Can You See Me?

"Hey (Prop) Joe, where you goin' with that gun in your hand?"

Had no idea there was a Jimi Hendrix biopic that came before the soporific Jimi: All Is by My Side (2013), starring André 3000.

Hendrix (2000), which I watched for the very first time this week, is only a fraction better than the above. Wood Harris looks absolutely hilarious while wearing a bunch of party wigs. He earns points for getting some of Hendrix's mannerisms right, however. The rest of the film is both flat, one note and let down by a poor supporting cast (Billy Zane is really bad and equally comedic in a Chop Top toupee), so you're mostly spending your time shaking off the immersion breaking sight of Avon Barksdale with a rubbish looking afro.

Being the anniversary of Jimi Hendrix's death today, I fear we'll never get a quality film about the rock god, as we'll probably get the utterly insipid Justice Smith miscast as the eponymous music legend. What feels like a lifetime ago, my personal choices were Laurence Fishburne or former England defender Des Walker (he was a dead ringer during Italia '90).

No idea who would fit the role today, but I do know what I want in another biopic. Here are five scenes I want to see in a Hendrix biopic:

1. On the day of Cream disbanding, the BBC news being delayed while Hendrix paid tribute to them during his live set on the Happening for Lulu TV show.
2. Hendrix covering for sixties crooner Engelbert Humperdinck's guitarist not showing up and performing behind a stage curtain. Hence, the photo of the pair backstage, along with Cat Stevens holding a gun.
3. A young Ian Kilmister AKA Lemmy working as Hendrix's roadie and doing LSD with him.
   
4. Gered Mankowitz's photo shoot where Hendrix posed for his most iconic photograph.
5. Denny Dent's incredible speed painting of Hendrix, from my old Jimi Plays Monterey VHS tape, being incorporated in the end credits of the film.
   

It's an absolute insult that the only thing that's Jimi Hendrix related during his anniversary is a rubbish episode of The Misinvestigations of Romesh Ranganathan which pretends to investigate whether foul play was the cause of his death. Alternatively, you can just watch that old The South Bank Show episode about him featuring actual people who knew Hendrix (most of them long dead now).

Native Tongues

Kneecap (Rich Peppiatt, 2024)

Despite being drawn to the trailer and a handful of preview clips, my enthusiasm over Kneecap (2024) hit the backburner once early reviews were comparing it to Danny Boyle's Trainspotting (1996); a film which really made me feel I was in Bizarro World after all the unworthy praise it received. Thankfully, Frankie McNamara, the most entertaining culture critic from the Emerald Isle since Tom Paulin, gave the film his glowing approval. This was the impetus I needed to get off my arse and check it out.

Set in Belfast, Northern Ireland, this raucous comedy/docu-drama is essentially a semi-fictional origin story of the rap group Kneecap. Introduced as two young lads up for the crack, Mo Chara and Móglaí Bap are ceasefire babies - the common description of the generation grown up during Northern Ireland's more recent and peaceful period. The duo have been inseparable tearaways since they were wee weans putting weed in the Catholic priest's censor. In young adulthood, they are lairy and shell-suited street kids.

When the pair aren't dealing or partaking in various narcotics, they're making rap music in their indigenous language. Their insistence to rap in Irish serves two reasons: the preservation of their mother tongue and an act of defiance to the Northern Irish authoritarians. A noble cause which is shared with school music teacher JJ Ó Dochartaigh, who, after being summoned by the local police to serve as a translator, winds up becoming the third drug-binging member of Kneecap. Thus, donning his trademark tricolour balaclava as DJ Próvai.

At this point, I'm compelled to reveal my complete ignorance of Irish Rap; save for the confession that I copped the CD single Ship Ahoy back in the day by commie Hip-Hop group Marxman (in hindsight, the band’s name and their debut album cover were glaringly obvious). It were the love of Irish flutes and Sinead O' Connor's angelic singing on the chorus, Your Honour. They alone had me overlooking the painful, vowel-chewing rhymes of these rappers, and the rest of their horrid music. Really regret not climbing over the greased metal railings back in 1990 when myself and a bunch of mates snuck into Highgate Cemetery. If it weren't for the graveyard scene in The Omen (1976) being burned in my brain, where Gregory Peck caught his sleeve on an iron spike while a pack of rabid rottweilers were gnashing at his legs, I could have climbed over and pissed on Comrade Karl's grave and avenge the millions who perished from his ideology.

 

Back to the film. Kneecap is something of a gem on account of not dwelling on its subplots longer than necessary, which keeps the film moving at a breezy and entertaining pace. This is perhaps one of its greatest strengths. It's both satirical and slapstick; able to mock what some might consider sensitive issues, whilst also indulging in juvenile humour - especially when it pertains to drug consumption. A prime example is when the band mistakenly consume ketamine before a gig and Móglaí Bap's face turns into Sinn Féin's Gerry Adams. The anarchic group are caught in the crossfires of both the Belfast Police and the fictional paramilitary organisation known as the R.R.A.D (Radical Republicans Against Drugs), which leads to hilarious shots at both sides.

The supporting cast are particularly strong. The film's most recognisable star is undoubtedly Michael Fassbender as Móglaí's estranged father, Arló Ó Cairealláin; a paramilitary who faked his own death to avoid capture. Amazingly, Fassbender managed to carry the swagger of a bad ass, despite his scraggly ginger beard and wearing a pair of sandals. The gag Bobby Sandals was not lost on me. The affect of him being in hiding for so many years has had adverse affects on his family. His wife, Dolores (Simone Kirby), has become an agoraphobic and is literally a prisoner in her own home. Jessica Reynolds plays Mo Chara's love interest Georgia, a Protestant girl whose dirty talk during sex is both hilarious and messed up. She could pass for Annabelle Wallis's younger, brunette sister. Can definitely see her as a star in more mainstream films in the foreseeable future.

A huge shame the band's music isn't my cup of tea, however. For a bunch of rowdy rap lads with such immense energy, I kind of cringed to their EDM beats and awkward rapping. Obviously, their music is meant for less discerning broccoli-haired zoomers than an old git like myself, but it does set an obvious barrier. I suppose the concert performance scenes in front of a jam packed and completely rocking audience might be akin to Public Enemy's legendary Hammersmith gig to young 'uns, but the quality of their music is nowhere near in the same universe to a boom bap dinosaur, sadly. This is the one real drawback of the film. Kneecap isn't a band whose music I like enough to buy. Kneecap is a film I like enough to cop on blu-ray, however.

It might offend some for its colourful language and heavy drug use, but Kneecap contains plenty of boisterous energy and smart social satire that you can't help being won over by it. Much like Baz Luhrmann's Elvis (2022), Kneecap is another musical biopic which kept me entertained throughout its run time.

Highly recommended.

Saints and Mostly Sinners

Shanty Tramp (Joseph G. Prieto, 1967)

Respect to Nicolas Winding Refn for curating and restoring a bunch of lost films from the dingy annals of B-movie cinema. Joseph G. Prieto's extreme slice of Southern Gothic melodrama, Shanty Tramp (1967) is one such forgotten entry. Bereft of a modest budget, and a cast possessing an ounce of acting talent, the film is a riveting viewing experience, thanks to its gritty atmosphere and a sleazy plot that chaotically descends into unexpected and shocking direction. This exploitation cinema of its era that still packs some potency today.

Emily Stryker (Eleanor Vaill; credited as Lee Holland) is the titular scrubber in question, and much like the the Rising Sun, has been the ruin of many a poor boy. From the God fearing simpleton to the corrupt and sleazy minister; Emily gets a kick out of teasing men and having them lusting over her. Bizarrely, she hardly looks the southern belle type like Daisy Duke, therefore, it's both equally amusing and perplexing watching men fawning all over her. Despite Vaill's only landing the lead for her nonchalance in getting her kit off. She's surprisingly convincing delivering the odd line or two.

The film's opening titles has the titular character strutting her stuff while a bombastic rendition of the hymn When the Saints Go Marching In is sung. Sardonically, it sets the tone of the film, as male bar patrons ogle at Emily's round derrière. The song gets rinsed again once it jumps to Preacher Fallows (Bill Rogers), the travelling minister, swindling his geriatric congregation to chip in some dough for his collection basket. Unsurprisingly, the conman evangelist has carnal desires for the flirtatious floozy attending his night time sermon and wants to show her "the power and the glory!" in the back of his caravan.

Despite warnings from his religious mother, country bumpkin Daniel  Smith (Lewis Galen) falls victim to the tawdry thirst trap. Like a knight in shining armour, he rescues the wicked wench from a potentially serious encounter involving the Chuck Connors-lookalike biker Savage (Lawrence Tobin). Unbeknown to Daniel, there's a revenge attack at his home while he's busy gooning for the salacious stop-out. Succumbing to Emily's temptations in a barn, he quickly regrets slapping cheeks with the heinous harlot as the pair are caught by her drunken white trash of a father (Otto Schlessinger; credited as Kenneth Douglas). "Blasphemy!" he yells. Falsely crying she was raped, Daniel is now on the run. Since Daniel is black, and Shanty Tramp is set in a Dixie town, you can put two and two together and see where this is headed.

Worth noting Shanty Tramp was released in the same year as other and more familiar Southerns: the racially charged In the Heat of the Night and the prison drama Cool Hand Luke. The micro-budgeted Shanty Tramp isn't anywhere near the level of competency of those two films. However, it does have them beat with a whole array of Southern preconceptions of the region. Nearly every southern film cliché is check marked: the trashy temptress; the inebriated and abusive patriarch; rampant racism; the innocent black victim; the police manhunt, replete with tracker dogs; the bible thumping evangelist; the moonshine distillery in a rickety shack; the elderly eccentric with an Old Testament sounding name, like Ichabod or Jeremiah. All of those elements are herein, painting a rich canvas.

Some flaws, like the unprofessional actors' bad performances, don't inadvertently lend to the film's charm. An important loose end involving Savage's biker gang is left completely unresolved. Without giving away too much, it's a crucial element, which was either edited out, or completely forgotten about during the writing process. Much of the dialogue sounds like it was recorded in a bathroom during post-production; it's out of sync with the actors' lips. There are also noticeable jumps in some of the dialogue scenes, which suggests that some of the derogatory racist language might have been edited out, although, according to Refn's restorationists, there doesn't seem to be a stronger cut of the film in existence. It is jarring in the film, however.

The cast might be relative unknowns, but Shanty Tramp's director is a name I'm somewhat familiar with, having seen Joseph P. Prieto's feverishly bizarre horror Miss Leslie's Dolls (1973). What's puzzling about this director is he might be an alias to Joseph P. Mawra; the director who helmed the notorious Olga roughies from the sixties. Although, there's no solid confirmation available online to confirm this, Google and MUBI lists Mawra instead of Prieto as Shanty Tramp's director. What is for certain is Shanty Tramp's second unit director is none other than Bob Clark; who went on to direct personal faves Black Christmas (1974), Murder by Degree (1979) and Porky's (1981).

Unsurprisingly, Shanty Tramp never earned any plaudits for its handling of social political issues; especially ones engrained in America's turbulent racial history. Realistically speaking, the film was made to court controversy in the aid of getting bums on seats. Almost sixty years on, and it still packs some punch to the easily offended today. However, for those of a less sensitive disposition, Shanty Tramp excels at weaving an entertaining exploitation romp; comparable to southern trash masterpieces Two Thousand Maniacs! (1964) and Mudhoney (1965). For this reason alone, Shanty Tramp is an uncouth, yet beguiling film that is definitely worth checking out.

Peak Era #3

Melinda Clarke

Rewatching Return of the Living Dead III (1993) over the weekend reminded me how hot Melinda Clarke (credited as Mindy Clarke in the film) was as the tragic, grungy femme Julie Walker; both before and after her exposure to the zombie gas Trioxin. Way hotter than Linnea Quigley's Trash from the first film, in my honest opinion. The concept of being eaten alive by the undead is absolutely terrifying, but I’d rather it be Julie chomping on my noggin than that horrifying CeeLo Green looking zombie in Zombie Flesh Eaters (1979). Every self-respecting horror film aficionado ought to include Julie Walker when compiling their Greatest Zombie Characters lists.

It's an absolute travesty that the best scene in the film; the part where Julie prepares for battle by piercing her face and body with pieces of sharp metal and glass to fight against the evil thug Santos and his street crew (perhaps the most middle-aged looking Latino gang on film), is only available on YouTube in its censored version, and to rub further salt to the wound, a poor quality VHS  rip. For shame!

From Julie Walker to Julie Cooper, Melinda Clarke managed to draw me to the naughties teen drama The O.C. (2003-2007) as the show's resident Alexis Colby. Melissa had aged like fine wine and reached upper echelon M.I.L.F status during her tenure on the show. Her come-to-bed eyes could bring any man to ruin. Little wonder she turned gold digging into an art; like marrying her best friend's mega wealthy, old dad, cheating on him with her daughter's boyfriend, and conspiring with his murder.

To emphasise what a veritable fox she was during this period, ruminate over this: when Melinda Clarke hit her forties, she looked like this. Can't say the same about her ex co-stars nearing the same age today; including the once great Olivia Wilde.

Bottom >>>> Bottoms

Guest House Paradiso (Adrian Edmondson, 1999)

To the uninitiated, Adrian Edmondson and the late Rik Mayall were two of British alternative comedy's shining stars from the eighties and nineties. Along with their comedic talents exhibited in the classic sitcom The Young Ones (1982), they were core members of the collective known as The Comic Strip. The pair really shone as a couple of crude and juvenile lowlife flatmates in the sitcom Bottom (1991-1995). 

Guest House Paradiso (1999) features Bottom's comedic duo; albeit with minor changes to their surnames: Rik Mayall's Richard "Richie" Richard is renamed to Richard "Richie" Twat, while Adrian Edmondson's Edward "Eddie" Elizabeth Hitler becomes Edward "Eddie" Elizabeth Ndingombaba. The changes are never explained. However, other than this change, both characters' are indistinguishable from their TV counterparts. Thus, the spirit of Bottom is more than evident during the very opening scenes. Guest House Paradiso would be Mayall's second feature film role after his transatlantic outing in Drop Dead Fred (1991) - embarrassingly not seen it. Edmondson makes his film debut in this film and not make an appearance again until his bit part in the franchise killer Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017).

Guest House Paradiso is loud, crude and unapologetically juvenile. Witnessing Eddie and Richie administering Looney Toons level of violence to one another is like watching Laurel and Hardy ramped up to eleven. The film isn't only reliant on its cartoonish violence, it also possesses some truly idiotic dialogue, like the Richie having to repeat 'it's pronounced "Thwaite"' whenever trying to correct anyone from saying his surname as Twat. Much like Hyacinth Bucket has to endure. The styles of humour don't just end there, as the film as the film doesn't shy from Mayall acting like a sexually depraved individual, along with gross out vomit comedy in the film's final act. Very much in the spirit of Peter Jackson's early films.

Simply put, the premise of the film is essentially Fawlty Towers (1975) with Eddie and Richie running the worst hotel in Great Britain. It's built on top of cliff and adjacent to the phallic looking nuclear power plant. It's a miracle the pair even manage to retain any staff, like their Romanian chef Lardy Barsto (Steve O'Donnell), let alone any paying guests due to their obnoxious behaviour. A subplot involving famous, Italian actress Gina Carbonara (Hélène Mahieu) jilting her playboy, racing driver fiancee, Gino Bolognese (a fish out of water Vincent Cassel) on the day of their wedding and hiding out in the grotty establishment adds a welcome layer to the film. The G.O.A.T comedy Carry On Screaming's Fenella Fielding plays the senile guest Mrs. Foxfur, while Simon Pegg makes his film debut as the timid, but closeted pervert, Mr. Nice. An unforgettably cringeworthy scene involves him being hoisted with a fishing rod whilst asleep via his nipple ring. Two other cast members from Shaun of the Dead (2004), Bill Nighy and Kate Ashfield, play an adulterous couple whose romantic getaway is ruined at the hotel.

Written by both Edmondson and Mayall, the idea came to them whilst in various hotels during Bottom's live tour. The pair had written three and half-hours worth of comedy material for their first treatment. A revision of it had shaved it down to two and half hours, which was still too lengthy. Mayall had just recovered from a coma due to a quad bike accident in 1998. During this period, he had urged Edmondson to go it alone with a further rewrite to a more acceptable run time during his recuperation. With a final script completed, the producers of the film got Edmondson to direct the film. The result is an unapologetic gross out comedy and a surprisingly stylish one, too.

Worth praising Guest House Paradiso's art direction as its sixties pastiche give it a vintage Ealing Studios vibe. The production sets look suitably old and grotty. The hotel itself, is very much a major highlight as it's reminiscent of Man and Woman's dwelling in Wes Craven's The People Under the Stairs (1991). The secret passageways within the walls and various crawl spaces of the hotel, are what spark this comparison. As a matter of fact, Guest House Paradiso, could have very easily been a horror film given all the various elements mentioned.

Guest House Paradiso was released in 1999 with little fanfare. It was largely panned by the critics; Poncey Pete over at The Guardian likened it to "a Jim Davidson 'adult pantomine'". Fast forward several decades, and he's positively gleaming over the played out goofiness of last year's nauseatingly overblown Bottoms (2023). The comedy might not be a classic, but it absolutely stomps Emma Seligman's boring writing that qualifies as zoomer humour. Similarly, an Empire critic no one knows was turned off by the film for being too puerile, despite being aware of its creators' comedic style and the source material. Worst of all, are the legions of wannabe Roger Eberts on Letterboxd offended over its irreverent humour. When mankind turns its nose at comedy at its most honest and base level, then the human race is definitely doomed.

Surprised by Guest House Paradiso receiving the boutique blu-ray treatment when it's usually focused on the serious cinephile and genre ends of the spectrum, but it makes absolute sense after seeing it. The slapstick comedy and gross out scenes are written and performed by absolute legends of the British comedy industry, not to mention it being far more deserving of some high definition love and fancy packaging than the average Troma film and long forgotten straight-to-video comedy for trash movie aficionados with money to burn. Like Kolobos and Freeway II: Confessions of a Trick Baby, Guest House Paradiso is another film from 1999 being discovered decades later that's turned out to be an unexpected gem. 

Rick Mayall passed away from a heart attack in 2014. Tragic how he was far more talented and deserving of success across the pond compared to insufferable comedians Ricky Gervais and Russell Brand. 

R.I.P Rick Mayall.

It's a Right Royal Cockney Barrel of Monkeys

Guy Richie isn't a director I'm particularly fond of. His success can be attributed to mimicking Quentin Tarantino’s whole style and filling the void left behind from the dying Britpop zeitgeist. I do enjoy a bunch of songs which were new to me from his films, though.

The Castaways' Liar, Liar is a prime example. It’s heard during the poker scene in Richie's mockney, gangster film Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998).

The Castaways - Liar Liar

Liar Liar/Sam single, 1965

The Castaways · Liar Liar

It wasn't until finding a YouTube clip of The Castaways performing the song in the film It's a Bikini World (1967) when I realised the high pitched voice on it was a bloke and not a woman after all these years.

Other songs I've discovered in Guy Richie films:

Wanda Jackson - Funnel of Love (1960)

The Pretty Things - Rosalyn (1964)

Kim Fowley - The Trip (1965)

The Sonics - Have Love, Will Travel (1965)

Nina Simone - Take Care of Business (1965)

David Axelrod - The Mental Traveller (1968)

George Guzman - Banana Freak Out (1968)

Dusty Springfield - Spooky (1970)

Roxy Music - In Every Dream Home a Heartache (1973)

Cymande - Brothers on the Slide (1974)

War - Outlaw (1982) 

E-Z Rollers - Walk This Land (Remix) (1996)

Klint - Diamond (2000)

Electrelane - Atom's Tomb (2005)

Mattiel - Count Your Blessings (2018)

Can't hate on some of Guy Richie's music inclusions, but I can shake my head in dismay at the undeserved success of Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch (2000) when they were nothing but inferior Brit flicks compared to Croupier (1998) and Sexy Beast (2000) during that period. Well ow ov aw-da, innit?

Juvenile Hell: Part 8

Pump Up the Volume (Allan Moyle, 1990)

Needed to cleanse the palate after watching some absolute abominations last month. Allan Moyle's Gen X classic Pump Up the Volume (1990) is the perfect solution. This is the second entry in what is unofficially dubbed the Christian Slater Holy Trilogy around this part of the internet. The other films being Heathers (1988) and True Romance (1993). Being that True Romance doesn't fit in this Juvenile Hell series, and skipping Massacre at Central High (1976) for its spiritual ancestor, is akin to running before learning to walk, the sensible option is to revisit Happy Harry Hard-ons pirate radio shenanigans. Besides which, the Heathers 4K I ordered the other week hasn't arrived yet.

If ever a film encapsulated the pent-up frustrations of the disillusioned generation beset by conservative authoritarianism, Pump Up the Volume would be it. Set in a suburb of Phoenix, Arizona, lonely newcomer Mark Hunter (Christian Slater), turns his parents' basement into a pirate radio show where he anonymously expresses all his teen angst and and music tastes over the radio waves. His fellow students of the oppressive Hubert H. Humphrey High School are eager listeners of the show and tune in every night to hear his antics.

The increasing popularity of the pirate radio show encourages the students into becoming more expressive and rebellious. The results range from suburban white kids gathering around a tape deck and nodding in appreciation to Ice-T's explicit Girls L.G.B.A.F, to the school's very own Claire Standish hilariously blowing up her parents' microwave, to that one random black student always in the background eventually wearing a kufi on his head. In the case of  Hubert H. Humphrey's resident Pam Ayres, Nora Diniro (Samantha Mathis) AKA the "Eat me! Beat me!" Lady, it's sending dirty poems and being potential serial killer bait to Happy Harry Hard-on with letters like this:

"You're the voice crying out in the wilderness. You're the voice that makes my brain burn and my guts go gooey. Yeah, you gut me. My insides spill on your altar and tell the future. My steaming, gleaming guts spell out your nature. I know you, not your name, but your game. I know the true you. Come to me, or I'll come to you."

Other than that one strike against her, Nora is pretty much the dream around the way emo girl from this era: Angela Franklin may have been demonically hot, but  I'll take Nora being everyday hot and not having to worry for my life; plus, she still looked art school bird fit even in old granny dresses and striped stockings; also, she didn't have dandruff like Allison Reynolds. Thus, Nora Diniro is the gateway goth girl of that era. The only other major drawback is the sad reality of her being an entirely fictional character. It's the only explanation as to how any person living in their parents' basement with a penchant for chronically fake fappin' and dry humping a dress for the entertainment of their listeners, manages to land a beauty like her - even if they're cool like Christian Slater. Only in the movies. Interestingly, Slater and Mathis were already a couple during the production of the film. That explains their chemistry feeling so authentic.

The plot involving a tyrannical school regime, headed by Principal Loretta Creswood (Annie Ross) suspending and expelling potential problem/underperforming kids and syphoning their funds to achieve the school's impeccable record, is very much secondary in the grand scheme of the film. It's really all about how one voice can rally others against their oppressors. This makes the film still poignant today. Alternatively, it's also all about Christian Slater's incredible charisma and acting chops. Interestingly, Slater's earliest films performances often draws comparisons to Jack Nicholson. This is the perfect litmus test for any seventies baby, as he comes across as a hyper-realistic version of the actor.

Young ‘uns, take note: the film's social message comes well before the rise of dullards posting cat memes and the existence of echo chambers. Therefore, if scenes of H.H.H and Nora broadcasting in a jeep to outwit the Federal Communications Commission (F.C.C), sounds a tad far fetched and antiquated for you, then please consider, that's far more noble than terminally online folk pretending to care about our freedoms.

Other noteworthy scenes and observations related to the movie are: the fat, entrepreneurial kid selling tapes of the show for $5 while Above the Law's Freedom of Speech is playing on the school speakers; a very young Seth Green not being annoying as his mate; the superior Pixies' Wave of Mutilation (UK Surf) heard in the film; the dumb Pauly Shore lookalike getting punched by Principal Creswood's rottweiler; and finally, the girl who played Cheryl Biggs (Holly Sampson) eventually winding up as an adult film actress.

Pump Up the Volume may be regarded as a nineties classic, but it's timeless for me as it became the go to movie whenever your host was undecided about what to watch to kill time. It was a staple, until my DVD got lost when lending it out to a mate. The disc was already out of print at the time, and it was far too expensive to replace. The pain. From that point on, I stopped lending any films out. Fortunately, I managed to eventually replace it with a a blu-ray upgrade (albeit, a bare bones disc), that was released last year. It's a treasured film here at Case de Spartan.

An undeniable classic.

Viewings: August 2024

Soi Cheang's roaring actionfest Twilight Warriors: Walled In and László Benedek's revenge thriller The Night Visitor were unequivocally the film highlights this month. 

Amazed I never discovered Peter Graham Scott's mini-series Children of the Stones until now. Probably the best slice of vintage TV I've watched in ages.

Film:

The Horrible Dr. Hichcock (Riccardo Freda, 1962)

The Possessed (Luigi Bazzoni, Franco Rossellini, 1965)*

The Sorcerers (Michael Reeves, 1967)

Mississippi Mermaid (François Truffaut, 1969)*

The Night Visitor (László Benedek, 1971)*

Tony Arzenta (Duccio Tessari, 1973)*

Dead Man’s Letters (Konstantin Lopushansky, 1986)*

Spectre (Marcello Avallone, 1987)*

Door II: Tôkyô Diary (Banmei Takahashi, 1991)*

Deadly Instincts AKA Breeders (Paul Matthews, 1997)*

Bruiser (George A. Romero, 2000)*

Napoleon: The Director’s Cut (Ridley Scott, 2023)*

Borderlands (Eli Roth, 2024)*

The Killer (John Woo, 2024)*

Kinds of Kindness (Yorgos Lanthimos, 2024)*

Longlegs (Osgood Perkins, 2024)*

Sting (Kiah Roache-Turner, 2024)*

Trap (M. Night Shamalamadingdong, 2024)*

Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In (Soi Cheang, 2024)*

Television:

 Doctor Who - Inferno (Sydney Newman, 1963-2024)*

Space: 1999 - Various Episodes (Gerry Anderson, Sylvia Anderson, 1975-1977)*

Children of the Stones - Complete Series (Peter Graham Scott, 1977)*

Hammer House of Mystery and Suspense - Child's Play (Val Guest, 1984)*

Hammer House of Mystery and Suspense - The Corvini Inheritance (Gabrielle Beaumont, 1984)*

Hammer House of Mystery and Suspense - In Possession (Val Guest, 1984)

Hammer House of Mystery and Suspense - A Distant Scream (John Hough, 1984)*

Hammer House of Mystery and Suspense - Paint Me a Murder (Alan Cooke, 1984)*

Mastermind - Episodes 1-3 (Bill Wright, 2024/2025)*

 

*First time viewings.

Dada Debaser Notes:

• Banmei Takahashi's horror thriller Door (1988) is one of my fave discoveries so far this year, but its sequel has absolutely no connection and belongs in an entirely different genre (erotic drama) altogether. Just cashing in on the name, I suppose.
  
• There aren't enough words to describe how bad Borderlands is.
• As far as nightmarish, nuclear holocaust films go, Soviet cinema's Dead Man's Letters gives Threads (1984) a run for its money. Way too Tarkovsky for me, though.
• M. Night’s new film is unbridled nepotism and serves as a shameless promo for his daughter’s turgid music. Her acting is worse than Sofia Coppola's performance in The Godfather Part III (1990).
• The Possessed is the art house giallo Antonioni ought to have made instead of Blow-Up (1966). You can liken it to his Decadence trilogy (without its pretentiousness, thankfully).
  
• Yorgos Lanthimos proves he can't make an entertaining anthology movie; three bizarre stories, each of them dragged out to almost an hour in length, and still laced with predictable twist endings. Heavily reliant on its celeb cast acting strange to carry it and to indulgently appease Lanthimos' weirdo fetish. By no means horrible, but why watch the epic slog that is Kinds of Kindness ever again when you can watch any of Amicus' superior portmanteaus?
  
• Was hoping for Mississippi Mermaid to be as good as Truffaut's other Hitchcockian film, The Bride Wore Black (1968), but even peak era Catherine Deneuve flashing her breasts couldn't save it from being a snoozefest.
• Disappointed with Longlegs. Obvious inspiration is taken from many cat and mouse horror thrillers, winding up worse than the sum of its parts. Nicolas Cage's performance in it was exactly what I expected.
  
• RIP Alain Delon! The French actor plays another trench coat wearing assassin in the actioner Tony Arzenta. Decent film with a great supporting cast and locations, but nowhere near in the same league as Le Samouraï (1967).
  
• Speaking of assassins, the demake of the heroic bloodshed classic The Killer (1989) is absolutely atrocious. Nathalie Emmanuel might have gone from Hollyoaks to Hollywood, but John Woo went from Sam Peckinpah to Sam Smith. What a fall off.
  
• I wrote about my fave movie scenes set inside a supermarket this month. 

Geeked for Strange Darling (2024) and The Substance (2024) being released next month. Curse my luck they're out on the very same day!

Youth in Revulsion

The Substance (Trailer)

Coralie Fargeat, 2024

Excited to finally see a proper trailer after that short clip from a few months back for Coralie Fargeat's upcoming film The Substance (2024). The short blurb about it reads: "A fading celebrity decides to use a black market drug, a cell-replicating substance that temporarily creates a younger, better version of herself." With a sixty-something Demi Moore being in it, I'm expecting some satire/commentary on the beauty industry along with the inevitable shock factor.

Seeing a bunch of early reviews mention other famous body horror movies like The Fly (1986), Society (1989) and... The Nutty Professor films in the same breath as The Substance, has me eagerly anticipating its release next month.

Revenge (Trailer)

Coralie Fargeat, 2017

 

Neither anything helmed by acclaimed, femme New French Extremity directors Claire Denis or Julia Ducournau made me rush out to the cinema like Fargeat's captivating debut, the rape revenge thriller Revenge (2017). Ended up having to drive miles away to see it in an art house cinema after Mark Kermode's review. In the wake of the #MeToo movement, the film gained a cult following amongst horror audiences. Personally, I consider it an insult to most people's intelligence (there is no way the protagonist would have survived in the desert), but it's incredibly entertaining, regardless. I'm kind of expecting the same deal with Fargeat's latest film. Bound to be better than the highly overrated and soporific Titane (2021) at least.

Going full circle: what links the notorious rape revenge exploitation film I Spit on Your Grave (1978) with Demi Moore? Answer: Demi Moore is the model posing in that iconic film poster. An interesting tidbit I learned whilst watching a documentary on the film during lockdown.

Kowloon Ruck

Twilight Warriors: Walled In (Soi Cheang, 2024)

Director Soi Cheang first came onto my radar with his Hong Kong crime thriller Limbo (2021). Despite its incredible production design and hyper-stylised noir aesthetic, the central core of the film was like every generic crime thriller involving the hunt for a serial killer. It was superficially alluring, at best. His latest film, adapted from a graphic novel known as City of Darkness, is also laced with fantastic visuals, but more importantly, it also has a more interesting plot.

Twilight Warriors: Walled In is set during the eighties in Hong Kong's shanty city of Kowloon. The historical region resembled a post-apocalyptic nightmare rather than an actual urban province. The gargantuan ramshackle is the basis for the film's amazing look. Within its corrugated walls is a densely populated feudal society with triad bosses acting like governing elders.

After being ripped off obtaining a fake ID card by Mr. Big (the legendary Sammo Hung still kicking arse in his seventies), Chan Lok-kwan (Raymond Chan) runs afoul of the triads by mistakenly snatching a bag of drugs thinking it was the money owed to him. The result is an epic chase fight into the Walled City, where the triads are prohibited from venturing in. Lok-kwan finds sanctuary in the urban shit hole to be temporary when he runs into another gang led by the chain smoking, martial arts master Cyclone (Louis Koo). After some more fighting, Lok-kwan goes through the motions of finding acceptance with the inhabitants of the Walled City.

The police free zone has its own laws and politics, which is fascinating during the downtime of not having a violent fight light up the screen. This also benefits the film's world building along with defining its central characters. There's a back story to Lok-kwan, which eventually leads to serious consequences for everyone living in Kowloon.

A refreshing concept is how Mr. Big isn't the major villain in the film. That duty falls to his maniacal second-in-command, King (Philip Ng), who looks like an Asian verison of Paul Calf. Controversially, King the power of invulnerability. He is impervious to lethal machete strikes, a sledgehammer to his skull, and can chew on red hot coal like it's a chicken nugget. This comic book style villain is more than a challenge for Lok-kwan and three of his comrades during the film's epically climactic showdown.

The fight choreography comes somewhere in between Steven Chao's cartoonish action in Kung Fu Hustle (2004) and the brutal grittiness of Gareth Evans' The Raid films. Thus, Twilight Warriors: Walled In does not disappoint with its entertaining action scenes. Did not expect the emotionally effective drama sequences, either. A good example is the brotherhood of Lok-kwan's inner circle: Shin (Terrance Lau), Twelfth Master (Tony Wu) and the masked AV (German Cheung). From playing mah jong to dispensing street justice to a prostitute killer, a tight bond is formed with the foursome, where they're willing to sacrifice themselves to prove it.

The film is superior to the average John Wick-core actioner, which has long outstayed its welcome. Of course, there is the potential of the comic book style combat being a turn off for some, but it more than makes sense considering it's based on an actual graphic novel. A rare win for comic book movies over the last few years.

Overall, Twilight Warriors: Walled In is a quality action film. Not only does it deliver an abundant amount of shit kicking, but it does it with resplendent glee. Apparently, there are another two films (one, a sequel; the other, a prequel) planned and this instalment has managed to get its hooks in, and left me willing to check them out too. Recommended.

Liberator Liberated

Blake's 7 (Season One Trailer)

Various, 1978

Another Dada Debaser wish come true! Terry Nation's sci-fi series Blake's 7 (1978-1981) is receiving some blu-ray love from the BBC this autumn, according to a recent announcement. At least... the first series is.

Truthfully; I never saw it really happening on account of infinitely more popular BBC programmes like Porridge (1974-1977) and Open All Hours (1976-1985)  still only being available on DVD format.

Other films sprinkled with the Dada Debaser magic dust are listed below, along with the respective labels which released them:

Freaks - Criterion

Blood Sucking Freaks - Vinegar Syndrome

After Hours - Criterion

Evil Dead Trap 2: Hideki - 88 Films

A Gun for Jennifer - Vinegar Syndrome

Frog Rock

In theory, an early 1970s British horror involving a frog worshipping, undead biker gang wreaking havoc in shopping centres, and Beryl Reid as a witch, ought to be right up my alley. Regardless of its cult following, I've regrettably never been able to appreciate Psychomania (1973), even if it's ironically like most of its fans. The film lacks any real edginess and is a bitter disappointment.

Better known for playing the best versions of Shere Khan and Mr. Freeze, the unmistakably upper class sounding George Sanders would receive top billing, as Psychomania would be his final film appearance since he took his own life. You can almost understand why, if you’ve seen it.

John Cameron - Psychomania Front Title

Psychomania OST, 1973

John Cameron · Psychomania Front Title

 

On a more cheerful tip, I do like John Cameron's main theme from Psychomania's soundtrack. It manages to be both suitably eerie for the film and possesses the distinctive seventies British prog rock, which is seldom replicated convincingly by today's retro sounding millennial bands.

 

Cameron would also contribute to library music label KPM's Afro Rock album the very same year. Standouts include Swamp Fever and Afro Metropolis by the musician, but it's his fellow contributor, Alan Parker, who shines the most with his track Punch Bowl for me. The pair were members of C.S.S, better known as that band covering Led Zeppelin's Whole Lotta Love used as the Top of the Pops theme.

Alan Parker - Punch Bowl

Afro Rock, 1973

 

1000Sereez · "Punch Bowl" (Alan Parker/John Cameron)

Night of the Living Debt

Bruiser (Trailer)

George A. Romero, 2000

 

 

Amongst George A. Romero's film oeuvre, the psychological thriller Bruiser (2000) was something of a blind spot until very recently.

Bruiser can be best described as the missing link between The Mask (1994) and American Psycho (2000). Despite some great ideas and Peter Stormare's scene stealing as an outrageously sleazy boss, the film is a let down due to an unfocussed script and its messy execution. To hazard a guess, it reeks of studio interference.

Misfits - Scream 

Famous Monsters, 1999

 

An interesting story about Bruiser, however, is how it does honour a favour between the horror punk band the Misfits and Romero for having him direct their music video for Scream! The only music video Romero ever directed. Misfits would return the favour by appearing in Bruiser and performing a four song set; including the titular song.

The film would end up a commercial failure, but the zombie movie renaissance in the 2000s would result in Romero still making films, although restricted to another Dead trilogy. 

Land of the Dead (Behind the scenes w/ Edgar Wright & Simon Pegg)

George A. Romero, 2005

The first film in the new trilogy, the underrated Land of the Dead (2005), would feature cameos from Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright as flesh eating zombies. The British comedy duo ignited their film careers the previous year with the success of their zombie comedy Shaun of the Dead (2004), which was heavily inspired by Romero's original Dead trilogy. 

Just goes to show the extent of Romero's influence on other creative types and how willing they were to repay him.

Compare the Supermarket

Cinema can potentially turn the most mundane surroundings in our lives into something far more exotic. A good example is the humble supermarket; a resource where many of us purchase our essential groceries and the odd luxury or two, yet it can be an interesting setting for many a film maker. 

 

Whether it's directors inflicting their own social perspective - or thanks to all the rows and shelves found in a supermarket, perspective literally being an advantageous form of framing various shots - the mundane supermarket setting lends to some engrossing scenes in cinema.

Hotlinked the scenes in the individual film titles - here is a selection of choice supermarket scenes which come to mind:

The Ipcress File (Sidney J. Furie, 1965)

Unlike James Bond having everything given to him on a plate, Harry Palmer has to work for it like the rest of us plebs. Seeing the bespectacled spy having to go out and do his own grocery shopping was another relatable factor about Palmer. That doesn't change the fact he still buys poncey champignons, however. You know Palmer is earning some serious cheddar when he's willing to spend 10p more over the alternative option. Dada Debaser did the math: in today's money that's a whopping £1.64 he's paying extra for a tin of fancy mushrooms. Still, the beauty of old Brit flicks with scenes set in a supermarket are seeing all the products that are no longer around today; like Smedley's Paella Spanish Rice (in a tin).

Red Sun (Rudolf Thome, 1970)

German New Wave (or Das Neue Kino for pretentious film heads) boils down to me seeing half a dozen Werner Herzog films, one Rainer Werner Fassbinder, half a Wim Wenders and a couple of Jörg Buttgereit underground nasties, but I know an unintentional comedy when I see one. Case in point Rudolf Thome's Red Sun. Uber groupie Uschi Obermaier and her misandrist girl friends take some time out from bomb making and murdering men, by shoplifting with about as much subtlety as everyone in Jane's Addiction's Been Caught Stealing video. Constantly on the lookout for the security guard is not suspicious at all. On another note, it's always a bizarre feeling when entering a foreign country's supermarket and seeing all those strange food products; never 100% certain what they actually might be. One of the wonders of foreign cinema is we can always have that feeling while cotching in the comfort of our own homes.

Messiah of Evil (Gloria Katz, Willard Huyck, 1974)

It's nice to see this film receive the recognition it deserves over the years. The current Dada Debaser banner is from one of the best scenes from the film; the other, which is equally as fantastic, is the unfortunate Anitra Ford being trapped inside a late night supermarket with a bunch of flesh-eating ghouls. Absolutely love how the artificial fluorescent lighting makes the mise en scène equally as creepy as the unnaturally grey complexions of Point Dune's scary residents. An incredibly atmospheric scene, and entirely relatable if you've ever had to do a quick shop at night in the Tesco branch near me. What are the chances George A. Romero was inspired by Messiah of Evil's supermarket scene with his zombie masterpiece Dawn of the Dead (1978)?

Schizo (Pete Walker, 1976) 

Pete Walker channelling Roman Polanski's psychological horror Repulsion (1965) for his film Schizo, might not be my fave film from the British auteur, but it does contain one of his most memorable scenes. Set in a now defunct branch of supermarkets which were called Wallis, Samantha, our film's protagonist, is being freaked out by an off-screen voice yelling out her name repeatedly. I'm more disturbed by the shockingly low special offer prices the girl on the tannoy is announcing, to be honest: baked beans 13p; instant coffee 47p; and New Zealand butter 19p. The highlight of the scene is where the butcher behind the meat counter politely retrieves his bloody meat cleaver which has found its way in Samantha's shopping trolley. Kind of funny how if this ever happened today, Samantha would have wound up in a police cell before she had the chance to run off in sheer disgust.

Dawn of the Dead (George A. Romero, 1978) 

A fitting reminder that I still need to check out the recent Monroeville Mall Cut of what's arguably the Citizen Kane of Horror. The most tragic scenes for me are my favourite character, the zombie-bitten Roger, making the most of things before his encroaching death and undeath. Trying to find small precious moments of pleasure by munching on pickled kumquats while the regal sounding Fugarock plays, really tugs at my heart strings. George A. Romero's biting social commentary regarding first world capitalism has turned us into consumer zombies maybe written about ad nauseam, but it's counter balanced by the very real moments where the film's heroes attempt to regain domestic normality again in a microcosmic world of the shopping mall. A temporary oasis in a world dominated by the undead.

Repo Man (Alex Cox, 1984)

Rows of generic labelled products says a lot about our consumer culture, in Alex Cox's cult eighties film Repo Man, but it's Otto's defiance of his dictatorial authoritarian boss that truly defines the worker's frustrated spirit in the Reagan era. The rebellious "fuck you!" is loud and clear. With his shackles gone, Otto shoves the pathetic bootlicker Kevin, his proto-Napoleon Dynamite looking work colleague to the ground. It's followed by Otto removing his awful bow tie like it's a great beast of burden, which is definitely a nice touch.Him flipping both middle fingers at the comically fascist security guard pointing guns at him, is another defiant note. Viva la revolución, comrade!

They Live (John Carpenter, 1988)

Another example of bland product design in supermarkets. This time around John Carpenter's sci-fi classic incorporates it as hidden subliminal messaging to keep the human race docile and unaware of the secret alien invasion of our planet. With the aid of special glasses, John Nada finally wakes up from a hypnotic slumber; finally seeing that materialism and the capitalist system was engineered by extraterrestrials; the real elites of this world. This is the type of intelligent science fiction which really appeals to a broader audience. Little wonder it's been adopted as truth by the tin foil hat wearing conspiracy theorists.

964 Pinocchio (Shozin Fukui, 1991)

Can't say I'm a fan of Shozin Fukui's art house cyberpunk film, nor do I even pretend to understand it. However, I do absolutely love the supermarket scene where Himiko drags the childish cyborg 964 Pinocchio around a supermarket. Watching Himiko slap the cyborg's head numerous times while he's being mischievous, is pure comedy to me. The highlight of the film. In true guerilla film making fashion, this scene was shot without the public being aware it was all fake, thus, you witness their real reactions. Perhaps it's because of the cyborg's behaviour, evoking many young tearaways acting up whenever going shopping with their mums, which makes the reason why it's so entertaining. Also applicable to blokes forced into going with their missus shopping. See it all the time. The face of being gutted.

28 Days Later (Danny Boyle, 2002)

No surprise that Romero's Dawn of the Dead served as the template to many a zombie movie in more ways than one. The supermarket scene is the one most often replicated. Danny Boyle's 28 Days Later is no different. As farcical as it seems to find a Budgens supermarket in London that hasn't been raided and looted during a catastrophic pandemic, it is welcome break from the doom and gloom for our film's characters to let their hair down and have fun. Frank schooling Jim on fine whiskey appreciation while Grandaddy's A.M. 180 plays is a welcome moment. The scene when Frank amusingly leaves his credit card at the checkout till always triggers me, and would have me feeling paranoid, despite the context of banks and regular people hardly existing in the wake of viral outbreak which has completely decimated Great Britain.

 

Hot Fuzz (Edgar Wright, 2007)

"Two blokes and a fuckload of cutlery." Edgar Wright managed to bring Michael Bay levels of high octane, Hollywood action to the English West Country. A notable sequence in Hot Fuzz are the epic shoot out scenes inside a Somerfield supermarket. Love the creative use of various props associated with a supermarket being used to great effect, like the use of shopping trolleys serving as battering rams to overcome the siege with the two butchers. Unpopular opinion, but Hot Fuzz is without a doubt the best in the Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy on account of Simon Pegg not acting like an incredibly annoying, whining man-child like in the other films.

The Mist (Frank Darabont, 2007)

Other than being the last Stephen King adaptation I've enjoyed, the fundamental appeal of Frank Darabont's The Mist isn't all the bizarre and deadly creatures from another dimension laying waste to everyone caught in the thick mist, but the even greater threat of a religious nutcase. Mrs. Carmody is the local faith loony who manifests into a psychotic prophet to all the scared and gullible religious folk trapped with her inside a supermarket. Watching her become all the more deranged and dangerous, while she gains more authority, is positively frightening. It becomes abundantly obvious that the film is a metaphor for modern day religion and the evil acts performed in the name of God. If that isn't enough to piss off a large section of society, then The Mist features one of the most tragically messed up film endings, which goes totally against the typical Hollywood formula. For those reasons, and the fact that it's a very good film, I salute The Mist for having the balls to go totally against the grain.

 

That's probably it as far selections go. Without a doubt there will be some glaring omissions, but the selections above aren't there to chronicle every supermarket scene from a film; merely what's relevant to the tastes of this blog.

Too bad Bryan Forbes' The Stepford Wives (1975)  isn't available on blu-ray, as I can barely remember much of it and would love to revisit it. Otherwise, I would have felt more comfortable including the supermarket scene, too.