WOLF WARRIOR (2015) * ½

Leng Feng (Jing Wu, who also directed) is a sniper who defies a direct order and takes out a drug dealer.  He is immediately imprisoned but is quickly pardoned so he can become a “Wolf Warrior”, who are described as the “Special Forces inside the Special Forces”.  To get acquainted with his new team, Leng and the other Wolf Warriors go out on training maneuvers in the middle of nowhere.  Since the Wolf Warriors don’t have the benefit of live ammo, the drug dealer’s big brother sees this as the perfect opportunity to get revenge, so he sends his right-hand man “Tomcat” (Scott Adkins) and his team of mercenaries to kill Leng and his new comrades.  

Wolf Warrior has a simple, seemingly can’t-miss premise, but it’s a pretty hollow and cheap actioner in just about every way.  The action is rather dreadful, and the fight scenes are poorly choreographed and/or rushed.  It doesn’t help that we are saddled with a bland hero (who is a sniper, which doesn’t leave much time for a lot of hand-to-hand action) or the fact that we have to sit through a lot of gratuitous pro-China propaganda right smack dab in the middle of the flick.  

The cheapest bit comes when the Wolf Warriors find themselves surrounded by the sorriest looking pack of CGI wolves I’ve seen outside of a SyFy Channel flick.  I was kind of hoping Jing would’ve got bitten by one of the wolves and turned into a literal Wolf Warrior.  I guess that was just too much to ask for.  

Naturally, I only watched this because Scott Adkins played the villain’s henchman.  Sadly, he isn’t given a whole lot to do.  I will say that whatever pulse the movie has is courtesy of his presence onscreen.  Even then, his fight sequences are way too brief to make much of an impact either way.  Although he is afforded the luxury of a decent death scene, overall, his final confrontation with Wu is lackluster.  It’s bad enough when American productions waste Scott Adkins’ talents.  It’s even worse when we import foreign productions that can’t properly utilize his skills.

TRAILERS #22: HORROR/SCI-FI (1992) ***

Here’s yet another collection of horror and sci-fi trailers from the good folks at Something Weird.  This time, they are presented in chronological order (more or less), which is fun because it gives you a chance to see how the genres became more sophisticated (more or less) as time went on.  Everything from ‘60s Italian peplum (Goliath and the Barbarians and Hercules and the Captive Women) to drive-in triple features (the trailers for the “Orgy of the Living Dead” and “Certificate of Assurance” triple bills are once again trotted out) to ‘70s Euro-Horror (The Devil’s Wedding Night and The Vampires Night Orgy) to big budget fare (Alien and Flash Gordon) to slashers (The Toolbox Murders and My Bloody Valentine) to ‘80s comedies (Weird Science and Amazon Women on the Moon) are covered.  

The first half will probably seem overly familiar to those who have sat through many of these Something Weird compilations.  (I’ve seen so many of them that I can probably recite a lot of these trailers verbatim by now.)  If you stick with it, you’ll be treated to some great trailers from the ‘80s, which normally don’t pop up on these kinds of collections.  It’s fun seeing camp classics like The Stuff and Chopping Mall rubbing elbows with high-brow entertainment like Angel Heart and The Serpent and the Rainbow.  After watching so many creaky trailers from the ‘50s in these things, it’s a welcome change of pace to see something like Blood Diner and Tremors popping up here and there.  

It might not be the best collection in the Something Weird catalogue, thanks to the overabundance of reoccurring trailers in the first half, but the inclusion of ‘80s trailers gives Trailers #22:  Horror/Sci-Fi a personality that some of its predecessors lack.  Although some old school fans might be miffed by the heavy concentration of ‘80s films in the second half, if you grew up during that time (like I did), you’re sure to enjoy them.  While I would’ve maybe liked to have seen previews for a few more obscure titles peppered throughout, it nevertheless remains a worthy entry in the long-running series.

The complete trailer line-up includes:  Goliath and the Barbarians, Hercules and the Captive Women, The Deadly Bees, Thunderbirds are Go, The Orgy of the Living Dead Triple Feature (Revenge of the Living Dead, Curse of the Living Dead, Fangs of the Living Dead), The Murder Clinic, Creature with the Blue Hand, The Certificate of Assurance Triple Feature (The Corpse Grinders, The Undertaker and His Pals, The Embalmer), Private Parts, a double feature of Daughters of Satan and Superbeast, Sisters, The Devil’s Wedding Night, Dracula vs. Frankenstein, Deranged, The Vampires Night Orgy, Poor Albert and Little Annie (AKA:  I Dismember Mama), The Toolbox Murders, Alien, Night Creature, Nosferatu the Vampyre, Battle Beyond the Stars, The Boogeyman, Flash Gordon, My Bloody Valentine, The Howling, The Loch Ness Horror, Terror in the Aisles, Weird Science, The Stuff, Chopping Mall, Return to Horror High, Angel Heart, The Night Stalker, Blood Diner, Amazon Women on the Moon, The Serpent and the Rainbow, The Blob, The Lair of the White Worm, and Tremors.

LIVID (2011) **

I was a huge fan of Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury’s Inside.  Unfortunately, their follow-up, Livid never made it to the States.  Until now.  Now that I’ve finally seen it, I can honestly say it wasn’t exactly worth the wait.  I know they all can’t be Inside, but it falls well short of that disgusting classic.  

Lucie (Chloe Coulloud) is training to be a home healthcare nurse.  While making her rounds, she tends to an extremely elderly comatose woman (Marie-Claude Pietragalla) who lives all alone in a giant mansion.  She learns the old lady used to be a ballet teacher and supposedly has a treasure hidden away somewhere in the mansion.  Of course, she tells her hotheaded boyfriend (Felix Moati) and his buddy Jeremy Kapone) all about it.  Desperate to change their dead-end situation, the trio breaks into the house looking for the loot and find....

I will resist the temptation to spoil what they finally uncover in the house, especially since it takes them about an hour to figure it out, which is kind of the problem.  The set-up is longwinded, and a lot of the getting-to-know-you scenes in the early going could’ve been tightened up a bit.  Sadly, once we find out what’s going on in the house, it’s no big whoop.  There is at least one semi-interesting death scene, but for the most part, it falls flat.  Even when the movie tries to do something a little different with the usual horror formula, it winds up being lackluster, or even worse, goofy.  It’s easy to see why this slipped through the cracks and took over a decade to reach our shores.  

I did like the directors’ nods to such films as An American Werewolf in London, Halloween 3, and possibly even Suspira, although they ultimately are ultimately nothing more than Easter eggs for fans.  (The constant use of scissors was probably a tip of hat to Inside, now that I think about it.)  If you’re still curious about seeing Livid, it might work best as a double feature with Don’t Breathe as both films revolve around thieves severely underestimating a seemingly incapacitated elderly person, but the dip in quality will be noticeable.  

HEAVENLY BODIES (1963) **

Heavenly Bodies is an OK early Russ Meyer effort.  Some of his trademarks are already apparent, most notably:  A bevy of busty ladies lounging naked outdoors.  There’s also a lot of narration and the rapid-fire editing Russ would be known for.  It ultimately doesn’t quite work because of the fractured narrative.  

The film is split up into little vignettes revolving around naked women.  Models take their clothes off poolside, in the woods, and in game rooms.  None of these sequences are especially sexy or memorable and since they are presented in a faux documentary style, they aren’t a lot of fun either.  

Heavenly Bodies is sorely missing the usual humor and violence that hallmark the best Russ films.  It also doesn’t help that many of the vignettes suffer from a similar kind of feel.  The jazzy background music is often repetitive too and the narrator’s highly technical jargon about the photographic equipment used during the modeling sessions was completely unnecessary.  

Meyer (who also appears in a segment orchestrating a modeling shoot) utilizes the usual set-ups found in nudie movies from the era.  Models play volleyball, sunbathe, swim, and dance in the nude.  The most novel nudist activity is when one of the bosomy models jiggles wildly as she uses a jump rope.  I just wish there were more scenes of this caliber throughout the film.

All of this is pleasant enough I suppose but ultimately, Heavenly Bodies is slight and forgettable.  (Aside from the jump rope bit, that is.)  Meyer’s true gift was combining sex and violence with a deft moralistic touch, so a pseudo skin documentary isn’t exactly the best use of his talents.  Since it does offer a bunch of busty beauties in the buff nearly non-stop, it’s hard to completely dismiss.  Another plus:  It’s under an hour long, so it moves along at a decent clip. 

AKA:  Heavenly Assignment. 

THE SISTERHOOD (1988) **

In the early ‘80s, sword and sandal flicks and post-apocalyptic actioners ruled the drive-ins and video stores.  By the time The Sisterhood was released, demand for the genres were dwindling and as a result, less and less of them were being produced.  Leave it to a guy like Cirio H. (Silk) Santiago to combine the two.  

“The Sisterhood” are a duo of warrior women with psychic powers who ride through the wasteland getting into skirmishes with scumbag men.  Meanwhile, Lynn-Holly (For Your Eyes Only) Johnson lives in a post-nuke community where everyone looks upon her as a witch because of her psychic abilities.  Her brother is killed when the local warlord sacks her village, so Johnson goes to join up with The Sisterhood to get revenge.

I like the fact that some guys are dressed like they came out of an ‘80s sword and sandal movie while others have the standard football-pads-and-face-paint attire befitting a post-apocalypse action flick.  To spice things up, there are dudes that wear sunglasses and Dodgers baseball caps, which probably meant the wardrobe budget had started to run out.  

The action is your standard pillaging and swordfights that you’d see in a post-Conan flick mixed in with the typical modified dune buggy and dilapidated sportscar chases consistent with a Mad Max rip-off.  Johnson has a hawk for a pet and guys that look like WCW rejects give rousing speeches to their minions.  

The only real novel touch occurs in the third act when the Sisters hide out inside a fallout shelter where they stumble upon a tank, which they use to stick it to the bad guys.  As is usually the case with a Santiago picture, there’s a little T & A tossed in there too (but not a lot).  The synthesizer-heavy score is good for a laugh though as it alternates between sounding like a Breaking News Report and Super Mario Bros.

Okay, I acknowledge this is starting to sound more like a grocery list of things that happen than an actual review, but that’s kind of how The Sisterhood is.  It plays like a grocery list of ideas for a sword and sorcery/post-nuke action flick than an actual film.  That’s OK, if you’re a fan of either genre.  If you love those kinds of movies, you’re not absolutely guaranteed to like this one, but you’ll undoubtedly find something here to enjoy, even if it comes up short overall.  

AKA:  Caged Women.

IT'S A REVOLUTION MOTHER (1969) **

It’s a Revolution Mother is an uneven ‘60s counterculture documentary from director Harry (Barracuda) Kerwin.  It splits its focus between a motorcycle group called The Aliens riding their bikes and partying and protestors at a peace march in Washington, D.C.  Things eventually culminate at a muddy rock concert in Florida, capped off by a long-winded anti-war speech by a junior high kid.

Aside from the awesome theme song, my favorite part was the narration.  The narrator really gets into delivering his lines, which are often filled to the brim with a lot of hysterically outdated hippie jargon and ‘60s slang.  He’s at his best when talking about the bikers as he often speaks tongue in cheek while commenting on their wild behavior.  (“Don’t let it snap your mind.  You’ve got to groove with the bike crowd to know where it's really at!”)  

Protesters and bikers are also interviewed about their philosophy (or lack thereof) while silent footage of bikers partying and students marching play out on screen.  I guess it goes without saying that the scenes with the bikers are a lot more fun as the protesting stuff is often somber.  (Dr. Spock is spotted marching with the crowd, and Dick Gregory is heard making Spiro Agnew jokes.)  Bikers talk about getting hassled by The Man, putting up with their “old ladies”, and they even throw a “Wesson Oil Party” for the camera.  In fact, it might’ve been more entertaining if the sole focus was on the bikers.  Even then, some of their shenanigans get tiresome after a while.  (I could’ve done without the scene where one of them takes a piss on camera.)

You might think that this is going to be dated and corny.  Well, it is, but really, the most dated and corny thing about it is the narration.  People are still marching.  War is still ongoing.  Not a lot has changed since the time of release.  

Unfortunately, the concert finale is a big bust as it’s nothing more than a bunch of scenes of people milling about the festival.  There’s a band seen briefly playing, but the music (which is pretty bland acid rock) is obviously dubbed over.  This is definitely the weakest element in the film. and it ends things on a lame note.  Oh well, that theme song is a banger though, and will probably get stuck in your head for days after you see it.

AKA:  Biker Babylon.  

DJANGO AND DJANGO (2021) ***

I can see why some folks may be a little disappointed by this lightweight but entertaining documentary.  Based on the title, and the fact that it stars Quentin Tarantino, you might expect it to be an exploration on the seminal Spaghetti Western Django, and how Sergio Corbucci’s film not only inspired Tarantino’s Django Unchained, but the legions of Django rip-offs that popped up in the years in between.  Mostly though, it’s just Tarantino sitting in a movie theater and talking about Corbucci’s westerns.  (You have to wait until the movie’s almost over until you get a brief scene from Django Unchained.)  That’s fine, if you’re a fan of Tarantino and/or Corbucci (which I am).  

Django and Django is essentially a quick and breezy primer on Corbucci’s work.  Tarantino makes for more than a capable guide thanks to his encyclopedic knowledge of the Italian film industry.  Along the way, we also hear from Ruggero Deodato (who served as Corbucci’s second unit director) and Django himself, Franco Nero, although they aren’t really in it a whole lot.  I don’t know if COVID forced the filmmakers to really pare down their interview subjects, but it would’ve been nice to hear from some other talking heads.  

Then again, it might’ve worked even better had it just been Tarantino by himself introducing clips and giving background and/or history on the films.  I mean the first ten minutes are basically him recounting a deleted scene from Once Upon a Time in Hollywood about Rick Dalton meeting Corbucci.  Since Tarantino is a gifted storyteller, it's a lot of fun (especially if you’re a OUATIH fan like me).  I know he plans on retiring from directing soon, and if he eventually does, I wouldn’t mind seeing him starring in more docs like this one, shining a light on unsung exploitation filmmakers.  If Django and Django is any indication, I would say it’s a recipe for success, even if the final product feels more like a glorified DVD special feature than an honest to goodness documentary.