‘Jesus christ…’ – That was my lasting impression from sitting through ‘Baby Rosemary’ a film that…genuinely is probably one of the more unique and deeply unsettling adult films to come out of the 70s…and THAT’S saying something.

The plot? follows a young woman called Rosemary, her mother died when she was young, her father couldnt raise her as a single parent AND he seemingly had a lot of involvement with adult photography surrounding himself with very shady characters, and so handed her over to an orphanage.

We pick up with the film with a grown up Rosemary, going steady. But theres a problem, she’s absolutely revolted by the concept of sex. She can just about handle making out, maybe even touching. But anything involving penetration deeply unsettles her. much to the frustration of her partner who, after one final attempt to make it happen (given the pair are going to be apart for a couple of years after the current date they’re on) decides to leave to go have ‘fun’ elsewhere.

Rosemary is a little neurotic about it, promising that ‘she’ll raise her girls right when she has them’ to stop them from having impure thoughts or wanting anything to do with sex.

Anyway, the next evening Rosemary goes to visit her father for something, only to find he’s out. While writing him a note to say she dropped in, two of her fathers ‘clients’ appear in the doorway, and, at knifepoint, rape her.

Stunned, shes stumbles from the apartment complex, and when we next pick up with everyone, a couple of years have past and her former boyfriend, has now become a police officer, and is here to break the news to Rosemary that her fathers sadly passed away. At this point Rosemary also introduces us to ‘her girls’ two young women who are part of a ritualistic sex cult, that Rosemary is trying to be an influence on.

She goes with her ex to fill in the paperwork relating to her fathers passing and stops off at the apartment complex only to discover the 2 people who raped her two years ago, are having sex in the room opposite her dads old room. She watches them, before realising that shes only aroused by the idea of being sexually assualted. This then leads Rosemary down a rather dark path of trying to find ‘fullfillment’ leading to one of the most surreal and unsettling closing 10 minutes to an adult film that i’ve ever seen.

And, honestly, im having a bit of difficulty really figuring out my feelings on this one, as a work of ‘Adult’ cinema, to me? its a failure, the sex scenes arnt engaging, come in either two styles, ultra messy, shakey handheld footage, shot flat, with floodlit lighting (the least sexy lighting) or a tripod wide shot…Thats it. it looks incredibly clinical in places and the dialogue during the sequences themselves are incredibly cringey and unpleasent. This isnt shot like ‘Erotica’, its shot like someones reinacting a crime scene.

The plot itself, I assume is catering to a ‘specialist’ audience, it wasnt really for me. But in the last 10 minutes the film changes pace turning into what I can only describe as a ‘Blue Velvet’ level nightmare gang rape sequence. complete with ultra loud electronic scoring, Bizarre use of smoke machines and slow motion footage and a deeply unsettling scenario filled with unpleasent and upsetting characters engaging in horrible acts.

Its an incredibly powerful energy that genuinely unsettled me, and had the film carried that kind of power through the whole runtime, rather than soft loading it 20 minutes off the end, then running fully with it 10 minutes off the end. I probably would have been much more favourable to its dark and twisted-ness.

As it stands, instead? it just comes across as inconsistent, with the opening 40 minutes or so being fairly standard SA porn with a threadbear and unusually textured plot to hold it together, before we take a deep dive into a living nightmare. It literally feels like 2 movies have been stitched together.

Same applied to the direction and cine, with the bulk of the film feeling ugly, murky, sickly and floodlit, rough around the edges and it seems uncertain as to whether it wants our audience to reject the rape scene, or be aroused by it. I STILL dont quite know what the director wanted me to feel with the way this was framed and shot. But its unmistakable he wanted fear and shame to be the subject of the last 10 minutes.

Composition is all over the place, the edits super loose and im not sure if its my DVD copy or an error on the print scanned for the DVD, but 15 minutes of the film loops near the start as well…Which added to the dream like vibe of the production, but didnt help its case

Sharon Thorpe plays Rosemary here and its really hard to get a grip on the performance she’s trying to play, at first I thought she may be playing it autism coded and that the film was an experimental piece trying to display a world as percieved by an autistic person (for example, theres a scene where the casual phrase ‘Im gonna kill you for this!’ is said, but because its in the hazy nightmare sequence the guy saying it brandishes a knife at her. I thought they were being surreal) But then I realised this film ISNT multi layered by ANY stretch. and that they were actually probably just trying to depict someone fairly neurotic and isolated being forced into situations against their will…Which again, REALLY didnt help this films case.

Im still not sure how I feel about this film, whether im revolted by its tone and subject, upset at how rudamentary it all feels, or genuinely impressed at the BALLS of this film to go absurdist nightmare…given its poster and given what paying customers would be expecting from a film called ‘Baby Rosemary’. One thing I do know, it was crudely shot, looked ill and ran for about 40 minutes too long…and in my view, whichever way you cut it, that aint good. Worth watching at least once as an unsettling oddity. But otherwise, nah.

source https://letterboxd.com/tytdreviews/film/baby-rosemary/

Another blind buy, I was under the impression that ‘Top Knot Detective’ was going to be just some random Japanese sci-fi samurai flick. Something with just the right level of crazy to help while away 90 or so minutes this memorial day weekend.

It is in fact a bit more involved than that. This is in fact a mockumentary coveirng the cultural phenominon that was ‘Top Knot Detective’ and its spiritual sister show ‘Timestryker’ 2 shows that ran between 1988 and 1992 in Japan before scandles, rumours and even grimmer topics forced it off the air…where it would remain for around 10 years until, randomly, VHS quality copies were broadcast on australian television leading to renewed interest in the series.

through the documentary we learn about the origins of the show, we get first hand accounts of life on set from surviving cast members, we explore the companies that promoted the show, the scandles that took it off (and returned it) to air. and a chunk of the film is dedicated to trying to hunt down the ‘Top Knot Detective’ Himself ‘Takashi Takamoto’ who dissapeared under mysterious circumstances shortly after the show was cancelled in 1992.

Now, as a bit of an achillies heel, reviewing documentary (and by extension Mockumentary) is not my strongest suit. But what I can say is that this one really pleasently suprised me. the pacings a little on the slow side, and I think the core concept just about overstayed its welcome by the time of the end credits. But he journey through these two shows history is very well handled, the humour is fantastic across the runtime, and despite it not ACTUALLY being a japanese crazy sci-fi samurai picture, theres enough clips of our cast doing crazy Japanese sci-fi Samurai picture stuff that it still scratched the itch.

A lot of the footage in this film is on mixed formats, and I think they handle the direction of the archive media superbly, quite honestly, for the first 10 or so minutes of this film I was truely wondering if this show really had existed. they that accurately copy Japanese television from the late 80s and early 90s…With only a handful of CGI moments ultimately pulling it out of place.

The cast all come across as genuine and belivable, and given the budget and scope. I was honestly really quite impressed with just how accurate to ‘talking head’ nostalgia docs this thing managed to get iteself.

An absolute must watch if you enjoy asian cinema, Toei style ‘Kamen rider’ serielized shows or just love a bit of strangeness. I had a really good time with ‘Top Knot Detective’, and its definitely one I can recommend.

source https://letterboxd.com/tytdreviews/film/top-knot-detective/

I’d somehow convinced myself that this film was 2+ hours long and as such, i’ve had it on the backburner for a couple of years, waiting for a long weekend, or some vacation time to give it the plunge. Well, its a memorial weekend, and I just spent 94 minutes in the company of Olivia Newton John, ELO and Gene Kelly learning a valuable life lesson on finding a reason to keep on trucking, and I had a really good time.

Xanadu was the butt of many a joke through the 80s and 90s, it almost seems like an easy target, an oft surreal at times, Camp without being ‘rocky horror’ style aggressive, upbeat muscial not only harkening back to the golden age of musical cinema, but attemping to almost bridge the gap (quite literally) between those heady days of the 40s and 50s, and the all electric ‘new wave’ stylings of the 80s.

The film follows album artist Sonny Malone, a man frustrated by his work as he doesnt have the inspiration or steerage to drive his own projects, but when employed, he’s told to simply use his craft, rather than his emotions. Sonny recently quit the album game to try and go solo, but due to paid gigs not quite taking off, he’s back under strict guidence from his boss.

Things arnt looking to great for Sonny, that is until one of his own creations gives him a mystery, a rollar skating lady called Kira, who enters Sonnys life purely by random, at first in a blink and you’ll miss it intro, but later as the proposed cover art to one of Sonnys upcoming art pieces.

Captivated Sonny tries to learn more, and by chance eventually encounters Danny McGuire (Gene Kelly) a former artist who ALSO had a run in with a mystery girl back in the 30s and 40s while working with Glenn Millar, who left those days behind him in 1945 to focus on building a stable career.

Between them, both Danny and Sonny will discover the Kira is far more than just some rollar skating mystery, and in it will form a bond uniting two artists in a common goal, to reignite the passion they still have for their craft. In all it’s alt art deco 50s on 80s vivid colour explosive glory.

Right off the bat, I can kind of understand why some folks were turned off by this picture, fans coming off of ‘Grease’ into this for the ‘Newton John’ factor would likely have been dissapointed that this wasnt an out and out comedy in which ‘hunky guy, meets sexy girl’ and 50s shenanigans ensue.

It doesnt help either that the opening of the film is a little slow to get going, and the subtext of the film a little more advanced that just LITERALLY showing and telling people whats on screen. Indeed I feel sorry for anyone who went to this film expecting something like ‘Grease’ and got baffled for 94 minutes about talks of ‘dreams’ and ‘muses’.

As for me? I went in with the bar on the floor after years of this film being a punchline, and once I got past the first act, I loved it. ‘They dont make’em like they used to’ is often thrown around these days, but with ‘Xanadu’ they really dont. A film that is so unapologetically upbeat and not playing itself as ‘self aware’ in doing so. This is just a big, at times silly, bag of cheer of a film with a core message, as Gene Kelly so wonderfully puts it, that ‘Dreams dont die on there own, we allow them to be killed’.

While I think the plot of the script is a little stop/start, the core messaging and tone of the film is delightful. I love how we see the paralells between Danny and Sonnys characters, the former an artist who clung tightly to his vision, and fell out of style waiting for it to come back. and Sonny, a man on a similar path, learning the need to grow and develop to avoid the same fate.

Through the runtime these two men help each other to try and create a new vision, implementing aspects of the things Danny loved so much, with the things Sonny wishes he could get people on board with. Its a strong message not to let your dreams die, and to keep developing and growing your own dreams to keep the inspiration alive. And while, it may be a bit suspect in 2024, to have the very concept of a ‘Muse’, a dream, be a beautiful women from an objectification standpoint. I feel like, for 1980. its a strong message to lead with.

As mentioned the scripts a slow starter, but around the 2nd act it picks up a clip and once it builds up a head of steam, this film really doesnt stop, delivering a grand and satisfying closure to the film that really channels the overarching messaging. I think it nails the balance between being campy without being TOO goofy, and sentimental without getting TOO schmaltzy really quite well.

The characters are all pretty decently fleshed out within the world the film takes place in, I think a minor drawback here is, it would have been nice to see more ‘muses’ or to actually explore the concept of how inspiration isnt necessarily sauced from a single place. it might have been nice to have seen a ‘muse’ based on nostalgia, a ‘muse’ based on sadness etc…something to have really given the film just a bit more of an extra dimension and point of interest beyond Olivia Newton John being the central figure of all inspiration.

I think it may have also been in the films interest to give Danny and Sonny a bit more of a complicated relationship as a means of shoring up that first act a bit more. As it stands, the two meet on a beach, grab a coffee and suddenly, they’re in a palace jamming to Glenn Millar and are about to go into business together…It would have been nice to see the pair maybe have a contrast of opinion, to maybe have a bit of a struggle, but to make that difference of opinion the thing that holds them together stronger. It all felt a little bit too easy.

Kira too seems a little flat in the first act, as a character, she seems to mainly only pop in and out for the first act and when she does turn up, its usually just to ask questions to Danny and Sonny, then leave. I think it probably would have made more sense for Kiras presence in the film to have grown and grown, and for her to start shaping Danny and Sonnys world (as inspiration does) rather than her just basically being an individual that questions their motives.

On the direction front, its wonderful. a sense of grandness seldom seen in cinema at this point in time, Robert Greenwald manages to capture the feeling and tone of the golden age of musicals while blowing a new lease of neon soaked life into it with that 80s twist. Its a very creative picture for the time that revels in 50s and 80s culture, taking every opportunity to slam them together into something all together rather groovy. While I Think at time its a little *too* heavy handed on the ‘SEE!? THE 50S AND 80S WERE MORE SIMILAR THAN YOU THINK!’ messaging…where it hits. it hits for me, and we have a very professional piece that is ABSOLUTELY not afraid to experiement. Going so far as to even getting the wonderful Don Bluthe in to work on a few scenes that I felt really elevated the film to the next level.

The cine is delightful, constantly moving, creative, largely well composed. There were a few shots that seemed to lack focus here and there that were used as cutaways. But I can be merciful when this same film ALSO provides us with the frankly EPIC finale sequence that it does. The edit is largely tight, focussed on precise cuts and I love love LOVE! the creative transitions slides used across the movie, it really gives the film an additional layer of identity and I wish more films were creative with how they handle scene changes.

Performance wise? I have to give it to Michael Beck and Gene Kelly. their relationship on screen is played with absolute sincerity, they have a strong on screen presence and it ties nicely into the ‘bridging the generational gap via the dream of a common endeavour’ themes the scripts working towards.

Kelly here is wonderful, playing an upbeat on the surface but whistful for his lost past just beneath it character, his spry, lively and gets a really solid range to work here. I think he’s arguably one of the best parts of this film, and his dance numbers and physical performances across this film CLEARLY showed that there was life in the old dog yet.

Becky too has a fairly animated presence. I do kind of wish the script had fleshed him out a little more, as we really spend most of the film dealing with him in the ‘here and now’ with not a whole lot of information on how he got to where he is to go off. It feels very much like he’s a bridging catalyst between Kira and Danny, aiding him to recapture his dreams and inspirations. But he does get his own character arc that is resolved pretty satisfactorally. I do wish he’d had a bit more range however.

I mean, you know a films onto a good thing, when the weakest element is Olivia Newton John, who’s physical and muscial performances here are absolutely faultless…her acting though… … … d’yer like physical and musical performances? shes great at those! The rest of the cast are all vibrant, animate and lively bringing a real sense of wonder and scale to the production. and the choreography of the musical numbers really is superb, borrowing some of the better routines from muscials of yesteryear and marrying them up to modern dance sensibilities. they’re brilliant.

But easily, the very VERY best thing about ‘Xanadu’ is its soundtrack and musical numbers. Geoff Lynn and ELO craft a GORGEOUS score to this film that just oozes personality, with hits such as the titular ‘Xanadu’ and ‘All Over the World’ being married up to some lovely ballads such as ‘suspended in time’, or charming and reflective tracks like ‘Whenever your away from me’. its a wonderful mesh of 80s influenced 50s motivated hybrid tracks. and its as well rounded, full and pleasent as you can imagine.

Is ‘Xanadu’ perfect? no. its a little way off that, but this IS a very charming and quite contageous love letter to the days gone by, and anyone who’s ever had and lost a dream. if you can make it through that first act, you’ll be rewarded ten fold. I guarentee it.

source https://letterboxd.com/tytdreviews/film/xanadu/

Given that this was billed as the ‘B’ picture to ‘Hard Rock Zombies’ on Vinegar Syndromes (fairly) recent Bluray release, I had assumed that ‘Slaughterhouse Rock’ was going to be a nother muscially tangental horror movie (I was thinking the title was a play on ‘Jailhouse Rock’) and that I might have been looking at something in the vein of ‘Slumber Party Massacre 2’ A.K.A a slasher movie with random musical numbers. Taht is not the case.

‘Slaughterhouse Rock’ is ACTUALLY a pretty generic little supernatural slasher movie about a group of friends who travel to an isolated island prison/experimentation center? Im not 100% sure, I dont recall the film clarifying it as anything other than the final resting place of a supernatural spirit who was abandoned on the ‘rock’ centuries prior for his ritualistic, cannibalistic, BDSM torture and murder fantasies.

And…thats pretty much all this film is, a mysterious woman turns up around 20 minutes in after one of our guys has recurring nightmares of torture and dabauchery to explain that they’re stemming from the muderous spirit who lives on the rock. they all travel to the rock, and slowly they all get brutalized, possessed and whittled down.

Its not the most inventive story out there (Night of the Demon more or less ran this exact plot 8 years prior). But it didnt do enough to actively make me dislike it as a picture.

On the script front, its a bit hard going, the opening half is incredibly slow and the action doesnt really pick up until the last third or so of the movie. before that, its kind of doing a ‘nightmare on elm street’ kind of Schtick, where your not sure whats a dream and whats real. the characters are all pretty under developed (basically just swaggering 80s charicatures for lack of a better descriptive) and most of the front half is pretty much just spent establishing who the couples are, establishing the nightmare sequences, and setting up the main villain for the piece.

Once it does get going in that final third, its great! with some nice visual effects, a couple cool kills and it really picks up the pace, but it comes too late and ends too soon for me to really properly take it omn board.

The direction and cine for this piece are fine enough, its a little on the generic side truthfully for this kind of picture. It feels very much like a production going through the motions, and barring a few scenes that mix water and electricity. It feels very much like this was just shot to standard, tinted blue to try and mask the lack of visual identity and shovelled out as quickly as possible, not because they believed it would fly, but because they knew they could make money back on the video rental market.

Compositions are pretty bland, the edit is a little inconsistent, and I found myself a couple of times a little confused as to exactly what was going on and who was supposed to be doing what.

The soundtracks rocky, but fairly forgettable and the cast dont really do enough to land an impression for me truthfully.

Has ‘Slaughterhouse Rock’ been released 5 years prior, it could have been considered a solid piece of work that introduced new things to a genre that was already on the up and up. But this came out in 1988…and it feels sooo….SOOOOOO DONE by this point. Its a largely unoriginal production, that would probably do a decent enough job as ‘filler’ in between two other better movies. Its not inherently bad, but this one really is the definition of ‘Refilling the snackbar and hitting the bathroom while it plays in the background’ fodder.

source https://letterboxd.com/tytdreviews/film/slaughterhouse-rock/

A random (but welcome!) pick up from the last ‘Vinegar Syndrome’ sale. Hard Rock Zombies is a WILD little horror comedy movie that’ll more than scratch your Troma-esq itch despite being a Cannon production.

The film follows a heavy rock group called Holy Moses, they’re in the middle of a tour across the US. But while winding down after a long gig, they’re visited by a mysterious girl called Cassie, who warns them to skip the next town on their tour, but wont say way.

Departing as quickly as she arrived the bands leader Jessie, is both dismissive of what Cassie says, but also captivated by her looks and nonchalant attitude to the band. So you better guarentee they’re going to that mysterious town. On the outskirts they’re met by a mysterious attractive hitchhiker, who offers to save the band and crew some cash and let them stay at her mansion abode, rather than pay for hotels.

The band basically go ‘…sexy lady?…yes.’ and before you know it we’re at a gated estate, and its clear almost immediately that something isnt right. The family that own the house are essentially ‘the family’ from ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: Part 2’ with disfigured twisted dwarves, an elderly demented german couple and a mysterious Kojack looking so and so who constantly carries an axe with them…The band are concerned…but not enough to leave because…sexy lady.

So! they unpack and head into town. Where almost immediately one of the local residents tells them to leave IMMEDIATELY and the towns police force all but tell them that, one way or another, they wont be playing their concert tomorrow…Jessie also manages to catch up with Cassie, he tells her they’re still going ahead with the gig and they hope to debut a new song in her name. She continues to warn them to leave, but is very flattered all the same.

This of course leads us to the namesake of this film! as the family reveal themselves to not be what they seem! they are in fact, THE HITLERS! as in, the elderly old german man who owns the house is LITERALLY Adolf Hitler in hiding and the rest of the family are either ex-nazi’s that escaped the war, or offspring of the fuhrer.

They butcher the band slowly, one by one. Before revealing their plan to essentially ‘Gas’ the town…But it’s hard to keep a good rock band down, and if the band wanna rock, you better believe they’re going to rock, ressurecting themselves as Kiss based members of the undead, Holy Moses WILL perform their show…But they have some revenge to get in the mean time…

And, while I dont think this one was the ‘GREATEST’ thing on earth. I did have a lot of fun with it. the plots daft, it shoots off in several different directions. I could see this one pairing up very nicely with something like ‘Return of the Living Dead’ as a kind of ‘Comedy, Zombies and music’ double header.

While it lacks the aggression of ‘Return’, ‘Hard Rock Zombies’ does have a certain sense of mania about it, and isnt afraid to get gory if the need requires. The script is a little loose, but never really feels out of control. Its stiff to start, taking a good 20 minutes to really get going, but when it does finally put rubber to road, its an enjoyable ride that maintains a solid pace from that point onwards, delivering a finale that feels grand, even for a tiny budget and low resource.

Is it the most coherent script in the world? No. That’s kind of where the ‘Troma’ element comes in, as we have a TON of random nazi comedy bits, blood, gore, guts…nudity is actually one of the few things this film DOESNT do…and was kind of notable by its absence, given this is a film about 80s rockers…

Tonally it not quite as goofy as to be full on loony tunes, but its very light hearted in how it handles its subject, it seems to thrive on one liners and quick throwaway gags. While contrasting that with comedy gorey moments such as silly or over the top kills or dark humoured sarastic moments.

The cast are all a little under developed too, it would have been nice to get to better know the members of Holy Moses before their demise, as it might have actually made me care when they were bumped off. the surrounding town dont really get much in the way of character development either…Largely being relegated to a kind of…amalgous ‘we’re weird and dont like rock music’ grouping…it would have been nice to have had a bit more variety.

The act structurings a bit wobbly on this one in terms of signally an act change and actually implementing it, but around the start of the second act (around the time the band members start to slowly get picked off) it kind of finds its voice on how it wants to present itself, and from there if your willing to lower your IQ a little bit, its just a really silly little zombie movie.

The direction is fine enough, im not 100% sold on the directors choice to shoot everything overly dark in terms of exposure, it does mean quite a lot of the film is a bit low detail in terms of picture quality…which is a shame. But on the whole, there was clear thought put into how the tone of the humour should be shown on screen, and this vibe was clearly communicated to the cast as well, who arnt afraid to fully utilize the set space, or any props that happen to be to hand.

The cine is a little hit and miss for me personally, when it hits its well composed, utilizes clean lighting and rich and vivid colours and feels dynamic with plenty of micro-movement within the frame. When it misses, it looks drained of colour, flat profiled and felt pretty much lifeless.

The edit is a bit of a patchwork, in part because only the R-rated cut survived on film, with several gore shots (which DEFINITELY enhance the film) only being available from VHS…which does make some of the cuts within the film look a little uneven, as we transition from crisp, heavy grain 35mm film to upscaled 1080p VHS quality. beyond that, I also feel that B-roll is a little underutilized as well leading to long and slightly unweildy sequences that I think could have stood to have been beefed up just a little bit more.

The performances are almost all aiming for eccentric and overly camp. I cant say theres any particular standout performers here…Everyone seemingly understood the brief and chose to either play their characters as zany crazy manic people, or ‘the straight guy’ to the zany crazy manic people. They do a fine enough job with a good animation range…was their scope to go bigger with the performances more broadly? Absolutely. Will I chastise them for not? No. I think whats here is fine enough…I just think it could have been better.

And wrapping all this together we have a pretty solid score, it largely incidentl music and tracks from Holy Moses, and they really have a pretty decent sound with ‘Cassies song’ being a particualar highlight. It all works pretty well with the film and really helps bring it up tot he next level for me.

All in all? ‘Hard Rock Zombies’ has its flaws. But its also a lot of fun. I think it would thrive best as a double feature pairing with another movie (Its bundled together with ‘Slaughterhouse Rock’, but I could see this also pairing with something like ‘Hack O’lantern’, ‘Slumber Party Massacre 2’ or maybe even something like ‘Black Roses’) I think its a pretty solid B-movie choice.

On its own though? I think it would struggle to muster the enthusiasm required to carry it with a broad audience. But if your into cult cinema, Troma and the likes, or you just appreciate a silly low budget horror movie. and your with a few friends. I think you could do worse on a movie night than this. Its a solid choice in my opinion.

source https://letterboxd.com/tytdreviews/film/hard-rock-zombies/

A film I feel is a victim of ‘Hype’, I hadnt seen ‘The Monster Club’ before tonight. In fact, as far as im aware this didnt really get any kind of release in the UK…Which almost certainly contributed to this being a missed one for me. But! I know a lot of folks who did grow up watching it, who appreciated it and consider it a classic. And to those folks, I say ‘more power to you!’ Im glad you have a movie that brings you nostalgic joy! For me though? it sadly wasnt the case.

The film follows a group of preteens who are obsessed with horror and monster movies, who inadvetently end up getting pulled into a prophesized catastrophe. 100 years ago a group of monster hunter (led by Van Hellsing) were set to destroy an amulet that would have given the ‘classic’ monsters of the world (Dracula, Frankenstein, The Mummy, the Creature from the Black Lagoon and the Wolfman) an untold level of power. Unfortunately, they botched their mission and instead the monsters were banished to return every 100 years for a limited time to try again. Well, its 1987 and the monsters are ressurrected once again. Leading to ‘The Monster Squad’ forming to take down the beastly baddies!

The comparison to ‘The Goonies’ here is all but inevitable, but for me? the thing that kind of makes this film fall a bit flat is simply because I dont really know who the intended target audience is for it. This is an example of the old 80’s ‘PG’ which goes a LOT harder than the modern rating. And as such the language is a lot LOT harder than expected.

This is, in essence, a kids movie. But they drop homophobic slurs pretty regularly, theres some strong language (stopping just short of F-bombs) and strange extended sequences in which children and young teens Virginities are deeply analysed.

As such, I think most parents wouldnt want their kids to pre-teens to watch this, I think teens would just get annoyed that its a bit too babyish, and as an adult, I kind of struggled to stay interested purely because its a bit slow honestly.

The script has some real pacing issues, with the opening of the film being both slow and somewhat annoying as we go into painful detail setting up the characters, the 2nd act introduces the monsters, but…you dont really feel the historical ‘weight’ behind them, I mean, these are some of movies greatest horror icons for the time…and the film just kind of dumps them into the film without THAT much explanation, and then doesnt really do much to flesh them out either…And worse still. The monsters only have VERY minimal interaction with the present day. before leading to a 3rd act that feels like its finally found its feet, builds a good pace, but ends way too soon and abruptly.

Tonally, it feels like its trying to appeal to teeens strongest, it has a very base style humour that wasnt really for me (‘Wolfmans got Nards’) is probably the best part of this thing. The characters feel cribbed from other 80s movies and dont feel as fully fleshed out as characters, they feel very one note and largely seem to just shout gimmicky catchphrases every so often and little else.

I will say they do seem to manage to handle character growth fairly well here. but its rudamentary. they give 2-4 characters ONE thing thats going to change over the runtime. and then it does in a really bland and beige way…But the fundamentals of the characters pretty much stay the same.

While I think in terms of act structuring and overall pacing, they just about get it right (this is 82 minutes and I think that feel about right) its pacing within the acts is problematic to say the least, and really could have done with just…a bit more pep, and probably a bit more focus on the monsters truthfully.

On the other hand however, this is the first time we’ve seen all the ‘Universal’ era monsters on the screen at the same time, and the first time we’ve seen more than 2 sharing the same screen since the early 1950s. and they look INCREDIBLE. Honestly; this is some fantastic practical work in refreshing the Universal Monsters looks. and I think, barrig Dracula (who doesnt look nearly menacing enough for me) everyone else looks fantastic.

The direciton is creative, rock solid and has a clear and consise vision. Its a shame its applied to a somewhat lacklustre script. But I can see how this COULD have captivated audiences back in the day. The cine is sharp, well composed with plenty of B-roll to help bring the scenes to life. Colour work is consistent and really helps give the film a strong sense of self identity. and the lighting work is superb as well. Its all held together by a rock solid edit. I can accuse this film of having a less than steller script, thats seemingly more of an excuse to wheel out and refresh the ‘Universal Monster’s’. I CANT accuse it of skimping on the visuals. This is a VERY good looking movie.

The performances here are very hit and miss. The biggest problem for me? The Monster Squad themselves. Im not going to go into detail on the quality of the performances, because I dont really pick apart child actors, they’re still learning their craft. But what I will say is that realistically, it feels a bit crowded with there being upwards of between 5 and 7 members of the squad, especially when the script is so poor from a character depth perspective. Honestly, I think this could have been SO much better had the squad been 3 kids and a 4th interchangable character dropping in to help them battle the monsters.

Andre Gower and Ryan Lambert for my money probably would have been a solid pairing together in this. they both seem to get the lions share of the dialogue, they have a strong screen presence and seem to get the most distinct characters out of the lot.

Leonardo Cimino is also fantastic as the elderly ‘scary German man’ who helps the squad out in translating Van Hellsings journals. he has a real presence and transitions nicely across the runtime from being an intimidating figure to a very warm one.

The scores probably the best thing about the movie. it really has a nice atmosphere and the timings rock solid for JUST coming in EXACTLY when its needed.

But…Ultimately, I kind of struggled with this one. It didnt really give me enough to well and truely hook me, and while I really appreciated seeing the ‘Classic’ monsters out with a new lick of paint. the fact the core plot was so basic, and the tone and vibe was so skittish between being kind of fun and kind of offensive…it wasnt really for me.

I can absolutely appreciate it on a technical level. I think there are moments where the script really shines…But The tone pacing, basic plotting, performances and how the cast and monsters were utilized were just too underdone for me. Maybe a rewatch around Halloween could change my mind. but otherwise, this ones ‘Above Average’ by the skin of its teeth. thanks largely to its technical aspects.

source https://letterboxd.com/tytdreviews/film/the-monster-squad/

Tom Greens absurdist masterpiece, ‘Freddy Got Fingered’ is everything as it is nothing, an hour and 27 minutes of everything that made Tom Greens ‘movement’ in the 90s as popular as it was, crystalized into an over the top, extreme screeching belch of a movie, that delivers intensity and rawness in what can only be described as a ‘freewheeling’ manner.

The plot, follows Gordy (played by Green) an aspiring animator who wants to sell his cartoons to Hollywood. After getting turned down by an exec. Gordy returns home to unhappy parents who want him to stop the nonsense and just get a job and get on like the rest of the family. Gordy however is completely unable AND unwilling to fit into society’s mold, and this sets off a series of events that will see Gordy swing a baby over his head by its umbillical chord, wear a ‘cheese helmet’, break his best firends leg on a skate ramp, and accuse his own father of molesting his 20-something younger brother ‘Freddy’.

To me? this is a film you have to be in a VERY specific mindset to enjoy. If your not in that headspace, this is a screeching fever dream of a movie that will probably make you loath the 90s and early 2000s as a cultural movement with every fiber of your being. If you ARE in the headspace for something completely incoherent and rambly however, there is quite litereally NO other kind of movie out there that will scratch that itch quite like ‘Freddy Got Fingered’.

The scripts plot is ultra basic, it goes exactly the way you’d expect it to go, and you can tell that from around 10 minutes in based on the tone of the film alone. With this film however, the main plot isnt the reason to tune in, its the journey Gordy goes on to get from point A to point B thats the real meal ticket here.

Greens manic energy is pulsing through this script and its totally breakneck pace and tone means you will NOT get even a second to catch you breath before we’re onto another totally rediculous and over the top sequence that’ll likely have your jaw somewhere between your collar bone and the floor.

The direction and cine are fine, this is a studio picture. I got no complaints on my end.

This is a fantastic turn for Rip Torn, who seems to be having the time of his life here, and Green seems to be almost fully enjoying creating film that seemingly exists purely to screw with hollywood executives and the film critic community at large. I almost admire the sheer gaul of Green to take 14 million dollars and produce such a bizarre piece of ‘anti-cinema’

Oh, and the score for this thing? is easily one of the best scores of the 2000’s. full of rich punk deep cuts. I really had a soft spot for this one.

What IS shocking is the fact this film is currently trapped on VHS and a 2002/03 DVD release. This ACHES for a proper Bluray or 4k release. With its recent drop on the Criterion channel, I sincerely hope more people find this film and that it gets the HD remaster that it so desperately deserves.

Funny, quotable and, when viewed in the right conditions, PERFECT ‘watch with friends’ fodder. I have a soft spot for ‘Freddy Got Fingered’ its imperfectly perfect, and while I cant say this is a regular watch for me. it IS a film that does what it does like no other film can.

source https://letterboxd.com/tytdreviews/film/freddy-got-fingered/

The first time I caught ‘Skip Tracer’ I wasnt really in the right headspace to appreciate what it was trying to do. Now a year or two on from my first viewing, Part of it was my own fault, I went into this thinking it was going to be a bit more of a charismatically bleak piece (Ala ‘Withnail & I’) only to find it to be an incredibly nihilistic picture, with punctuations of hope and positivity.

Tonight, I was finally in the right headspace to sit down and take it all in properly, and while Im still not 100% confident I nailed EVERY aspect of what this film was trying to do and say (which IS a good thing, I’d rather a film with multiple layers of complexity over a base level picture when it comes to this kind of tone and subject) What I was able to process, was really quite incredible given the scope and budget.

The film follows John Collins, a ‘Skip Tracer’ (basically a hardened repo man/baliff) who uses intimidation tactics and stop just short of violence (some do cross that line) in order to recover acrude debt thats been given to folks via the company used to recover the debt.

The film opens with John putting a ‘For Sale’ sign up at the home of George Petigrew. a man deep in debt with a wife and kids who are struggling badly, they beg for more time, but John tells them straight that its not him asking for the money, its the company.

Johns a ruthless character, he’s won ‘Man of the year’ at the company for 3 years and he’s not far off winning it for a 4th. This is acknowledged by Brent, a new starter to the business whos just…TOO nice for the job, and so in an attempt to harden up, he cozies up to John asking if he can shadow him and support on jobs in order to learn from the master.

John tells him up front ‘No.’ but Brents persistent, eventually to try and shake him, John sets Brent up to run the jobs he doesnt want to do (I.E the ones where he’s most likely to get filthy, or beaten to within an inch of his life) But Brent doesnt use intimidation, he uses kindness…and it somehow seems to work more than being cold to the clients. Johns confused by this and begins to question how Brent even got into the job in the first place.

Problems slowly start to creep in however, John has a couple of mistakes happen on the job that prevent him making a claim, and a message from upper management, curious about ‘how dedicated John is to his job’ results in John losing his private office and being forced to work on the floor with all the other agents working low level cases. Johns Boss Henry tells him he needs to beat last years record, and if he does, he’ll get his office back.

But things slowly start to go even further off the rails when word gets to John that Petigrew is slowly breaking down due to stress and that he’s taking it out on the wife and kids. Brent continues to open up Johns thoughts to life beyond the business and after a chance encounter with a (possibly) hired thug resulting in a stabbing that puts John in the hospital, he begins to evaluate his life and where he’s heading if he stays in this business.

I really fell in love with this picture on this rewatch truthfully, It should be noted that its a VERY slow burn for 94 minutes long. But its a slow burn thats rewarding, doesnt baby the audience and works a satisfying range of thoughts and feelings that really does give it a strong rewatch value.

As mentioned, the script takes its time here, but the pacing rarely if ever drops. its consistently pushing forward the narrative themes and ideas right across the runtime. Its a film that deals largely with themes of humanity, life and moral values, as John really struggles with the idea of whether this industry really truely is for him. When we join John he’s closed off from the world, he’s shut himself down to deal with the trauma he has to deal with on a day to day basis to keep his numbers up.

But the introduction of Brent and veteran Skip Tracer ‘Leo’ really introduce that definition that takes the script to the next level. With Brent bringing the element of ‘fresh facedness’ an offer of hope, possibility and life beyond the graft. and Leo offering the other side of the coin, a cold, fully shut down, stuck in his ways, self described ‘Asshole’ who’s so deep into the life he’s made, he feels nothing but whatever it takes to get him to the next gig. He’s considered ‘one of the best’ But this leads John to begin questioning ‘At What Cost’

And I think they handle those themes expertly here, particularly in the 3rd act when those feelings really begin to boil over and a particularly nasty exchange near the end of the film is a total rug pull for the audience, and from that point onwards, you know exactly what John needs to do.

The act structurings a little slack, I think the first act overruns slightly and the 2nd act underruns a bit. But on the whole its solid. the act changes are a little too overt for my taste. I think a few more unexpected surprises to help better mask the shifts in tone would have helped smooth things over a little better…but thats a minor issue, if any honestly.

The characters are all wonderfully crafted, multi layered compelx and naturalistic believable roles. The director had previously had experience working with his father in selling life insurance and a lot of the influence from working in that field was transplanted into this film. It feels like a real world, it feels like these events COULD (and no doubt DID) happen in one form or another.

and only enhancing that still is some superb dialogue which feels very naturalistic. doesnt drown the atmosphere of the picture, is select, poigniant and brings with it a level of charm and bleakness that really helped keep the pace up when the slow burn started getting a little too slow.

The direction here is pretty rock solid too, if im being honest I dont *quite* feel like this is something revolutionary. But given this was Director Zale Dalen’s first feature production. Im honestly quite impressed, as most experienced directors fail to hit this level of quality consistently.

While theres not much in the way of creative experimentation, shots clearly had a lot of creative thought put into them, and given this was a fairly light crew, it only makes how professional this production looks and feels, feel that much more unique and special.

Direction of the cast really is a winning point here, with clear communication, there isnt a WHOLE lot of folks to physically do in this picture, but its clear strong conversations were had around how best to deliver dialogue, and there was clearly some slack around improvising with set space and props. Which the cast run with, again really helping to sell this world and being realistic and naturalistic.

Performance wise, David Petersen gives the performance of a career here as John, a transformative act, he works a FULL range across the runtime, and seemingly does the impossible, making a deeply unlikable character utterly watchable through a full redemption arc. he brings a subtle, but perfectly timed performance to proceedings and I honestly dont think anyone could have bettered him on this one truthfully.

Rudy Szabo as Leo is also excellent, he doesnt get that much screen time, but every scene he was in, he FULLY pulls you in with just a TOTALLY uncomfortable level of slime and sleaze. He’s playing a man long past caring and he really gets to the heart of the role, fully convincing you that there is NOTHING behind the eyes of this character by the third act.

The rest of the cast are also pretty rock solid (no complaints from me) in fact, the biggest flaw I think I have for the whole film is probably in its soundtrack. and even then its not THAT big of an issue. But basically, for this film, they’ve chosen to go for a pretty minimalist score. its pretty much one of two sounds, a really cheap synthesizer playing basic melodies. or a drum, bassey synth combo leading a percussive range.

For the most part, its used well. Punctuating key scenes as required. It works and I quite enjoyed it. But there are just a few moments across the runtime where that high pitched warbling synth really makes its presence known a little too hard, and it really kind of threw me, because the films so well handled in almost every other regard, to see it then jump to the kind of music that only really existed in direct to video self help guides in the late 80s…was a bit odd.

All in all, I highly recommend ‘Skip Tracer’ particularly if your a fan of bleak character driven drama pieces such as ‘Midnight Cowboy’ or ‘Taxi Driver’ while not 1:1 with the those films, tonally they share similar grounds. and given its VERY clear how much passion and heart went into this production. I frankly feel like the more people who can see it the better.

[Skip Tracer is available via ‘Gold Ninja Video’ and if you are going to check this out, I highly recommend going for that release, as it includes two different cuts of the film plus a TON of extras that are all really quite wonderful]

source https://letterboxd.com/tytdreviews/film/skip-tracer/1/

Just…go read my ‘Camp Blood 4’ review again…because that’s basically all this movie is. Rejigged footage of ‘Camp Blood 4’ intercut with about 15 minutes of new footage of Raven ‘post Camp blood 4’ talking to her therapist and watching TV with her friend, which gives Dustin Ferfuson an excuse to show 20 minutes of ‘Thingz’ and ‘Meathook Massacre’

There’s about 10 minutes ringfenced for a conclusion that makes NO sense and answers nothing.

This really is truely the pits. Below the pits. This is pure cinematic tar.

source https://letterboxd.com/tytdreviews/film/camp-blood-5/

The final entry in ‘The Toxic Avenger’ franchise (well…until the new one finds distribution) was a bit of a scattershot ride for me to say the least, After ‘Toxic Avenger: Part 3’ failed to do the numbers, the franchise went dormant for the better part of just over 10 years. But then, at the turn of the milennium. Lloyd Kaufman decided to try again to bring New Jerseys lone superhero son back to the big screen…and the results? Well, they’re not so good.

For a starters, the film opens by slamming the previous two entries in the franchise, announcing that they ‘dont count’ at this point and that ‘Part 4’ is now the OFFICIAL sequel to the original ‘Toxic Avenger’…Which…I dont mind so much…But then they spend a huge chunk of this film re-introducing elements (such as Tromatons) back into the series…

The other thing to prepare yourself for, is a distinct change in the approach to the way these movies were (and still are) made. Y’see, up until the mid 90s Troma movies main goal was (seemingly) to bring cartoon level violence and humour into live action scenarios complete with all the real world gore that would inevitably follow it.

But at some point around 1995/1996. Attitudes changed, and a shift took place AWAY from making films that were absurd first, and offensive second (the idea being that these productions were too cartoony, crazy and absurd to ever really TRUELY be taken seriously when they did offensive things) to instead riding on a wave of ‘anti PC’ humour.

In short; from the mid 90s to the present day, rather than anti PC rhetoric being a more casual played down byproduct of the absurdity of a Troma film filled with aggressive characters and tones…It became THE drive of Tromas films…and thats important to differentiate, because a film casually dropping racial slurs when its firing a hundred jokes a minute and its CLEARLY not using those racial slurs or rhetoric as THE main drive of a joke CAN sometimes be funny…But a film where the central joke is picking on minorities and just shouting slurs over and over again, apart from being lazy and annoying is in fact NOT funny (not in my opinion anyway.)

I mention this because a core central element to ‘The Toxic Avenger 4: Citizen Toxie’ is predominantly the abuse and slurring of people with physical, mental and learning disorders. In fact…MOST of the film is spent with actors pretending to have learning difficulties, twitching, putting on ‘voices’ and HARD leaning into stereotypes.

The film basically RELIES on this, alongside gags involving actors in ‘Blackface’, racial and homophobic slurs, and graphic toilet humour to get by. Which, to me at least pretty much instantly made it one of THE most offputting things to try and work through in quite a long time.

The basic plot is that a local gang called ‘The Baby Mafia’ infiltrate a School for ‘special’ children, giving the police 30 minutes to meet there demands or they’ll kill a student, and then every 5 minutes AFTER that, they’ll kill one more student. Eventually; Toxie and his faithful asstant ‘Lard Ass’ (a morbidly obese man who fights with a baguette and ‘lard spray’) tackle the mafia, but in doing so a wave of children end up murdered and the Baby Mafia activate a bomb, killing Lard Ass, but…As luck would have it, at the exact same time in a parallel dimension, a bomb was set off at the exact same location at the exact same time. causing a rift in space time that forces two Toxies to swap universes. Toxie ends up in an evil version of Tromaville called ‘Amortville’ and his doppelganger, the evil ‘Noxious Offender’ is sent to Tromaville.

The pair eventually realise whats going on and while Toxie tries to clean up ‘Amortville’ and make his way back to his own dimension, ‘Noxie’ actually kind of likes Tromaville, and decides it’s going to be his new place to cause carnage and sow chaos…Oh! and theres a B plot where Toxies girlfriend (who for some reason is now called ‘Sarah’) is trying for a Baby with Toxie, but ‘Noxie’ finds out and sets about impregnating Sarah with his evil demon baby seed…So yeh, if your sensitive to SA and rape content…be aware that this things also CHOCKED full of SA and rape jokes AS WELL AS actual scenes of SA and rape…

The first time I watched this, I remembered actively hating it. LOATHING the fact that they essentially turned a daft, shocking but ultimately charming series of films into edgelord fodder for seemingly no reason. On this rewatch, my opinion softened on it a little bit, but my main thoughts still remain the same.

The script is simultaineously lazy in the sense that its just a load of nonsequiters *occasionally* tied together by a very thin plot device and propped up with an ungodly amount of racist, homophobic, transphobic, and ableist bollocks. but then equally it gets overly complex when its trying to deal with multiple universes…To the point that it really kind of stops making sense…But the thing is, I dont think that was intentional, I dont think Lloyd and his writing team were trying to satarize ‘sliding doors’ style movies here…I think they just didnt really take the time to BOTHER hashing out a movie that would at least TRY to hold together…

The pacings all over the place, at an hour and 40, this thing DRAGS so bad. Tonally its trying to recapture the aggression of the first Toxie…But because it cant quite nail the absurdist humour of the first film, it just comes across as an angry movie that using humour to mask how angry it is, rather than a funny movie thats using anger as a mask to amuse.

The act structuring is more or less non existent, the characters are all stereotypes or charicatures…and not good ones. the dialogue has the odd moment that made me gaffaw…but those moments were well and truely few and far between…

Its a script that feels rough, unfinished and most importantly, it just isnt that fun. most of it is quite mean spirited and the handful of times it does manage to capture the energy of the first film, its very fleeting and feels almost of of place amongst the rest of the film.

On the direction front, we’re once again having to deal with stock footage on and off to get by, Kaufmans work here is consistent, but feels phoned in. Given they took over 10 years off from Toxie, you’d think they’d be coming back with an appitite, but that doesnt translate on screen. Theres no consistent vision. its chaos, but not the kind of organized chaos that shows thought and craft went into the production. Its chaos in the sense that it feels like everyone was handed a camera and told to ‘have at it.’

And thats not mentioning the cheapness of the whole thing, almost every aspect of the set design and direction within the locations feels cheaper. most of the signs on buildings are just written on pieces of paper. Toxies makeup has been downgraded to just a generic halloween mask, and the recent 4k remaster makes it PAINFULLY clear that it wasnt even moulded for the actors head. as his mouth doesnt really fit the moutpiece of the mask leaving random flaps between his face and the latex.

The handful of times it DOES feel like a budget was present, they kind of ruin it with an inconsistent edit, that has WAY too many cuts going on for its own good, is overly busy and generally feels a bit lost in itself. There were moments watching this that I had to stop and try and take stock of what was ACTUALLY going on onscreen, because it was cutting to things for LITERAL seconds, then cutting away.

The cine isnt great either, theres a lot of handheld work, it feels rough and rushed. But not in the frenetic way that made the original ‘Toxic Avenger’ feel like something anarchic and new, in a way that makes it feel like they hadnt planned out the scene, so they just decided to free hand it and wing it.

composition is messy, vision isnt great and the edit really suffers as a result, with inconsistent shot variety, everything feels like it was assembled via blender…and the end product really didnt do it for me.

Throw in some weird performance stylings. Folks here are either angry without being funny, or are comedic without any other kind of personality type to offset the comedy…meaning they’re either irritating or migraine inducing. Again; sometimes the film does have its moments and Clyde Lewis as the voice of Toxie is probably the best thing about this film. Hes decided to voice the character in the same way Adam Wests Batman delivered lines. He plays it more or less totally straight and in doing so, he makes some of the deliveries here genuinely hilarious.

I suppose honestly, the best thing about this film (easily) is the score. Which is 90s and very early 2000’s style pop punk and a real shake up to the synthy stuff we’ve had in the previous films. Theres some genuinely great tracks on the soundtrack for this one, and while Im really not a big fan of the film itself, the OST is one i’d really quite like to get my hands on.

‘Citizen Toxie’ was quite a dissapointing watch for me. I didnt exactly have high hopes for it after ‘Part 3’ but I’d at least hoped that Kaufman and Hertz maybe would have used the 11 or so years gap to try and plan a future for the series…Instead, this comes across as rushed, insincere and offensive in a way that isnt funny, its just depressing…Its overly long, boring in places and never quite manages to hit the ‘Troma’ mark that made some of their other more notable works successful.

I could see myself revisiting this one again in future. But I really cant recommend it unless you’re doing a marathon of all these films. the first 2 films are really all you need.

(Additional: the 4k remastering for this one is night and day over the old Bluray release. its the best this films looked on a home release…but again, given the content. While it looks incredible, it isnt enough to warrent ACTUALLY sitting through it.)

source https://letterboxd.com/tytdreviews/film/citizen-toxie-the-toxic-avenger-iv/