42ND STREET FOREVER! VOLUME 1: HORROR ON 42ND STREET (2004) *** ½

This excellent trailer compilation was released by Ban 1 Productions.  It is unrelated to the identically titled 42^nd Street Forever line that was put out by Synapse the following year.  However, it’s just as good, if not better than the compilations found in that series. 

Despite the subtitle, “Horror on 42^nd Street”, there are plenty of non-horror films featured.  In fact, about halfway through, there is a big shift in tone as we get a slew of trailers for skin flicks and nudie movies.  Some may be a little disappointed by the bait-and-switch, but since the other non-horror trailers mostly consist of oddities, time capsules, and actioners, it’s okay by me. 

The complete rundown features:  Freaks, The Crippled Masters, The Mutations, Aroused, Invitation to Ruin (which looks amazing), Skidoo, The Wild Scene, The Wild Eye, The Animals, a double feature of Hookers Revenge and The Photographer’s Model (AKA:  Thriller:  A Cruel Picture and The House of Whipcord, respectively), Vigilante Force, Fighting Mad (two different trailers are shown back-to-back), Welcome Home Brother Charles, Shantytown Honeymoon (AKA:  Honey Britches), The House of Missing Girls, The Sins of the Daughter, School Girl Bride, Josie’s Castle (AKA:  Teenage Divorcee), Chatterbox, a double feature of The Blood Spattered Bride and I Dismember Mama (a classic staple of many a trailer compilation), two previews for Carnivorous (AKA:  Jungle Holocaust), The Food of the Gods, Tales of the Bizarre (AKA:  Bizarre), The Devil’s Rain, Black Christmas, The Legend of Boggy Creek, Creature with the Blue Hand, Mark of the Witch, Mark of the Devil 2, Virgin Witch, a double feature for Women and Bloody Terror and Night of Bloody Horror, The Revenge of the Blood Beast, Wonder Women, Savage Sisters, and a German trailer for Salo or the 120 Days of Sodom. 

With a collection like that in your arsenal, it’s hard not to be impressed.  Even if they play a little loose with the “horror” label, 42^nd Street Forever! Volume 1:  Horror on 42^nd Street is a blast from start to finish.  Any trailer compilation fan worth their salt will want to get their hands on this one.

PREVUES OF COMING ATTRACTIONS VOL. 2: BLAXPLOITEASIN’ (2009) ***

From the makers of Prevues of Coming Attractions Vol. 1:  Giallorama comes another collection of exploitation movie trailers.  This time around, the focus is on the Blaxploitation trend of the ‘70s.  At seventy-one minutes, it makes for a breezy recap of the genre, but I for one was hoping for something a bit more thorough and exhaustive. 

I don’t really have a problem with the trailers that we do get.  (Even though many of them have appeared on countless other compilations before.)  I mean, it’s hard to complain when you have a nice mix of Blaxploitation classics like Blacula, Foxy Brown, and Dolemite as well as some more obscure titles such as Honky, Black Girl, and Cool Breeze.  However, there are some notable omissions that are sorely missed.  While we do have the trailer for Shaft, there is no mention of Shaft’s Big Score or Shaft in Africa.  Additionally, the absence of both Super Fly and Super Fly TNT is quite glaring.

On the plus side, the trailers are shown in chronological order, which is a big plus.  This helps to showcase the growth of the genre and how it progressed (or regressed depending on your point of view) from dramatic fare like They Call Me Mister Tibbs! to more exploitative stuff like Mandingo.  Despite the quibbles I have with the collection, I must admit that the chronological approach works much better than the random assemblage of trailers found in most compilations.

In case you’re wondering, here’s the complete trailer line-up:  They Call Me Mister Tibbs!, Honky, Shaft, Black Girl, Blacula, Cool Breeze, Cleopatra Jones, Coffy, Savage!, Scream Blacula Scream, Sweet Jesus Preacherman, Black Samson, Foxy Brown, Mean Mother, Sugar Hill, Truck Turner, The Black Gestapo, Boss, Bucktown, Dolemite, Friday Foster (“Never Fear!  Pam Grier is Here!”), Mandingo, Sheba Baby, Take a Hard Ride, Welcome Home Brother Charles (AKA:  Soul Vengeance), Black Shampoo, Dr. Black Mr. Hyde, The Human Tornado, The Guy from Harlem, and Disco Godfather. 

HINDSIGHT IS 2020: CAPONE (2020) ** ½

After spending ten years in prison for tax evasion, disgraced gangster Al Capone (Tom Hardy) is released from jail.  His body riddled with syphilis, the Feds allow him to live out his final days in seclusion in his Florida mansion.  While Capone’s mental and physical state deteriorates, he is haunted by his past and comes to terms with his encroaching demise. 

Capone is a really odd mix of genres.  At its heart, it’s a gangster movie, but it feels more like a ghost story.  Imagine The Shining Meets A Christmas Carol starring Scarface and that sort of paints the picture.  While it’s kind of plodding and uneven, the film is just weird enough to keep you watching. 

Hardy’s performance is really something too.  In fact, it’s pretty much the whole show.  He snarls, screams, pisses, shits, drools, and farts his way through the film.  Many movies shit the bed figuratively.  This one does it literally.  His funky cadence and growly delivery often makes him sound like the love child of Popeye the Sailor Man and the Tasmanian Devil.  (He even spends a good chunk of the movie with a carrot sticking out of his mouth just like Bugs Bunny.)  Hardy is one of those guys like Nicolas Cage who creates such a memorable, offbeat character that it often doesn’t matter if the finished film itself is any good or not (this one is a toss-up).  However, he’s so out there that you can’t help but keep watching.  Any actor who shits himself not once but THREE times in a performance probably deserves some kind of award. 

The rest of the cast is basically playing catch-up to his antics.  Linda Cardellini has the thankless role of his wife, Kyle McLachlan is his doctor, and Matt Dillon shows up for a bit as his fishing buddy.  I like all these actors, but they just aren’t in the same movie as Hardy.

Writer/director/editor Josh Trank also made that awful Fantastic Four movie.  He was about to make a Boba Fett flick too before he shot himself in the foot on social media.  Capone is his comeback film of sorts.  It’s not exactly good, however it’s just too weird and eccentric to completely dismiss.  It’s just out there enough to make me curious to see what he does next.

AKA:  Fonzo.

SUDDEN DEATH (1985) ** ½

Two scumbag criminals steal a cab and go out for a joyride.  They pick up Valarie (Denise Coward), a young and successful businesswoman, and beat, rob, and rape her.  Unsatisfied with the police’s progress and determined not to become just another victim, Valarie buys a gun and goes into the city looking for her attackers.  Along the way, she is attacked and molested by even more rapists and sickos, all of whom she gleefully blows away using homemade exploding bullets.  Because of her choice of weapon, the media dubs her “The Dum-Dum Killer”.

As far as Rape n’ Revenge pictures go, Sudden Death is better than some, but it’s still only about half as good as say, Ms. 45.  (I guess that would make this Ms. 22 ½?)  It’s anchored by a tough performance by Coward, who makes for a credible action heroine, and is quite strong in her dramatic scenes.  I also give the film credit for exploring some territory that many more exploitative examples of the genre neglect to tread.  Namely, the fact that her asshole fiancée just wants her to get over the attack and move on.  However, it doesn’t have enough action to cut it as an action flick and it isn’t quite trashy enough to make it as a grindhouse movie. 

The writer/director was Sig Shore.  He also produced the original Super Fly and directed the sequel, The Return of Superfly.  He does a decent job all things considered, although the film does kind of lapse into a repetitive rhythm about halfway through.  (An attacker forces himself on Valarie, she fights back, and eventually pretends to relent before gunning them down.)  That is more of scripting issue than a directing criticism.

The title was changed in the UK to the hilarious Dirty Harriet.  While that title is good for a giggle, it kind of betrays the seriousness in which the material is handled and makes it sound like some sort of Airplane!-inspired parody.  Although that seriousness is appreciated in something like this, it doesn’t quite singlehandedly excuse its shortcomings. 

The biggest drawback is the subplot with the cop (Frank Runyeon) trying to bring the rapists down.  The film is noticeably less effective whenever he shows up.  In fact, when he and his partner take center stage late in the third act, it brings Sudden Death to a sudden halt.  Fortunately, Coward returns for the final showdown, but whenever she isn’t on screen, her absence is really felt. 

AKA:  Dirty Harriet. 

HINDSIGHT IS 2020: COME TO DADDY (2020) **

A young man (Elijah Wood) receives a letter from his long-estranged father (Stephen McHattie) requesting his presence in his home.  Their initial meeting is cordial, though awkward as hell.  Things take a turn for the worse however once daddy starts drinking and becomes verbally abusive towards his son.  There is an altercation, and then...

Well… to go any further would spoil the twist that occurs halfway through.  Let’s just say things take a turn (and not necessarily for the best) and it becomes an entirely different film.  Unfortunately, the first half is a lot more fun mostly due to the odd performance by McHattie. 

While the set-up is promising, the second act is kind of a letdown.  There is such a shift in energy and tone that it often feels like the filmmakers took two completely different scripts and Frankensteined them together.  The latter half just tries way too hard to be weird and edgy.  Imagine what a hipster version of a David Lynch film would look like and that might give you some clue as to what to expect.  

This portion of the picture is not without its highlights.  I mean you get to see Martin Donovan like you’ve never seen him before.  As a longtime fan of Donovan’s, I was intrigued by seeing him in such an atypical role, especially one that allowed him to channel some darkly humorous vibes.  Too bad he’s so incapacitated that it all feels like a wasted opportunity. 

Wood’s eccentric character can only take the movie so far.  You know you’re in trouble when you see his haircut and mustache.  It almost screams, “Hey, look at how goofy our main character looks!” 

Overall, Come to Daddy isn’t exactly bad per se.  It’s just that the two wildly inconsistent halves don’t mesh into a satisfying whole.  Some may applaud the weirdness-for-weirdness-sake approach to the second half, but for me, it lacked the dry spark of the early scenes. 

In short, stay away from Come to Daddy. 

LE CERCLE ROUGE (1970) **

Director John-Pierre Melville reteamed with his Le Samourai star Alain Delon for this stylish but dull caper thriller.  Although that flick is highly esteemed in the film snob circles, it sort of left me cold.  This one left me even colder. 

Delon stars as a thief who is sprung from his cell early by a crooked prison guard who coerces him into committing a robbery.  He reluctantly pairs with hotheaded criminal Gian Maria (A Fistful of Dollars) Volonte against his better judgment.  Realizing they can’t pull off the caper without a third man, they enlist the help of a sharpshooting junkie ex-cop (Yves Montand).

Most French New Wave crime movies were aloof versions of American B genre flicks, but with a ton of unnecessary pretension thrown in there to make them more… you know… Frenchy.  This one was made a bit after the initial New Wave boon, but the principal is still the same.  It feels like Melville was trying to take a sturdy pulpy concept and drain all the life (and fun) out of it just so he could appeal to the arthouse crowd. 

Delon was a cool customer in Le Samourai, but here, he is saddled with a bad mustache that kind of makes him look a little dopey.  Add to that the fact he looks half asleep most of the time.  (In fact, that’s how I looked by the end of the movie.)  At least Volonte adds a little life into the proceedings, although he isn’t nearly as memorable as he was in Dollars. 

The American translation for Le Cercle Rouge is The Red Circle.  That’s fitting because it goes around and around way too much.  The film is slick looking, I’ll give it that.  I also dug the scene where Montand gets a wicked case of the D.T.’s and starts seeing snakes, rats, and other assorted icky animals slithering all over his body.  The heist is well done too.  It’s just that after the sluggish start and plodding middle section, it comes up short.

AKA:  The Red Circle.

HINDSIGHT IS 2020: VFW (2020) ***

A new street drug called “Hype” has turned ordinary citizens into crazed junkies, and a once thriving city is now in squalor thanks to the rampant trafficking of the illicit substance.  A few old-timers are able to get away from the troubles of the decaying city at their local V.F.W. where they sit around drinking beer and swapping war stories.  When a young girl (Sierra McCormick) is chased into the bar by a bunch of drug-crazed loonies, the tight-knit group of veterans led by the bartender Fred (Stephen Lang) fight off the junkies, leading to several members on both sides being killed or wounded.  One of the dead happens to be the brother of the local drug kingpin (Travis Hammer) who declares open season on the veterans, causing hundreds of “Hypers” to converge on the V.F.W.

VFW is a love letter to John Carpenter, specifically Assault on Precinct 13.  Everything from the set-up, to the camerawork, to the music features his distinct cinematic DNA, and you can tell director Joe (Bliss) Begos is having fun walking in the Master’s shoes.  (Begos’ first film, Almost Human owed a lot to Carpenter’s The Thing too.)  There’s also a bit of a Walter Hill vibe as co-stars William Sadler and David Patrick Kelly frequently worked with Hill. 

It’s also a love letter to the great character actors that populate the cast.  These guys have been the backbone of some of your favorite movies from the past forty years, usually in support of other, bigger name stars, and it’s nice to see them all getting their moments to shine.  I’m a fan of all these guys (including Fred Williamson, Martin Kove, and George Wendt), so just seeing them all under one roof was a lot of the fun for me. 

The expeditious set-up is appreciated too.  So is the film’s lean and mean three-chords attitude.  There’s no real fat on the movie to speak of.  The actors are all able to string together nice little moments throughout the siege.  Things move so fast that we learn more about the characters through their actions in battle, and their interactions with one another.  This works much better than listening to gobs of exposition (although there is some of that). 

The great cast may be the main draw, but the big drawback is the lighting in the bar, which is so dingy that it makes some of the carnage hard to see.  I don’t know if this was a stylistic choice or if it was purposefully done to obscure some of the more gruesome moments to secure an R rating (which it did not receive).  Whatever the reason, it’s quite annoying at times.  Still, I have to give the movie bonus points for having a character say, “Hindsight is 20/20”, which is important when you’re writing a column called Hindsight is 2020.

Despite the shitty lighting, VFW offers the viewer some choice gory bits.  Begos is the kind of guy who says, “Why should we just use one squib when a guy is shot?  Why can’t we just explode him from the waist up and call it a day?”  It’s that kind of enthusiasm that endears a director to me.  I can’t wait to see what he does next.