Thursday, September 30, 2010

FILLMORE DISCOS 54 - '70s RARITIES 5

Candy, 1968 (**)
bonkers sex satire based upon Voltaire's Candide with a ridiculously stellar cast ranging from the anthologically lame (Ringo Starr) to the impressive (Marlon Brando and James Coburn)

The Legend Of Hell House, 1971 (***)
although it's soon frustratingly noticeable that the original book's explicit sex and perversion backstory is missing from this film adaptation, it's still pretty creepy (as supernatural movies go) and we see an impressively early example of the now-familiar pseudo-documentary diary format

Daughters Of Darkness, 1971 (*)
a no-budget euro-vampire cult movie with unimaginative camera work and low production values and, despite the beguiling presence of Andrea Rau, amateurish acting by the cast who are made to deliver some excruciatingly corny dialogues - Daughters Of Darkness simply doesn't live up to its glitzy reputation; especially when compared to the Italian masters' work, like that of Mario Bava, or even some of the better Hammer films

Don't Deliver Us From Evil, 1971 (**)
two young convent schoolgirls turn to evil and Satan for no obvious reason other than as a lame exercise in polarity response and a chance for the director Séria to have a pop at Catholicism at the expense of some pathetic bird cruelty and cheap laughs along the way - Séria attempts to conflate nascent female sexuality with all manner of transgression and it ends up as a stupid exercise in male wishful thinking and fantasy; Heavenly Creatures, also loosely based on the same case, is far superior

Montenegro, 1981 (*)
this, much like Shirley Valentine, represents the female equivalent of Embarrassing Dad Syndrome - a bored housewife is rescued from her stupor by running off with some bohemian lusty Montenegrans; I call bullshit to this dishonesty - firstly, these guys are just as boring, staid, and conservative as anyone else; and secondly, even if they weren't, they would have no interest in a piece of middle-aged bunny-boiler gash like 'Marilyn Jordan' turning up to get herself shagged

Roar, 1981 (*****)
this is a truly remarkable film about a group of humans surrounded and chased about by real lions, tigers, and other delightfully rampant big cats - narratively speaking, it makes no sense whatsoever, and yet is insanely compelling from beginning to end; check out some of Roar's astounding production details to come to terms with the toll (on the humans) it exacted during its decade in making

FILLMORE DISCOS 53
FILLMORE DISCOS 52 - CHRISTINA LINDBERG SPECIAL
FILLMORE DISCOS 51 - GIALLO SPECIAL 4

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Agree on Don't Deliver Us From Evil, one of the best titles ever but a surprisingly dull film. Heavenly Creatures, I can only say that I always give Peter Jackson and Kate Winslet the benefit of the doubt, even when they both are awful, based on this movie.