The Hall of Infamy

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Technically, it was more a bribe than a rec.



The things people will do to accumulate points in a game where points don't even matter....
That game peaked when I was winning. Went to shit when others actually joined.



now i'm curious. what's a film that y'all genuinely love that could have handily won this hall? i think Zorns Lemma could have been a contender lmao.

With the caveat that I didn't participate and don't know everybody's tastes that well...


I've made no secret about my interest in vintage pornography (it's one of, like, five topics I discuss on here). Most of the ones I watch are from the 70s and 80s function closely enough to real movies that I think they can be easily enjoyed once people concede that a good amount of the runtime will contain hardcore sex. It helps that they're shot on film and have enough sense of craft.


I alluded to this in an earlier post, but once you get to the 90s, that holds less firmly. Video has made it a lot cheaper to make these things, and there is less and less focus on craft or any semblance of artistic effect. With that in mind, Party Doll A Go Go! parts 1 and 2 by Rinse Dream AKA Stephen Sayadian (best known for Dr. Caligari) is one I like quite a bit. The movie is just a non-stop barrage of campy dialogue, aggressive editing, and super tacky mise en scene, assembled with on off kilter sense of humour that pokes fun at the genre. Unlike a lot of movies in this era, it embraces the limitations of video to create an almost surreal aesthetic. I suspect 90% of people will be left cold or actively hate it, but I'm in the 10% that finds it really funny.



Having it a couple times is one thing. Throwing it in for five minutes, typically during a sex scene between two ugly people, EVERY six minutes to have one or two minutes in between to tell a tiny bit of a story in between just means the effect wears out it welcome.
I wouldn't say it wore out its welcome for me (if anything, I think those effects get less common as the film goes on), but that's a fair reaction.
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I take this to mean it was life affirming and beautifully rendered.
This is better than when MKS said a movie was aggressively unlikable and it reminded him of me.





Lust for Frankenstein (1998)
Directed by: Jesús Franco
Starring: Lina Romay, Michelle Bauer, Carlos Subterfuge

The copy of Lust for Frankenstein I managed to track down claims to be the “European Version”, though I'm uncertain what the differences between the various releases are, and I do not intend to waste any of my time trying to figure it out. It's not like a few altered scenes or minor edits could save this film anyway, since the whole thing is fundamentally flawed to its very core. There isn't a single element here that I can even pretend to praise.

I thought an early scene filmed through a dirty window with reflections clearly visible would be among the weirdest visual choices I'd see, but it turns out the cinematography in this film is absolutely horrific from start to finish. One could argue that a few of the more psychedelic looking shots have some artistic merit, but that doesn't make them any less hideous to witness. Some of the colour grading also seems to have intent behind it, but the blue colouring to the “dumping bodies at the beach” scenes just feel like failed day-for-night shots.

The camera angles, particularly during sex sequences, seem to have been chosen to give the worst view imaginable. Why was that guy's knee so important we needed a slow zoom into it? I'm not even sure the film makers know. Frustratingly, multiple scenes are filmed against incredibly bright light that completely obscures whatever the lens is trying to capture, including part of the ending which made it impossible to tell what was even happening. Shots also go on for so long that editing each one down to a reasonable length would've had a dramatic impact on the film's overall runtime.

On top of all that, there is the actual content of Lust for Frankenstein to contend with. I have a feeling that the plot would still be difficult to follow, even with better audio quality and actors who know how to enunciate their lines. The ghost of Frankenstein is possibly the worst offender, and it took me three quarters of the film to even figure out who he was supposed to be. There are flashbacks or dream sequences that are difficult to distinguish from the film's reality because Moira doesn't look any different in them, and none of the supporting characters are substantial enough to be able to tell them apart from each other.

Even without all the continuity errors, the editing is so bad I have to wonder if it's an intentional attempt to confuse the viewer. For example, there's a scene where a woman runs away, and seemingly out of nowhere, is suddenly being hanged over the staircase. I have no idea if it was an accident, if it was intentional, or even how it happened. At that point I honestly just gave up trying to hear the dialogue, because it was clear that I was not going to be able to follow the film's logic anyway.

Given how much I've now typed, it may seem like I'm irritated by this nomination, but strangely I'm not. I came to terms with the fact that this film wasn't going to be for me from the very start, and it was actually quite calming. I was able to get through this entire thing in one sitting, and while I did scribble down a lot of complaints, I'm not writing this out of anger. The only effect Lust for Frankenstein has had is on my time, and since I didn't have to work today, I'm not even irritated by that. This film is absolute trash, but I'm perfectly fine with that.


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Lust for Frankenstein
I don't hate this movie!


I couldn't make out the dialogue at all. I heard the word Manderley and the phrase "days of wine and roses" which made me wonder why Franco was referencing other movies. The rest of it was unintelligible but I just put that up to my bad hearing. I usually watch everything with closed captioning anyway.
I enjoyed the look of the movie; very retro Eighties video work on the cheap. Reminded me of music videos from back then. I liked the psychedelic scenes with the filters. And the day for night blue filter worked for me.

I hated the first kind of metal song. It was tedious and I was sorry they kept returning to it. The 1920's song had me scratching my head. What was that supposed to signify? But I enjoyed the song in the strip club. It was very punk. Sounded like The Crammps.
The narrative seemed pointless. Nothing seemed to be in service to any story or single vision. It was kind of a mishegoss. But it held my attention and I wanted to see where it was going; which I hadn't felt when watching any of these other movies.
As for the nudity. Nobody seemed ugly to me. Lina's up there in age and a little saggy but not so bad you would call her ugly. The sex scenes were shot in an extremely boring way. Almost no thought was given to what the camera would see, just a pile of limbs. Not sexy.
As to the costuming I did like Godess's outfit. The fact that she is naked except for those hilarious gold platforms was hilarious.
Still not the worst hour and half I have spent in this contest.



If it helps, this was my reaction to it:



Interpret that as you will.
Can you please give the soundtrack (sound effect?) accompanying your reaction?



I forgot the opening line.
Lust for Frankenstein

The rest of it was unintelligible but I just put that up to my bad hearing.
No, it wasn't your hearing. Much of what is said in Lust for Frankenstein is a fuzzy mumble few of us can make out. But I'm reckoning on the fact that if we could have made out what was being said it wouldn't have made the movie any better.
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Latest Review : Le Circle Rouge (1970)



Once I heard the first line of dialogue I briefly considered looking for subtitles, but given how hard the film itself was for me to track down, I didn't think it would be worth the effort to even look.



Manos: The Hands of Fate (1966) -


This is often considered to be one of the worst films of all time and understandably so. The dubbing is bad, the editing is very rough and unpolished, the awkward silences are weird, some of the cuts are distractingly bad, a few characters (the second couple and the officers) are unnecessary given how little they do in the film, the music choices are unbearable at times, and several scenes are poorly executed. It's not hard to see why this film has such low ratings everywhere. As poorly made as it is though, I can't help but find the film interesting for a few reasons. Firstly, as a couple others have noted, the film feels like a nightmare in some respects since you're actively forgetting about the movie as you watch it. I didn't notice this when I first watched the film, but hearing this from some people caused me to appreciate the film more. I also find the story behind the film really interesting. Warren, who had no experience with directing films prior to this, got the idea to make it from a bet he made. Immediately afterwards, he began writing out the script on a napkin. Warren also ran into several hurdles while shooting the film. Most of the equipment used for the film was rented, Warren had to rush through as many shots as possible to finish the film on time, the camera he used could only record 32 seconds of footage at a time, and all sound effects and dialogue were dubbed later in post-production from Warren and a handful of other people. So, to paraphrase @Thief, I have far more respect for Warren, who managed to create a film in spite of his inexperience and the hurdles he ran into than I do for Michael Bay, who has all the resources in the world, yet has churned out so many awful films throughout his career. If you look at the film through what's shown onscreen, you'll find a lot to criticize it for, but if you look at it through the lens of its historical context, it becomes rather interesting.

Next Up: Organ



I kinda liked Organ, rather I think it's not bad enough not to be remade. It just didn't deliver ALL the goods. But despite it's many flaws I enjoyed the one thing it did succeed at: the body horror.