#howard avedis

[marypickfords]

The Fifth Floor (Howard Avedis, 1978)

[giftheplanet]

Bill Paxton

Mortuary (1982)

Dir. Howard Avedis

[cosmonautroger]

The Teacher, Howard Avedis, 1974

[bitter69uk]

Recently watched: low-brow 1976 grindhouse crime thriller Scorchy. IMDb’s ultra-concise plot summary: “Connie Stevens is Jackie "Scorchy" Parker, the hottest undercover agent the Feds have ever known. She makes fast friends - and deadly enemies.” I’d always yearned to see this one, but found Scorchy somehow not quite as juicy or fun as I hoped, especially considering its outrageous tagline (“She's Killed a Man, Been Shot At And Made Love Twice Already This Evening... And The Evening Isn't Over Yet!”). The storyline sees plucky Stevens orchestrating an elaborate undercover operation to nab a heroin-smuggling drug baron. There are shoot-outs and car chases - AND helicopter and speedboat chases! (Considering Scorchy’s director Howard Avedis mainly focused on sexploitation fare like The Teacher (1974) and Dr Minx (1975), he shows a real flair for action sequences). Scorchy frequently suggests a 1970s Blaxploitation flick, but with honkies in the central roles. Like, it feels like it should be Pam Grier playing Jackie, but it’s Connie Stevens. (And Grier’s superior 1975 film Friday Foster hits some of the same trashy sweet spots as Scorchy). Anyway, the then 38-year-old Stevens seizes the opportunity to distance herself from her ingenue days as Cricket Blake in TV’s Hawaiian Eye. There are glimpses of bare breasts, a gratuitous skinny-dipping scene and raunchy dialogue delivered in Stevens’ whispery babydoll voice (in the context of Scorchy, 1970s women’s liberation equals Jackie exclaiming about getting laid. In one exchange, she teases her boss Chief Frank O’Brien with “You look tense. You need a blowjob!” Perhaps understandably, he responds, “You’re a fruitcake, you bitch!”). I know the character is based on Stevens’ sex kitten contemporary Joey Heatherton, but with her frosted pale lipstick and feathered blow-dried hair, in her close-ups Stevens frequently resembles Catherine O’Hara as Lola Heatherton in SCTV. You also get the backdrop of Seattle in the 1970s AND hunky young male starlet Greg Evigan before B J and The Bear. Watch Scorchy here.

[laughingcrass]

𝓣𝓱𝓮𝔂'𝓻𝓮 𝓟𝓵𝓪𝔂𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓦𝓲𝓽𝓱 𝓕𝓲𝓻𝓮 (1984)

[cinemaquiles]

Antes de Freddy Krueger: "O quinto andar" (The Fifth Floor, 1978) filme com Robert Englund

[brokehorrorfan]

Mortuary will be released on Blu-ray on July 6 via MVD's Rewind Collection. It comes with a mini-poster. The first pressing includes a retro-style slipcase.

Also known as Embalmed, the 1983 slasher film is directed by Howard Avedis (They're Playing with Fire), who co-wrote the script with Marlene Schmidt. Mary McDonough, David Wallace, Bill Paxton, Lynda Day George, and Christopher George (in his final film role) star.

Special features are listed below.

Special features:

Interview with composer John Cacavas

Theatrical trailer

Mini-poster

Convinced that her father's death was not accidental, Christie Parson decides to investigate to find out the truth. Her sleuthing draws her to a local mortuary, where deadly secrets will be revealed.

Pre-order Mortuary on Blu-ray from Amazon.

[ladamarossa]

Mortuary (1983)