THE MEDUSA AGAINST THE SON OF HERCULES (1963) ** ½

Before making memorable appearances in WTF Ninja movies and low budget Spaghetti Westerns, Richard Harrison cut his teeth on a few Italian peplum adventures.  This one was directed by none other than Alberto De Martino, the man who would later go on to make the unbelievable Puma Man.  While The Medusa Against the Son of Hercules never quite achieves the lunacy of that flick, it does offer up a few cool monsters and some decent sword and sandal shenanigans.

Harrison stars as Perseus (who is in fact the son of Zeus, not Hercules, but never mind), a loner who has a little fawn as a friend.  The heartless Galinor (Leo Anchoriz) kills the deer during a hunt to impress his fiancée Andromeda (Anna Ranalli), which enrages Perseus.  This leads to a series of contests between the two, with the victor getting Andromeda’s hand in marriage.  When Galinor realizes Perseus is the legendary figure prophesized to overthrow the kingdom, he frames him for murder.  Perseus then joins the opposing king’s army, who as it stands are woefully outnumbered.  It’s then up to Perseus to defeat the Medusa so her legions of stone victims (who are also conveniently soldiers) will return to life and get in the fight.

The monsters, created by Carlo Rambaldi, are easily the best part of the movie.  I liked the “dragon”, even though it looked less like a dragon and more like the Loch Ness Monster.  It’s cool when you take the low budget into consideration (until you see the whole body in one shot, that is).  The Medusa is even better.  Rambaldi deviated from the commonly accepted design, but that helps to make the monster memorable.  It’s not a woman with snakes for hair like we’re used to.  It looks more like one of the monsters from The Green Slime.  It’s big and green with one glowing yellow eye and surrounded by a mass of tentacles.  (It kind of looks like some pissed-off mutant broccoli.)  

After all the monsters are slain, it becomes rather ordinary very fast.  Other than the monsters and a Robin Hood-inspired archery contest, there isn’t much here to separate it from countless other ‘60s peplum adventures.  All in all, it's a decent toga fest, especially if you’re a fan of Harrison.  The theme song (which sounds like it came out of a western) is badass too.

AKA:  Perseus the Invincible.  AKA:  Valley of the Stone Men.  AKA:  Perseus Against the Monsters.  AKA:  Medusa vs. the Son of Hercules.

SALT AND FIRE (2017) **

Michael Shannon stars as the CEO of a high-profile company responsible for a catastrophic ecological disaster.  Veronica Ferres is an ecologist sent to access the damage.  Since Shannon is clearly nuts, he kidnaps her and a series of mind games between the two escalate.

Ferres’ plan is to get Shannon talking.  The thought is, the more he talks the more he'll let his guard down.  Fortunately for the audience, he talks a lot.  Shannon has a way with writer/director Werner Herzog’s dialogue.  He nicely captures the quizzical nature and eccentric rhythms of Herzog’s speech while very much keeping the character uniquely Shannon.  Whether he’s talking about broken down trains or pontificating on parrots, he really keeps your attention with his offbeat performance.

If only the narrative wasn’t so frustrating.  The first half in which Ferres is taken hostage is much stronger than the second.  It’s here where she is forced to play mother hen to a duo of blind boys and help them make their way through a seemingly endless salt flat.  Sure, this sequence is filled with some glorious looking cinematic compositions, but it also happens to be extremely heavy-handed, contrived, and ultimately boring.

In fact, the whole thing more or less falls apart once Shannon disappears.  Without his oddball charisma, Salt and Fire fails to generate much interest.  Ferres does what she can, but she just isn’t engaging enough to make the Shannon-less passages work.  You know you’re in trouble when her most memorable scene comes from waiting for her luggage at the airport.

ANT-MAN AND THE WASP (2018) ****

Ant-Man and the Wasp is one of the best of the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies.  There is lots of imagination on display and plenty of fun to be had.  Not only is it chockful of inventive action sequences, there’s also tons of heart.  In a summer full of dazzling special effects, big-budget sequels, and costumed superheroes, it’s nice to find one that engages the heart as much as it does the eyes.

It’s also refreshing when the fate of the world isn’t always at stake.  Nope, this time out, Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) is just trying to help his former partner The Wasp (Evangeline Lilly) rescue her mom (Michelle Pfeiffer) from the Quantum Zone.  Since he’s supposed to be home under house arrest (thanks to his participation with Captain America in Civil War), Scott has to do some tricky maneuvering.  It’s hard enough to fight bad guys and find items to piece together a machine that can send people into a parallel universe.  Imagine doing all of that without tripping your ankle monitor.

Because of Scott’s constant juggling of family, loyalty to his friends, superhero obligations, and need to be back home in time for his court-mandated check-ins, Ant-Man and the Wasp feels closers in tone and spirit to the Spider-Man movies than the overstuffed Avengers-style of spectacle.  (There’s also a bit of Iron Man 3 here as Scott’s new prototype suit has a bunch of glitches that pop up at inopportune times.)

Another refreshing tactic:  Scott is practically the third wheel in his own movie.  A lot of the heavy lifting goes to The Wasp and her dad, the original Ant-Man (Michael Douglas).  Most of the scientific gobbledygook goes over Scott’s head, leaving him ready to quip away at the drop of a hat.  Because of that, Rudd has plenty of opportunities to shine, even if he has to defer to the experts on most occasions.  

I also found the villain, Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen) quite interesting.  Her aim is self-preservation, not world domination.  She’s willing to achieve that at any cost, which makes her a threat, and her singlemindedness makes her oblivious to the fact that the people she’s fighting against are more than capable of helping her.  

There are so many moments to treasure.  The action involving oversized Pez dispensers and salt shakers are a joy and the bit where The Wasp shrunk a motorcycle down to size while the rider was going at top speed was inspired.  We also get a Bullitt-style car chase with miniature cars!  The laughs are plentiful too.  The sight of Rudd shrunk down to junior size and running around a school trying not to get caught by a teacher is one I won’t soon forget.  My favorite moment though was the makeshift drive-in (showing Them of course).  Also, more movies should include scenes where Michael Pena is injected with truth serum.

All this AND Walton Goggins TOO?  It’s almost as if director Peyton Reed picked my brain and put everything I always wanted to see in an Ant-Man movie into Ant-Man and the Wasp.  Not only is it one of the best MCU films ever made, it’s the best picture of the year.

Marvel Cinematic Universe Scorecard: 
Avengers:  Age of Ultron:  ****
The Incredible Hulk:  ****
Iron Man:  ****
Thor:  Ragnarok:  ****
Ant-Man and the Wasp:  ****
Spider-Man:  Homecoming:  ****
Iron Man 3:  ****
Captain America:  Civil War:  *** ½
Ant-Man:  *** ½
Guardians of the Galaxy:  *** ½
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2:  *** ½ 
Avengers:  Infinity War:  *** ½
Black Panther:  *** ½ 
The Avengers:  ***
Captain America:  The First Avenger:  ***
Captain America:  The Winter Soldier:  ***
Thor:  ***
Thor:  The Dark World:  ***
Iron Man 2:  ***
Doctor Strange:  ** ½ 

2018 Comic Book Movie Scorecard:

Ant-Man and the Wasp: ****

Avengers:  Infinity War: *** ½

Black Panther: *** ½

Deadpool 2: *** ½

Accident Man: ** ½ 

TRANCERS 4: JACK OF SWORDS (1994) **

Future Cop Jack Deth (Tim Thomerson) has finally fulfilled his mission of wiping the Trancers out.  He now acts as sort of a variation on Jean Claude Van-Damme’s role in Timecop, going through time and making sure no one alters history.  When an alien sabotages his transporter, Deth winds up in Medieval times (the age, not the restaurant) and must do battle with a new batch of Trancers.

Written by Peter David (most famous for his spectacular run on The Incredible Hulk comic) and directed by David Nutter (who went on to helm Disturbing Behavior), Trancers 4:  Jack of Swords is at its best during its futuristic segments.  I liked the scenes with the sexy Q-like Lyra (Stacie Randall) who gives Jack his new gadgets, and the part where he makes a lamp out of his former android partner is good for a laugh.  The barroom scene is the best part of the whole movie and really gives Thomerson an opportunity to shine.  When the bartender asks how he wants his Scotch, he says, “Intravenously!”  

Once things switch over to Medieval times, it becomes a ho-hum variation on Army of Darkness.  It doesn’t help that this new batch of vampire-like Trancers feel like holdovers from a Subspecies movie.  The bland performance by Clabe Hartley as the weak villain further hampers things.  The abrupt anti-climactic ending, which is mostly just there to set up the sequel (which was filmed back-to-back with this), is unsatisfying too.

I was also a bit perplexed by how the Trancers went from zombies in the first movie to brain dead soldiers in the last one to vampire-type creatures with British accents in this entry.

If anything, Tracers 4 offers us Thomerson’s best performance as Jack Deth since the first one.  The bit where his “Long Second” watch malfunctions and makes him go in slow motion gives us a taste of Thomerson’s comedic gifts.  Unfortunately, even Thomerson’s game performance is unable to salvage this uneven entry.

AKA:  Future Cop 4:  Jack of Swords.  AKA:  Trancers 4:  Angel of Deth.  AKA:  Trancers 4:  Journeys Through the Darkzone. 

AFRICA EXPRESS (1975) ***

John Baxter (Giuliano Gemma) runs a trading operation with his best friend, a chimp named Biba (herself).  He bumps into a beautiful nun named Madeleine (Ursula Andress) and helps her escape the clutches of the evil Robert Preston (Jack Palance), a slimy cuss who specializes in selling poached ivory.  Since Baxter already cheated Preston at cards, Preston is all-too eager to get his mitts on them.  Naturally, Baxter finds himself smitten with Madeleine, which presents its own set of problems.

Africa Express sort of plays like a modernized version of the Clint Eastwood flick Two Mules for Sister Sara as Gemma comes to the aid of a woman who may or may not be a nun.  What’s amazing is that it managed to predate Clint’s Every Which Way but Loose by three years as both films feature a hero with a simian best friend.  Surprisingly enough, it’s enormously entertaining and contains its fair share of laughs.  It’s an affable and likeable ramshackle comedy-adventure that’s just a little bit better than you expect it to be at nearly every turn.  

There are a number of winning moments here.  The early scene where Biba helps Gemma cheat Palance at cards immediately sets the playful tone.  I also liked to part where Gemma tries to remove a chief’s infected tooth by tying it to the back of his truck.  I can’t say it’s high art or anything, but it’s hard to resist a movie that features Ursula Andress as a nun who knows Kung Fu.

The enormously appealing performances help to make Africa Express a smooth ride.  Giuliano Gemma makes for an ideal leading man.  He’s handsome, funny, and doesn’t take himself too seriously.  He’s also capable of holding long conversations with a chimp and making it all seem natural and causal.  It’s harder than it looks, folks.  Andress is also a lot of fun and looks spectacular while dressed in her nun’s habit.  If you have a nun fetish, you’ll probably just want to go ahead and add an extra star to the rating.  Palance makes for a formidable villain.  When he’s not busy chewing the scenery, he chews on his pipe for maximum sinister effect.

I could point out that some of the action isn’t staged particularly well, but it would be a moot point since director Michele Lupo is going more for laughs than actual thrills.  While many of the fight scenes and car chases are played for comedic effect, they succeed in getting laughs more often than not.  The ending is unexpectedly touching too.  Gemma’s earnest performance in the final moments helps to end things on a perfect bittersweet note.  

All three leads reappeared in a sequel, Safari Express the next year.

AKA:  Tropical Express.

A WOMAN’S TORMENT (1977) ** ½

A philandering psychiatrist (Jake Teague) is balling his wife's best friend (Crystal Sync).  As a favor, she asks him to examine her nutty sister (Tara Chung) who she keeps locked in the attic.  It’s not long before the loon takes off to an abandoned beach house where she murders several people who are stupid enough to enter the house. 

A Woman’s Torment starts out great.  Teague bangs his wife (Jennifer Jordan) and finishes before she even gets a chance to orgasm.  Frustrated, she yells, "We didn't make love.  You masturbated inside of me!"  Since this was directed by one of the all-time great sleaze legends, Roberta (Tenement) Findlay, I thought this was going to be something special.  As it turns out, it was extremely hit-or-miss.  However, there are plenty of gory and/or lurid moments along the way.

I liked the scene where Chung seduces and kills a workman.  (She stabs him just as he’s about to cum.)  The stop-motion shots of a couple falling over after being murdered are pretty cool too.  I could’ve done without the extended sequence where Chung is pestered by an extremely annoying nosy neighbor though.

A Woman’s Torment is in some ways reminiscent of Demented and Lady Stay Dead.  Findlay gives everything an appropriately grungy feel.  I can’t say it’s one of her best movies, but it has the twisted hallmarks of her signature works.  She also takes enormous pride in making the sex scenes as unsexy as possible (which is to be expected I guess when most of the participants wind up slashed to ribbons almost immediately afterwards).  If you’re a Findlay fan (like me), I’m certain you’ll derive some enjoyment out of it., despite its uneven nature.  

I do have to call Findlay out on the blatant faked male orgasm scene.  I mean the guy is clearly squeezing a squirt bottle filled with lotion instead of shooting actual jizz.  That unfortunate bit of business aside, A Woman’s Torment is a decent enough slasher porno.

JURASSIC WORLD: FALLEN KINGDOM (2018) ***

I think even Universal was surprised by just how much money Jurassic World made at the box office.  No one was surprised when they immediately greenlit this sequel though.  If you liked the last one, it’s pretty safe to say you’ll enjoy this one.  While it never approaches the greatness of the original, Fallen Kingdom is nevertheless a fun popcorn movie with only a slight drop in quality from Jurassic World.  

This time out, the genetically-engineered dinosaurs become endangered when the volcano on the island becomes active.  Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard) enlists the help of the reluctant Owen (Chris Pratt) to save the remaining dinosaurs and transplant them off the island.  It sounds silly, but director J.A. (The Orphanage) Bayona does just enough to ground the scenario to make it plausible, or at the very least, fifth-installment-of-a-billion-dollar-movie-franchise plausible.

Bayona also cannily steals a few plays from the Steven Spielberg handbook.  He gives us all the scenes of characters looking at a Brontosaurus in awe, a T. Rex saving a human in the nick of time, focusing the camera on the terror in a child's eyes when she sees dinosaur, and gratuitous lens flares as you can imagine.  What makes it all work is the fact that he is able to throw in a couple of nifty moments of his own.  There’s a scene involving a ladder that is both suspenseful and funny.  I also liked the logistics that went into extracting a blood sample from T. Rex.  Bayona gives us at least one standout death, but (probably owing to internet outcry) there’s nothing here that’s on par with the assistant’s death by pterodactyls in the previous installment.

The best moment though has nothing to do with dinosaurs.  It involves Pratt getting shot with a tranquilizer gun and trying desperately to regain movement in his limbs as a stream of lava slowly creeps closer and closer to him.  Imagine the Quaalude scene from The Wolf of Wall Street meets an Indiana Jones movie, and that should give you an idea of how great it is. 

The film shifts gears abruptly in the second half as it goes from being an island adventure to pseudo-prison break movie.  Although the first half is admittedly more fun that the second, I’ll admit the ending is genuinely touching and thought-provoking.  The implications of the last scene are fascinating and makes me anxious to see the direction the franchise will go.