LowLife Cinema

What have I been watching? I'm sure you're dying to know.

[lowlifecinema]

Extreme Prejudice

Until a few months back the only Walter Hill film I’d ever seen was The Warriors. The much praised film has near legendary status with film nerds everywhere. I’ve always found it to be very underwhelming and particularly hate the comic strip visual effects that are now part of the “Ultimate Director’s Cut” of the film. Why do directors insist on retroactively ruining their movies? Anyway, all that aside I've begun a deep dive into Walter Hill. I’ve been learning over the last few months that The Warriors takes up way too much oxygen in his filmography. I’ve recently discovered the brilliant film The Driver and was thoroughly entertained by Streets of Fire. Now, I’ve finally moved along to Extreme Prejudice, a perfect modern day western set at the American/Mexican border.

I’m obviously using the description of a modern day western loosely because the film was released over thirty years ago. What makes it feel modern is the current American “border crisis” that gets inflated in the American media regularly. I feel like there is a set of baby boomers who would see this film as some kind of documentary about what it’s like to fight the drug trade at the border. Not unlike how the same baby boomers see Death Wish 3 as being a documentary about gangs. The obvious difference between the two is that unlike Death Wish 3 this movie isn’t an insane right wing cartoon. It’s about two men, who were close friends growing up in small town Texas and wound up on opposite ends of the war on drugs. 

This movie is one of the manliest movies that ever manned. It’s about men who are law enforcement officials, criminals, drug traffickers and ex-army specialists. All of their emotional expression is through long blank stares, stories about other men, musing on how things used to be or through gunfire. Jack Benteen (Nick Nolte) is a no nonsense Texas Ranger who’s trying to clean up the drugs that are flowing into the United States thanks to his former best friend Cash Bailey (Powers Boothe). Cash was a former police informant who decided to cross into Mexico and use his knowledge to start a drug empire. The rapport between them exists from their past but has continued even though they sit on opposite sides of this war. 

Nick Nolte as Jack brings unshakable masculinity to the role. He never flinches even when he’s confronted with the death of his mentor Sheriff Hank Pearson (Rip Torn) or his love for Sarita Cisneros (María Conchita Alonso), a love interest he shares with Cash. Powers Boothe on the other hand is chewing every scene he’s in. He has a swagger and confidence that’s impossibly charming. You certainly believe he’s a drug kingpin who’s gotten very comfortable and knows he’s able to get away with whatever he wants. To add to all this masculinity is a group of killed-in-action U.S. Army soldiers who comprise the Zombie Unit. They rob banks and are on a mission to steal all of Cash Bailey’s money. Led by Major Paul Hackett (Michael Ironside) this group of highly trained army professionals make it their mission to take down Cash Bailey which leads to Jack and the Zombie Unit teaming up to go into Mexico to take down Cash.

For a movie with so many plot threads and characters there is surprisingly little fat or extraneous scenes. The story always moves along smoothly especially as the violence ramps up and different characters motivations become clear. The film beams with great character actors like Rip Torn, Michael Ironside, Clancy Brown, William Forsythe, Marco Rodriguez and Larry B. Scott whom I immediately recognized as the gay frat member from Revenge of the Nerds. Like any good western the whole film is basically just a build up to the final showdown and it doesn’t disappoint. I’m sure it would’ve made Sam Peckinpah sheepish. 

Extreme Prejudice is a fantastic film and I was shocked to find out that it never really had an opportunity to find an audience. It was a box office disappointment and never really got properly discovered on VHS. It’s never even received a proper widescreen DVD or Blu Ray release in North America which is an absolute travesty. This film checks off so many boxes for a great cult film. It’s a great 80′s action film, terrific modern western filled with outstanding performances and has a tight and well paced story. Of all the Walter Hill films I’ve seen so far this is my favorite with The Driver in my opinion being his best. As I continue watching the films of Walter Hill I can’t help but feel thankful that The Warriors did endure in spite of my disappointment in it. It’s helped me find some truly great films I wouldn’t have sought out otherwise. 

[lowlifecinema]

Hell Comes to Frogtown

On Halloween night I hosted a screening of They Live at The Garrison. I was really surprised at the turnout. I’m going on the assumption people were drawn to the screening because it’s a little talked about classic and it’s rarely screened. It features wonderful film making by John Carpenter and a great every man performance by Rowdy Roddy Piper. Watching the film with a large group of people was a fun experience. What struck me was just how fun of an actor Rowdy Roddy Piper was. They Live was certainly the best film he made but he has a charm that shines through even in his worst. After the screening I wanted to see more films he starred in and Hell Comes to Frogtown, a film that came out the same year as They Live, was a perfect choice. I got to see the film again with a room full of people for the Laughsploitation screening at Eyesore Cinema and it was obvious having watched both films with an audience that these two films couldn’t be more different. 

I wouldn’t say that Roddy Piper has much in the way of range as an actor. His wrestling persona early in his career was as a heel who wasn’t scared to verbally tear down his opponents. Later in the 80′s he went face which synced up with the growth of his acting career. The persona itself didn’t really change much. He just started mocking and confronting the bad guys instead of the good. The humorous and sarcastic tone he honed during his wrestling career is on full display in Hell Comes to Frogtown. It’s quite clear watching the film that everyone seemed to know exactly what type of film they were making except for Roddy Piper himself and it certainly works in his favor.

The basic plot of Hell Comes to Frogtown is so absurd when you try to describe it. It’s a post apocalyptic world where humans have become infertile due to nuclear war and the few people that are still able to procreate are forced to breed in order to save the human race. Sam Hell (Roddy Piper) is captured by the government and recruited to impregnate a group of captured pacifist women who are being imprisoned in Frogtown. With the help of Spangle (Sandahl Bergman) and Centinella (Cec Verrell) they break into Frogtown to free the women in order to save the human race.

When we get to Frogtown we’re introduced to some really gnarly looking frog people. The makeup isn’t that bad but the voice acting doesn’t do any favors to help you take what’s going on seriously. Roddy Piper brings a “what the fuck is going on” attitude to his surroundings. Especially as he realizes that he’s stuck in the situation and can’t escape without losing his “package”. The fact that Hell Comes to Frogtown knows it’s a ridiculous B-movie really works in it’s favor. While you’re watching it you never stop shaking your head and laughing as things get more and more absurd. It’s really a great watch.

One thing that really jumped out at me was the last half hour of the film. I was reminded of a more recent film. Hell Comes to Frogtown is clearly a low budget ripoff of the Mad Max series. It also takes place in a post nuclear war, desert hellscape. In the last thirty minutes though I felt like I was watching Mad Max: Fury Road. There is a truck full of fertile women escaping an Immortan Joe like figure named Commander Toty. The women are protected by strong military trained women and a man who is best described as a tough guy loner. I don’t want to say George Miller stole the plot to his movie from Frogtown but the similarities are clearly obvious. Fury Road is basically just an extended and high budget version of this films last thirty minutes and it really made me laugh. 

Is this film problematic? Of course. Sexist? Yup. Absurd? For sure. The important thing is that it never stops being entertaining. I could watch it again and again because it knows exactly what it is and leans into the stupidity. Roddy Piper is a great leading man because he never stops to question his surroundings or the script. I absolutely love the frogs. The voice acting for the characters Bull, Leroy and Commander Toty is hilarious. They are so over the top and the makeup effects so delayed that it doesn’t seem like they are supposed to match. I really recommend this film for anyone looking for a good laugh from a fun B-movie. It doesn’t have the same cultural significance of They Live but it does have a spirit that doesn’t let you stop smiling.

[lowlifecinema]

Stone Cold

I’ve never enjoyed the sport of football. Being Canadian it wasn’t the most important sport growing up, that was hockey. So it wasn’t exactly surprising that I had absolutely no idea who Brian Bosworth aka “The Boz” was and why he was culturally relevant. Apparently, he was a huge college football star who loved criticizing the NCAA while showcasing his funky hair styles. After floundering in the NFL he decided to use his fame to start an acting career. In a less segmented media universe a college football star showing even a modicum of showmanship was enough for a film studio to throw in 25 million dollars to create a star vehicle for "The Boz”. What they ended up making was Stone Cold, a box office bomb that wildly overestimated Bosworth’s star power. 

Right off the bat i’m going to come clean and say that Stone Cold is a surprising amount of fun. Brian Bosworth plays Joe Huff/John Stone and showcases his complete lack of acting ability and next to no charisma as he infiltrates a sadistic biker gang for the FBI. What makes the film so enjoyable is the perfect casting of the leaders of the evil biker gang. Lance Henriksen plays savage gang leader Chains and William Forsythe plays Ice, who is extremely suspicious of John Stone and his rapid ascension in the gang. Any scene they’re in is always full of life and helps to raise the stakes for the films final showdown.

What really makes this movie standout is the straightforward and brutal action. It never lacks a quality action set piece or a brutal death scene. These are the pillars of a quality action film and Stone Cold never stops delivering. What Bosworth lacks in presence the film makes up for by constantly being alive around him. This is a classic 80′s action film. Minimal plot and backstory, maximum explosions and violence.

The movie spends so much time building up just how evil this gang is that you never really have an opportunity to like Brian Bosworth’s character. He’s given a love interest to trust and play off of named Nancy played by Arabella Holzbog but the chemistry between them is basically non-existent. You spend every moment they have on screen together wondering what she sees in him. He seems to be the least evil of all the other gang members but he’s also the most boring. He never changes his facial expression or even shows a hint of personality when they’re supposedly flirting. His performance is pitch perfect in that it’s perfectly laughable throughout. Love/hate, happy/sad, it doesn’t matter, it’s the same facial expression and voice intonation. It never changes. 

The final courthouse action sequence is just wonderful to watch. It’s implausible, hilarious, bloody, and impressive all at once. I just kept wondering what this movie would have been and how it would’ve been remembered if it stared one of the bigger action stars of the time. This movie starring Seagal, Schwarzenegger, Stallone, Willis or even Chuck Norris probably would have been a huge hit. Instead it got a tepid theatrical response and was relegated to being discovered on home video. I’m a little disappointed I didn’t discover this film sooner. It’s great eye candy and is a solid amalgamation of what made 80′s action films so much fun. If only the VHS box had been displayed more prominently in my local video store.  

[lowlifecinema]

Howling III: The Marsupials

I didn’t know what I was getting into. On Monday I went to Eyesore Cinema for the Full Moon screening series and was introduced to Howling III: The Marsupials. I’ve seen The Howling which is considered a horror classic by Joe Dante. I appreciated the effects but overall I thought it was a forgettable film. Before attending I was assured that having skipped the second one wouldn’t matter as there wasn’t any continuity from the first two. I can report that there didn’t even seem to be any continuity within this film itself. I spent a lot of this movie confused and while I found the first film to be forgettable I had a very different response to this one. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to forget this sequel. 

The film opens with Professor Harry Beckmeyer (Barry Otto) screening archival footage of Australian Aborigines sacrificially killing what seems to be a werewolf. He explains to his class that the animal/person being sacrificed has a face so realistic looking that it couldn’t be a person wearing a mask. He obviously isn’t watching the same footage as I was because it clearly looked like a person wearing a bad werewolf mask. This is all just setup to introduce Professor Beckmeyer’s obsession with finding and hopefully studying this mythical werewolf species. Everyone around him thinks this is just a myth but he insists they’re real and this obsession helps drive the movie along. 

Soon after we’re introduced to Jerboa (Imogen Annesley), a young werewolf, who while living with her wolf pack in the outback, escapes her abusive father. She runs away to the big city of Sydney where she is promptly discovered to act in a horror film. Her wild, animal like look immediately entrances Donny Martin (Leigh Biolos) who introduces her to the most supportive film director ever, Jack Citron (Frank Thring) who finds everything to be “Simply Marvelous.” With her new found calling as an actress/model established she begins a loving relationship with Donny who instantly becomes infatuated with her. They begin an intense sexual relationship because Jerboa, who is part wolf is likely in heat. This leads to many hilarious moments with Donny proclaiming his love for Jerboa to any and every person he shares a scene with. 

Everything I’ve written above is just setup for what rapidly becomes a truly strange film. We meet other werewolves who have infiltrated the Sydney arts scene, medical studies that don’t seem to bring about useful results and the birth of a werewolf/human hybrid that is just plain gross with its use of mucus. There really isn’t a second in this movie that anyone would consider scary but it certainly tries. The special effects, story and acting just don’t allow it to break from it’s campy bubble. There is consistently an element of comedy that creeps in due to just how insane everything is.

This was the first Howling sequel to be released after the movie’s naming rights were sold. It’s less involved with The Howling series and more connected to the Ozploitation genre. This is a movement started in Australia in the 1970′s that spawned a lot of grindhouse cinema classics like Mad Max, Patrick, Next of Kin, Dead End Drive-in and Walkabout. These films are some of the best and most well known ones, the genre itself is best known for bad taste comedy, carpocalypse and horror films. Howling III fits somewhere in between. It’s relevance continued due to it’s place in The Howling franchise but it’s pure trash cinema. It’s charms do sneak through at times but at no point does it ever feel like it’s trying to be anything other than ridiculous. 

The most frustrating part of the movie for me was the ending. It isn’t disappointing, it’s just non-stop. There were more false endings than the end of Peter Jackson’s Return of the King. Whenever I thought it was finally over it kept adding an additional story thread. I blurted out in frustration a few times “How this this film still going?.” It felt like each improbable and unnecessary scene was tacked on to hit a feature length running time. When the ending does finally come it’s so bizarre that I couldn’t help but shake my head in disbelief. Ultimately though I recommend  Howling III: The Marsupials because it’s actually a fun movie to watch. It’s unlike any werewolf movie I've ever seen and it always diverted away from my expectations. It’s certainly one of a kind.

[lowlifecinema]

A Bay of Blood

I’ve begun a deep dive into Italian cinema lately. Specifically the films of the 1970′s. A couple of cop/mob action movies, some classic westerns and a few of the better known horror films. Up until fairly recently I’d only seen Dario Argento’s Suspiria. It’s a fantastic film but extremely different from the recent remake, which I also thought was incredible. I’d been curious about the work of Mario Bava and decided to watch A Bay of Blood, which considered the first slasher film. While watching it I was shocked at how many of the slasher genre’s tropes were lifted directly from this film.

The one thing that immediately struck me was the use of the POV camera perspective to stalk the victim. It’s not the first film to use this technique, but use it for the never ending slasher cliche of cat and mouse? It certainly is the first. A Bay of Blood also employs the slasher trope of the nonsensical narrative. Ultimately the plot in slasher films is just an excuse to string together scenes to keep the body count rising. As the murders keep happening the reasons for them continue to get less and less clear. Some are murdering people for an inheritance, others take revenge for the inheritance murder, some others seem to have long terms plans for the land everyone is living on while a couple are killed just for living their lives. It’s quite the free for all. 

The movie starts slowly. Building the tension and doing it’s best to unfold a plot. It’s not until a group of teenagers show up for a fun weekend of debauchery does that the movie really gets going. They just happen to arrive at the worst possible time. As they get killed one by one I was immediately fast forwarded to the slashers of the 80′s. It was like a window directly into the Friday the 13th movies. 

Why does this movie remind me of Friday the 13th? One thing that really stood out was how similar some of the kills in the film were to ones in Friday the 13th Part 2. For example, one of the young men gets a machete to the face in nearly the exact same spot in A Bay of Blood. The only difference is that in Friday the 13th Part 2 they add a little extra inventiveness with the victim being in a runaway wheelchair. The second copy kill, the impaling of two of the teenagers having sex were nearly shot for shot. Right down to the sharp end of the bludgeon hitting the floor right beneath the bed. When it comes to genre horror movies it seems imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. 

While the movie is fairly confusing and at times slow, I was so impressed by the visual style, the effects and just how the film looked that nothing else really mattered. It’s just visually beautiful to watch. I love the look of the film stock they used in the 70′s and the blu-ray gave it an other worldly quality. The way the color bounces off the screen almost diminishes the gory parts by making it look so beautiful. There is an art to the way Mario Bava fills the screen. It could be a camera angle or a lighting setup but it never feels out of place or boring. 

Now that I’ve watched A Bay of Blood I can understand the influence it had on the best in the genre. Black Christmas and Halloween both owe a lot to this film, and not because it’s the first slasher. They owe a lot because it pushed them to see the genre as art. I would still consider those later films better because they have better stories and character development, but what they lack is the color and beauty of A Bay of Blood. It proves a slasher doesn’t have to be murky and shadowy to work perfectly. 

[lowlifecinema]

Elvira: Mistress of the Dark

I didn’t grow up with much knowledge of Elvira let alone knowing she hosted a weekly TV show where she needled really bad horror movies. Being Canadian and growing up in Northern Ontario limits a persons ability to digest broad aspects of pop culture. One thing I distinctly remember was the movies poster, it hung high in one of the local video stores I forced my parents to frequent. I didn’t understand what the movie was but I was drawn to it. 

Recently I got my hands on a few old episodes of Elvira’s Movie Macabre, I was interested in watching more movie hosts after becoming infatuated with the return of Joe Bob Briggs on Shudder. I was charmed by the Elvira character and how she always played with the quality of the films. Her debut film Elvira: Mistress of the Dark takes her away from the TV studio and drops her into Fallwell, Massachusetts, a small town whose residents have ideals that don’t enmesh well with Elvira’s presence.

The movie starts in the television studio where she’s filming what happens to be the final episode of her TV show. She walks off the set after being sexually harassed by the station owner and makes no illusions of her disgust. This is clearly a regular part of her life and is a running joke throughout the film. She’s always being sexualized and constantly bombarded by the male gaze even though Elvira herself doesn’t really ooze sexuality aside from her style. The persona Cassandra Peterson creates is of a gothy, quick witted valley girl who is extremely self involved and unimpressed with almost everything that doesn’t directly impact her. It’s not exactly a deep character but she brings a charm to her standoffish interactions with anyone who isn’t immediately friendly or respectful. 

After being notified of an inheritance from a long lost Aunt, Elvira is forced to interact with the residents of Fallwell to gain her fortune. The movie itself is a series of battles between her, her Great-Uncle Vincent and the townspeople who are immediately put off by her style and attitude. Elvira’s only allies are the towns youth and a handsome yet clueless movie theater owner named Bob who catches her eye. The courtship between the two is quite funny as she’s extremely over the top with her interest while he’s totally clueless to her advances. Gradually, thanks to the magical recipe book she’s inherited the story slowly enters the world of the supernatural and the townspeople’s perception of her shifts from just being strange to that of a real witch who must be burned at the stake. 

There isn’t a lot of depth to the film but it does have a lot of fun playing with the typical fish out of water story tropes and her battles with the wholesome morality of the community she’s turning upside down. The scene where she cooks up what she assumes is a casserole monster, turns out to be an aphrodisiac that causes everyone in the town to go wild. 

When the movie was initially released it didn’t find an audience. This isn’t a huge surprise as Elvira’s Movie Macabre was kind of a local treat in Los Angeles, California. Like a lot of films during the VHS era it found it’s audience on home video and gave the character a larger platform that went on to star in commercials and become a pop culture staple. What we need is a proper North American blu-ray release so it can continue to be rediscovered by horror nerds everywhere. 

[lowlifecinema]

Before Sunrise

I was lucky enough over the weekend to experience Richard Linklater’s Before Sunrise on a big screen for the first time at The Royal Cinema in Toronto as part of the Up All Night festival. Having seen the film many times before seeing it in a theater with an audience changed my perspective on it.

The big thing that my previous viewings on VHS and DVD were lacking was not taking notice of the films third character, the city of Vienna. Vienna pops off the screen and you get the feeling that these beautiful surroundings are heightening the romanticism Celine and Jesse are living through. They pass the time trying to unlock everything they can about each other while the city watches over them, coaxing them closer to each other as darkness falls over the city.

The film holds up so well because it’s bursting with true moments. The scene that always stuck with me takes place in the record shop. Celine and Jesse enter a listening booth in a record store and as they listen they take turns staring at each other. Each of them looking away when they sense the others gaze inching toward them. It’s moments like these, just before you become really comfortable with someone that this film showcases so well. The other person has peaked your interest but you hold back as long as you can to not come off as being too needy or vulnerable. 

As they continue through the night they both drop their guard and Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke provide just enough vulnerability to their characters that you never feel like you’re watching something that’s overly plotted or scripted. You forget you’re watching a movie but rather just watching two people slowly dropping their guard and falling for each other. It’s this voyeuristic aspect to the film and the trilogy as a whole that elevates it. You’re dropped into these two characters lives and you root for them, it’s all that’s needed for the film to work.

The film progresses with enlightening and deep conversations that are a staple of Linklater’s work. Both actors are up for the challenge to make the dialogue seem natural so the characters feel lived in. The film ends as it should, it being the first film in a trilogy you know the story continues but Before Sunrise works on it’s own because it knows what stage of life these characters are in. The final moment Celine and Jesse spend together is so frustrating because in your early 20′s it’s easy for you to take an evening like this for granted. As if ones life is made up of an unending series of meaningful connections and you can just leave the next steps to chance. It’s probably why in the subsequent films the characters seem to always be chasing how they felt throughout this evening. 

It makes me wonder if they had exchanged information or met six months later would they have eventually ended up together? The ten years between the first two movies only intensified the passion in these characters memories. It probably would have been pretty anticlimactic trying to continue to build this initial connection on a long distance phone call. But lets be honest, this wouldn’t make for a particularly interesting sequel.