The Pyx aka The Hooker Cult Murders (Harvey Hart, 1973)
Adapted from John Buell's 1959 novel of the same title; The Pyx is a largely forgotten horror thriller seemingly dashed on the rocks by that early seventies tidal wave of occult pot-boilers. Later the film fell victim to a series of poorly mastered pan and scan home video and dvd transfers, reducing cinematographer Rene Verzier's artful 2.35 : 1 composistions to impenetrable grainy murk. Subsequently the film has remained a cult curio despite high profile leading actors Karen Black and Christopher Plummer in tailor made roles. Of course this kind of scenario is veritable catnip to a cult movie nerd like me, and the news of a newly remastered anamorphic dvd from Scorpion Releasing had me scurrying for the 'buy with one click' button faster than you can say impetuousness.
The Pyx takes it's name from the small container used to keep the host at holy communion, which is found in the hand of a young woman after falling to her death from a Montreal apartment in suspicious circumstances. The woman turns out to be a heroin addicted prostitute by the name of Elizabeth Lucy (Black) and the rest of the film alternates between the inevitable police investigation headed by wholesome Detective Henderson (Plummer) and the final few days leading up to Elizabeth's death...
Following a disorientating opening crime scene sequence in which the dialogue effectively switches back and forth from un-subtitled French Canadian to English; The Pyx settles in to a lethargic low key pace, style and subject matter not a million miles away from Alan J. Pakula's Klute. We're introduced to Black's high class prostitute turning an adoring older trick in the same detached manner reminiscent of Fonda's watch glancing oscar win. This is as much character study of Elizabeth's empty, Catholic guilt ridden existence, her pushy Madam (a delightfully suspicious Yvette Brind'amour) and the vulnerable young gay man she takes under her wing; as it is intriguing occult mystery. Henderson's frustratingly slow progress gradually uncovers the inevitable shadowy satanists rooted in the echelons of power, but contrasted against their chilling emergence in Elizabeth's immediate past; it reaches an air of poignancy that almost transcends the predictability. Both leads are particularly fine especially Black who composed (along with Harry Freedman) and sings a number of bohemian tinged songs on the soundtrack which lend the film a moving air of hippyish melancholy. Unfortunately The Pyx is just too minimalist on too many levels, with an underwhelming ending that fails to justify a running time just shy of two hours. Despite this I find myself remaining tentative as to the true quality of the film which is sure to divide any audience that can be bothered. For the record I liked it, but that doesn't quite stretch to a recommendation.
Gordon's War (Ossie Davis, 1973) +
I can't help but imagine a dull, union dispute themed episode of Thomas The Tank Engine when I see this title, but Kathy tells me that's too obscure and hence a rubbish joke (it's true though, so in it goes). Anyway this one was a flop with black audiences despite being helmed by Cotton Comes To Harlem veteran Ossie Davies, and the starring of Paul Winfield - still hot on the back of his best actor Oscar nomination for 1971 drama Sounder (only the third such nod for a black actor at the time). Gordon's War even received good notices, but it seems Winfield's distinctly unglamorous protagonist just wasn't cool enough to put bums on seats at the height of the blaxploitation cycle.
Yes this is a vigilante/revenge flick with Gordon back from the Nam to find his impoverished wife has died of a drug overdose, because the streets of Harlem are flooded with smack. We get a brief stint in the park with a dewy eyed Gord mourning the loss of er-in-doors to the strains of Barbara Mason in a sequence that screams poor man's Simon and Garfunkel slushiness. His tears mopped up, it's down to gritty business as our hero enlists the help of three ex army buddies (who include genre regular Tony King) all too eager to risk their well adjusted lives in a street battle for the sake of their buddy. A comic book guerilla war follows as the quartet engage in a series of bloody military manoeuvres against the local pimps and dealers, that sends ripples into Manhattan, and the criminal elite...
Gordon's War is a remarkably optimistic film in that the first thirty minutes almost come off like a public information film on how to rid your neighbourhood of drug dealers. Winfield narrates each move and tactic his small army undertakes with the kind of overly straight sincerity that propels Gordon's War into the realms of unintentional humour. Rather than sink the film this merely buoys a somewhat slow start with things really hotting up once the colourful array of villains retaliate. The action sequences here are above average for the genre with some imaginative choreography for 1973, and the film climaxes with a super cool virtuoso hit involving a garbage truck. I showed this to a friend who'd never seen a black action movie before and he loved it for all the right reasons. Gordon's War is yet another pleasant (if minor) distraction from an all too dismissed period in movie history that still has a lot to offer.
Lady In A Cage (Walter Grauman, 1964)
This is the film Olivia De Havilland made before taking over from Joan Crawford in Robert Aldridge's Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte; a sort of follow up (not sequel) to his woman in peril gem Whatever Happened To Baby Jane? Though whilst those films cemented a more immediate classic horror reputation; the overlooked Lady In A Cage remains my favourite due in part to the savvy streak of social commentary that so effectively permeates the proceedings.
De Havilland plays housebound Cornelia Hilyard, a somewhat pompous and smug poetess recovering from a partially crippling accident. With her mollycoddled son away on business Cornelia becomes trapped in her private elevator during a power failure with only her panic button (connected to a bell on the outside of the house) for comfort. Unfortunately this attracts the attention of a passing wino George (Jeff Corey) who proceeds to rob her with the aide of over the hill prostitute Sade (superbly played by Ann Sothern). On fencing their spoils to a local gangster; the pair unwittingly arouse the suspicions of a trio of thugs headed by lantern jawed degenerate Randall (James Caan in his film debut). Soon Cornelia's house is overrun with Randall and his stooges intent on robbing and murdering not only Cornelia, but George and Sade...
Cornelia: I am a human being. A feeling, thinking, human being.
Randall: [mocking] Okay. I am all animal.
later in the film Randall speaks to his cronies pointing at Cornelia behind the bars of her elevator.
Randall: [mocking] Come and look at the human being.
What begins as a simple but effective lady in distress picture takes on extra gravitas with smart observations regarding the escalation of violence in society. Lady In A Cage counterbalances these themes with the suspense and frustration generated by Cornelia's predicament even if she isn't the most sympathetic of characters to begin with. The very fact that she starts out a self important snob only serves to accentuate her decline into primitive survival instinct and ultimate animal savagery. Perhaps most interesting is that Cornelia is fully aware this is happening, but powerless to stop it if she wants to survive in the new world around her. The fact that De Havilland manages to perfectly convey every nuanced aspect of Cornelia's transformation ensures Lady In A Cage never descends into camp hokum and maintains a sharp satirical bite throughout. With pitch perfect performances from the rest of an exemplary cast, and a shockingly gory ending that'd make Ray Milland's Doctor Xavier wince; Lady In A Cage is a near perfect thriller that deserves to be rediscovered.
Lady Terminator (H. Tjut Djalil as Jalil Jackson, 1989) Cult rating
At the time of release Lady Terminator was Indonesia's most expensive and highest grossing production, meaning everything prior must have been knocked up for two pence with a cardboard box and a ball of lint. If you've seen any of Djalil's earlier bonkers output (stuff like Mystics In Bali) or anything with Barry Prima in; then you'll know that in Indonesia they like their movies mystical and downright loopy. Lady Terminator was Indonesia's b-movie attempt at tapping into the international film market much in the same way the Italians had done ten years earlier. Yes, I'm barrel scraping here, but if you're going to plumb the depths of dreck, then you might as well plumb Asian style with a plate of Mie Goreng in one hand, and the promise of witnessing the greatest mullet in cinema history rattling around your soon to be dumbfounded brain...
Lady Terminator is of course a blatant rip off of Jimmy Cameron's The Terminator. No, I'm not a genius...just merely pointing out the obvious for the benefit of any recently thawed out woolly mammoths looking to get into grindhouse. The story is also loosely based on the real Indonesian legend of the evil South Sea Queen, who we see at the beginning of the movie sexing various men to death with her vagina dentata, before meeting her match in a particularly virile US Marine. No sooner has he done something unmentionable with a magic snake than she's put a curse on his great granddaughter who happens to be an Indonesian pop star in 1989. But never mind that! We're far more concerned with what's happening to the bikini clad anthropologist who goes scuba diving only to wind up in a foggy disco possessed by the south sea queen, and transformed into an indestructible horny killing machine. Yup she's the Lady of the title quite prepared to raise Jakarta to the ground if it means revenge on Indonesia's answer to Debbie Gibson...
Much of Lady Terminator is so poorly executed (and by that I mean looking like it was shot on home video) that you may well find yourself hitting the fast forward button to get to the good bits. After a woefully inept opening twenty minutes the film thankfully establishes a brisk pace that shamelessly apes several sequences from Cameron's film (the disco shootout, police station massacre and eye removal scenes) whilst incorporating plenty of bare bossoms and goofy eastern mystical touches. The dialogue is dubbed so poorly you'd swear the voice 'artists' were in on some group prank. One classic example is a morgue exchange in which a police officer suggests Lady Terminator's vagina dentata handy work 'could be the work of a small animal'. Barbara Anne Constable (who also worked as a makeup artist on the film - no doubt meaning she applied her own lipstick) snarls, and grimaces up a storm in the lead, making for a memorably tacky b-movie anti-babe you'll be sorry to learn, never appeared in anything else.
Then there's Snake...
Snake is a supporting character (pictured above) who may be a police officer, soldier of fortune, or plain old simpleton Guns & Ammo poster boy. He's one part Pheonix Nights' Ray Von, one part Plug from the Bash Street Kids, who could flatten the likes of Chuck Norris with a quick swish of his sweaty ginger mullet. Snake yells things like 'Yeah! Eat it b*tch' whilst spraying machine gun fire at Lady Terminator from atop a speeding armored car. He's the epitome of bad eighties fashion and dialogue worth a thousand straight to video dodgy 'tache sporting unsung heroes. If a finale involving a burnt hag firing lasers from her eyes isn't enough to convince you Lady Terminator is essential trash viewing...oh, I don't know I've already spend too long on this crap. Next!
The Divide (Xavier Gens, 2011) +
One look at my teenage hero Michael Biehn chomping a cigar in a picture on the back of the box was enough to prompt an instant rental of The Divide. I mean where's that guy been all these years? OK, so he was in that crappy cowboy show on TV, and Robert Rodriguez gave him a small part in Planet Terror, but come on! Kyle Reese? Corporal Hicks? Hell, he was even good as the nutty one in The Abyss. So I say again. What the hell happened?
Anyway this is billed as a dark twisted and deeply disturbing post apocalyptic horror film? OK whatever. I've seen Threads so bring it on, yeah. Hold on though. It says directed by Xavier Gens the guy who made French barf bag sicko Frontiers. *Gulp* I'm going to have to wrap this post up sharpish for fear of complete self indulgent overload.
The Divide is a relatively straight forward story concerning a diverse group of survivors who hole up in the basement of an apartment during an (unconvincingly rendered) nuclear strike. Less than happy with the arrangement is craggy caretaker Mickey (Biehn) who already has his own room down there, and looks upon the basement as his home. Elsewhere there's an unstable mother and her needy daughter (Rosanna Arquette and Abbey Thickston). The generic female heroine named Eva (Duh) played by Lauren German. plus a couple of borderline thugs, Josh and Bobby (Milo Ventimiglia and Michael Eklund) who start getting uppity at the mention of rationed baked beans. Guess what happens next. Correct! They don't get on and really nasty stuff happens.
I'm getting tired hence my overly cynical treatment of a film I admittedly enjoyed despite it's predictability. I don't know, maybe I'm easily pleased, but it sure was good to see Biehn flexing his acting chops in a survival themed Sci-Fi horror again. Whilst the writing doesn't really go anywhere new in terms of character development. The acting is as fine as could be expected considering most of the cast look like they're improvising half of the time. Elsewhere Gens handles the confines of the basement well, and even manages to concoct a decent invasion sequence involving an unfathomably sadistic red cross team - the full significance of which is never satisfyingly fleshed out. Instead he goes the gratuitous rape and torture route as the film degenerates into a radioactive spill of depravity. Certainly not as bad as some would have you believe, but not exactly When The Wind Blows either. This is best looked on as a disposable midnight movie rather than genuinely frightening horror. Undeniably grim stuff, but if you really want nightmares then give Threads another spin.
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100 Favourites From The Future: REWIRED
100 Favourites From The Future: REWIRED
Last edited by Used Future; 06-27-13 at 06:17 PM.
Reason: spelling