If you haven’t read my other post on the crazy world of hand painted movie posters from Ghana then I recommend you read it first. Well, only if you’re interested in the history of why these things even exist. If you’re just in it for the lulz then read on!
A movie poster should be an image which evokes thoughts and emotions of what that movie is/was about. It’s usually your first introduction as this is what you’d see before even setting eyes on the movie.
Dredd (2012)
I’ve just touched 40, I’m single, and a miserable old bastard. So, as you can imagine, on Christmas Day I’m pro-bah humbug. What did make me eventually crack a smile (on everyone’s favourite Pagan holiday) was to finally watch Dredd (2012).
Let me fill you in, I’ve been reading Judge Dredd in the pages of 2000AD since I was a nipper. Hearing that there was going to be a Judge Dredd movie made me giddy with delight. Then red with rage when Stallone took the helmet off. Never mind that the look of Dredd was missing. Thankfully this new Dredd movie ticks all the right boxes and I will from hereon in deny the existence of that ‘other’ movie.
A Night In The Lonesome October by Roger Zelazny
It’s almost October folks, so I thought I’d give you something to read over the cold winter nights.
Zelazny’s ‘A Night in the Lonesome October’ is something of an oddity:
Superjail
With season three just around the corner (end of September) I think it’s time to review Superjail.
Superjail is the animated bastard son of Robert Crumb and Happy Tree Friends. Each episode lays bare the crazy antics of said super jail which is built inside a volcano. The Warden obviously runs the show and is probably best described as a circus ringmaster more than anything else. Then there’s Jared (a ‘recovering alcoholic’) and Alice the butch/macho guard.
The Dragon Lives Again – aka: Deadly Hands of Kung-Fu (1977)
There’s so many shades of awesomeness in this movie I’m not sure where to begin.
OK, some history. After the death of Bruce Lee there was born an entire new sub-genre of exploitation: Brucesploitation. Yes, that’s right, people started making Bruce Lee films, without Bruce Lee. This film, originally known as Li san jiao wei zhen di yu men, also known as The Dragon Lives Again and Deadly Hands of Kung Fu is one of said Brucesploitation flicks, but this one ramps it up to 11.
Let me just put my cards on the table here and give you the storyline from an anonymous IMDb user:
“The story follows Bruce Lee after he dies and ends up in Hell. Once there, he does the logical thing and opens a gym. After fending off the advances of the King Of Hell’s naked wives, he discovers that the most evil people in Hell are attempting a takeover, so Bruce sets out to stop it. As if it wasn’t weird enough, the evil people are: Zatoichi (the blind swordsman hero of Japanese film), James Bond, The Godfather, The Exorcist, Emmanuelle (the “heroine” of many European softcore porn films), Dracula, and, of course, Clint Eastwood (played by a Chinese guy). Aiding Bruce is The One-Armed Swordsman (hero of kung-fu films), Kain from the U.S. tv series, Kung-Fu (actually played by a Chinese guy this time), and Popeye the Sailor Man! Yes, Popeye the Sailor Man. He eats spinach and helps Bruce fight some mummies.”
So, tell me, how fucking awesome is that!
Because everything has to have that Batman style of poster these days.
When the brilliantly concocted trailer first starting bubbling up on the interwebs for Indonesian action masterpiece The Raid, people kind of lost their shit, and with good reason. It was a fists and guns action movie that didn’t have giant cgi robots or aliens destroying a major metropolitan area or one-dimensional terrorists of the Russian and/or Arab variety doing bad shit to ‘MERICA. No jingoism, no military propaganda, no toylines turned into movies starring terrible “singers” and actors. What they were seeing was an apartment complex which was filled to the brim with tenants who are all under the thumb of a ruthless mob boss…and all seemingly willing to fight anyone who comes in looking to exact some lawful justice against their landlord/dealer. The simple setup was easy to understand, and helped to bridge the barrier that most people struggle with when it comes to foreign films. Couple that with some really great music provided by a dude from Linkin Park (WHO THE FUCK SAW THAT COMING, RIGHT?), a frenzied pace to the editing and mixing, and you had a recipe for success in building some serious hype off of trailer with ZERO marketable stars.
3 Dev Adam (aka: 3 Mighty Men, aka: Turkish Spiderman)
Scrolling through the long list of reviews here on Midnight Showing I was surprised to find that I hadn’t reviewed my favourite super hero movie, 3 Dev Adam (aka: 3 Mighty Men) although more commonly known as The Turkish Spiderman. This film is a must for all exploitation fans and, yes, as the cover displays, this movie stars Captain America, Spiderman and Santo!
It’s been a long time coming, but Netflix has finally arrived here in the UK. Well, not like yesterday, it’s been here a couple of months now, but I’ve been giving it a try and thought I’d share my thoughts with you good people.
The Exterminator (1980)
One of the better exploitation films from my youth was The Exterminator. I still remember his catchphrase of “If you’re lying, I’ll be back”, so when the remastered directors cut surfaced, I had to see it. Fast forward to December 2011 and here it is, in all it’s bloody gory glory. Continue reading
Sint (2010) aka: Saint
Well, it’s that time again. You know, it’s the one where us Christian heathens become believers just to get some shitty presents. Yep, it’s Christmas. And we all need a good festive movie to get us into the spirit of things.
To hell with the inevitable James Bond, and Dorothy can stick her Wizard of Oz. Sint is where it’s at!
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