadomasochistic cinema. An invalid gets trapped in her elevator after an electrical mishap shuts off the power in her house. It’s not long after this that a collection of cruds break in to her place and indulge in unpleasant behavior. A wino, a floozy, and a trio of psychotic hipsters make the place their own and spread the mayhem. James Caan in an early, evil role. Shot in very bland, claustrophobic black and white. You’ll feel damaged by the time this thing is done.
The Americans’ air defense system blows a gasket and a group of six bomb carrying jets is instructed to drop their payloads on Moscow. It is all a computer mistake but one that the US cannot put a stop to. The President’s solution to appease the Russians is far fetched and more than a bit absurd. Suspenseful and tense though the majority of the film making may be, I can’t buy the ending.
What happens when you go to explore a massive underground cave/water way and you get about three miles in and one mile down from the surface of the earth? Naturally, you run into hulking, ravenous monstrosities that can see in the dark better than you and are intelligent enough to trap and hunt you. And, much to your dismay, there is no dependable way out of this cave and the nightmarish situation you find yourself in. (Sounds like work. Just kidding.) Very effective horror/thriller that stays engaging until about the last 10 minutes of the movie. By that point, we [More]
An attempt by motorcycle daredevil Evel Knievel to jump the fountains at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas. Upon landing on the opposite ramp, Knievel lost control of his bike and got busted up pretty bad. He was in a coma for nearly a month.
Art Bell just passed away. Bell was a very interesting fellow who started the Coast To Coast AM radio program. Bell was a pretty good interviewer and would let his guests discuss their topics at length. Bell followed his interests and featured a lot of paranormal topics and brought on guests who discussed UFO’s, Bigfoot, ghosts, and other strange phenomena. I spent many a night listening to his program and getting scared out of my wits and avoiding sleep. I have great memories of Bell, his beliefs and his sense of humor. The clip I linked to is an example [More]