Friday, November 27, 2009

Big Screen Big Apple: Frankenstein Meets the Space Monster Meets MoMA Tomorrow Night




Even in a city as large as NYC, it's not very often that we get to a chance to see a classic piece of Grade-B sci-fi on the big screen like 1965's Frankenstein Meets the Space Monster. In fact, it's almost criminal that New Yorkers don't have a places to see quality cinema like Austin and LA does. Thankfully MoMA cares enough about us to add classic cheese such as this to their Nuts and Bolts showcase this month.

IMDB says:"When an atomic war on Mars destroys the planet's women, it's up to Martian Princess Marcuzan and her right-hand man Dr. Nadir to travel to earth and kidnap women for new breeding stock. Landing in Puerto Rico, they shoot down a NASA space capsule manned by an android. With his electronic brain damaged, the android terrorizes the island while the Martians raid beaches and pool parties. Written by Jeremy Lunt"

Frankenstein Meets the Space Monster(IMDB)
Saturday November 28th 1:30 PM, 11 W 53rd St

Sunday, November 22, 2009

An Independent, Modern Giallo: Black Aria




High Fives are owed to the fine folks over at the Giallo Fever blog for recently bringing to my attention new of Black Aria, a French-made homage to the giallo genre. From what I can tell reading a Babelfish translated review here, Black Aria consists of 3 sexy-and-violent mysteries rolled into one blood-soaked feature length.

Thankfully, a teaser trailer exists to entice the likes of a trash cinema fan such as myself. It may look like it was filmed on a short budget, but the special effects seem to be the bees knees(did I just say that?). Hopefully I can get a chance to see this modern throwback before it gets picked up or falls of the map. I'm hoping, of course, for the former rather than the latter.

Friday, November 20, 2009

Big Screen Big Apple:Tonight's Line-up NYC Horror Film Festival




Unfortunately I missed posting the first two days of the Festival because I am can't be completely aware of everything that goes on in NYC. If I was, I would probably get paid to do what I do. Regardless, the NYC Horror Film Festival is going to be haunting Tribeca for the rest of the weekend and it would be within everyone of you ghoul's interest to check it out.

Program 2 Friday November 20th at 7:30

Sweatshop:"Charlie has made a name for herself and her electronica parties – and the plans for tonight’s rave are her most extreme yet. On the edge of the city is an enormous vacant factory… and now, she and her friends have just over an hour to set up for an explosive rager without getting caught. The problem is, they already are. Her oversexed friends throw back a few drinks and begin setting up, unaware that they are being watched by something sinister lurking within the dark building’s endless corridors. With their attention quickly drifting away from the party and onto each other’s bodies, they begin to disappear into the night. With the music already blaring, no one can hear their frenzied cries of passion – and terror. Little do they realize, a beastly all-seeing presence resides in this enormous place, and it drags a mammoth, inhuman weapon that serves only one purpose: to end the lives of anyone who trespasses here. Charlie hoped tonight’s party would be the best she’d ever thrown. And now, it looks like it will be her last."

Attackazoids, Deploy!!: The making of Attackazoids,Deploy!!


Sinkhole:"A salesman approaches a mysterious landowner with an offer to buy the man's smoldering abandoned coal mines but finds that there is something far worse than a mine fire underneath the land."

Wheels of Death:"With her parents out of town, Wendy decides to take daddy’s car for a ride. Unfortunately, she hits a policeman on a bicycle along the way. Back home safe, Wendy fabricates a story that might exonerate her, but there’s one problem, she didn’t come home alone..."

Hunger

Death in Charge: I have personally seen Death In Charge at Royal Flush Festival this year and it was a great deal of fun packed into a short film. Have you ever wondered what the day to day life of the Grim Reaper was like?


Program 3 Friday November 20th at 10:30

The Revenant:"Officer First Class Bart Gregory is killed while fighting in Middle East. His body is shipped back to the United States and laid to rest, but before the lid can be put on his tomb, Bart inexplicably awakens in his coffin and climbs from his grave; confused, horrified--a moldy, putrefying living corpse--a Revenant. Bart desperately enlists the help of his best friend, Joey Leubner, in an attempt to ease his nausea and agony. Joey is shocked--and disgusted--by his putrescent pal’s return, but he rises to the occasion and tries to find a solution. When a panicked emergency room forces the confused corpse to flee, the two friends discover that there is only one cure for Bart's condition: Human blood. In their quest to keep Bart from decomposing Bart and Joey stumble into a solution—a way to obtain blood without taking innocent lives, becoming "The Vigilante Gun-Slingers”. But as their macabre crusade continues, they become entwined in an ever escalating cycle of violence and mayhem . . . all while cruising in a 1979 Camaro."

Elder Sign

CannibAlien

Abraham's Boys

Langliena:"A young man discovers a bloody and horrible secret in a shack in the woods."

Sounds like a pretty exciting night to me.

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Big Screen Big Apple:Tim Burton Retrospect 2nd Night at MoMA with BeetleJuice




MoMA kicks off it's second night of celebration with director Tim Burton by screening is ghostly, yet hysterical, dark comedy Beetlejuice, starring Winona Ryder as a dramatically depressed teenager that gave every young darkstar spank material for years to come....mmmmm......Oh yeah, it also stars Michael Keaton as the entertaining yet painfully annoying spook Beetlejuice, who is hired by a boring ghost couple(Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis) to scare the current tennants out of their dream home.

IMDB says:"This is the story of Adam and Barbara who live in a beautiful house in New England. One day while driving home they are involved in a terrible auto accident. They manage to walk home only to discover later that they have died and now haunt their house. When their house is purchased by an out of state family, they feel their home is threatened by the over-the-top artists wife and real-estate idea-man husband. Their only relief is the Gothic daughter of the family. Their attempts at scaring the family out of the house are ignored or laughed at. Finally they fall to the temptation to use the people-exorcizer Beetle Juice. When they find his tactics too dangerous, they attempt to contain him and save the family they were trying to boot. Written by FMJ_Joker"

Beetlejuice(1988):(IMDB)
November 19th at 8pm,MoMA 11 W 53rd ST moma.org

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Big Screen Big Apple:Tim Burton Introduces Pee-Wee's Big Adventure Tonight at MoMA.




That's right, kids. Everybody's favorite dark director is going to be at the Museum of Modern Art tonight to introduce is playfully creepy 1985 classic Pee-Wee's Big Adventure starring the Master(bator) of Manboy, Paul Reubens.

IMDB says:"The love of Pee-wee Herman's life is his bicycle. When it is stolen, he is send on a wild cross country adventure after a fortune teller tells him his bicycle is in the basement of the Alamo. Along the way, Pee-wee encounters an escaped convict, a waitress with wanderlust and a jealous boyfriend, and a mysterious female truck driver. Written by Ray Hamel {hamel@primate.wisc.edu}"

This will be the opening night for a Tim Burton Showcase MoMA is presenting. So if the idea of an overgrown boy and his bike don't excite you, try checking out any of th other Burton classics showing now tonight through the 23rd/

Pee=Wee's Big Adventure(1985)(IMDB)
November 18th at 8pm,MoMA 11 W 53rd ST moma.org

Monday, November 16, 2009

Mr Majestyk (1974)



I'm kind of embarrassed to admit that I don't know a great deal about Charles Bronson. I know that this is grounds for a violent stoning to some of those in the genre-movie community, but the truth is until recently I had no interest in action movies that didn't have aliens, monster,kung-fu or ninjas. Sure, I have always had a love for Rambo and Schwarzenegger, but my interest in extreme gun violence and explosions didn't come until recently. Mostly because I have recently discovered my love for 70's cinema, especially when it has car chases and explosions. Since I have a bit of a hard on for the 70's at this point, it wasn't going to be long before I started to Bronson out.

When most people think of Bronson, the first thing that comes to mind is "Death Wish". I have the same problem (if it really is one), so I wanted to start with something different but similar. With a little research, I soon decided Mr. Majestyk would be the way to go.

In this 1974 goldmine of awesome, Bronson plays Majestyk, a soft spoken, vet who is looking to get as many melons out of his 160 acres. Unfortunately, Majestyk has fairly shaky history with luck and the law even though he just wants to be left alone. When a couple of 2-bit hustlers try to force Majestyk to use there labor force, made up entirely of drunks and bums, things get ugly. Little do these wannabe toughguys know that Majestyk is not the man to be fucked with. After getting their asses handed to them, our criminal crybabies run to the cops with a different story causing the arrest of Majestyk, and this is where the story really starts.

While locked behind bar, far from his melons, Majestyk run into, Frank Renda,a renowned hitman with a moustache to match his attitude. After a failed breakout attempt by Renda's mafia associates during a prisoner transport run, Majestyk is left with Renda in his care. He is given two choices, free the Big Time Mafioso and receive a reward, or pay the consequences. With Majestyk choosing the latter, and a failed attempt to bring Renda back to jail, he now has a vendetta on his head the size of Colorado.

Mr. Majestyk broke my Bronson-cherry in the best possible way....fast and explosive, and this is how the movie played out. I was never bored for a minute. There was a kicking in the first 10 minutes, explosions and shoot-outs within 20, and vengeance within 30. How can one ever be bored?

With so much excitement in the first half hour, you better believe that the remaining hour makes what are referred to as modern "action" movies look like flying kites on a Sunday. Movies like this make me think that back in the day, every moustache-wearing motherfucker rocking a Canadian tuxedo knew kung-fu and carried a machine gun AT ALL TIMES. Who cares how ineffective the gun is, the point is how bad ass is makes you.

Mr.Majestyk didn't have the largest body count, but some of the kills were quite awesome. For example, Almost Death By Port-O-Potty. At one point, a lone cop ducks into the local shitbox to pinch a loaf. Little did he know that would be his last offering to the Porcelain, or should I say plastic, Goddess. But it wasn't the large, steel vehicle plowing into his relief closet that got the best of him, that would be the short end of a 2x4 to the face. Fuckin' Brutal!!!

This amazing feat in man-film isn't all facial hair and car explosions. Mr. Majestyk also touches upon serious socio-political issues that even 35 years later, haven't been resolved:migrant farm work. In fact, I dare say in this day and age the issues surrounding immigration from Central America have probably gotten worse. MM doesn't really tell us whether the migrant Mexican workers were illegal or not, which is the excuse top cover up blind xenophobia and racism in this day and age. In the movie, the issue is just straight up racism toward Mexicans and hatred towards anyone that would hire them over local white drunks. These are the reasons Majestyk has to kick the asses that land him in jail. He, like many of us with reasonable views on immigration, sees how much the Mexicans value a hard days work, unlike the lazy, white bums who spend so much time complaining about brown people taking there jobs. I'll sop there before it ends up in an anti-right rant. This is a cinema blog, not the Huffington Post.

For years I denied myself the pop culture of 30 years ago by not subjecting myself to anything that wasn't contemporary. Even though I fondly remember the last 3 years of the decade, and what came out of it, as I got older I wanted nothing to do with one of the the best decades in cinema.

Man was I a stupid fucking kid!!!

This movie has given me the drive I should have had years ago to make Bronson movies a priority in life. It's kind of like a lost soul finding God. Since I've watched Mr. Majestyk, I feel like I'm in the beginning stages of filling a void in my heart the always should have been there.

Saturday, November 14, 2009

Eurocrime! cinema documentary trailer



Big ups to Cinebeats and Impossible Funky for providing me,and the rest of the twitterverse, with some hope for the future in documentary releases. This is the feature length doc I've been waiting for since the first time I watched Henry Silva fire a gun in Rome. With interviews from some of the heaviest hitters in Eurocrime(Nero,Silva,Williamson, and Castellari just to name a few) I can already tell that this is going to be a project hitting the Festival circuit with the force of a Fiat explosion. I don't want to forget to mention an original score provided by Calibro 35.

But....in order for your sweatiest, Mediterranean wishes to be fulfilled, the filmmakers are going to need your help. Unfortunately, righteously awesome film clips cost money. For a donation of as little as 5 bucks, you can get some pretty sweet gifts just for participating in the finishing up of this amazing project. So if your interested, and I know you are, check out the Eurocrime!! Kickstarter site to help make this project.

If your interested in promoting the Eurocrime! project on your own blog or site of that nature, you can pick up a fancy, little Kickstarter widget here like I did. Even if you don't have the money to donate(my current predicament).the least you could do is promote it. Every little bit helps, so do what you can.

Friday, November 13, 2009

Big Screen Big Apple:Terminator 2 Tomorrow afternoon at MoMA




Schwarzenegger's action-tastic 1991 follow-up to his 80's cult classic, The Terminator will be showing tomorrow afternoon as part of MoMA's Nuts and Bolts: Machine Made Man in Films from the Collection. So if you find yourself bored in Manhattan on a Saturday afternoon(does that actually happen?, think about heading up to Midtown for some classic androids-with-awesome-one-liners action.

IMDB says: "In 1994, a cyborg (Arnold Schwarzenegger) is sent back in time to protect John Connor (Edward Furlong), the future leader of humanity in a 21st century war against machines. A competing machine (Robert Patrick), the T-1000, is sent back to kill John. With the aid of John's mother Sarah (Linda Hamilton), the cyborg manages to destroy the T-1000 at a confrontation at a steel mill. However, the cyborg must then destroy itself in order to eliminate its chance of being used to help fuel the future war with the machines. Sarah helps the cyborg destroy itself, but not before the cyborg consoles John, quietly assuring him that everything will be okay. Sarah then notes that if a machine can learn the value of human life, perhaps people can, too."(I'm sure I didn't need to waste the space on that synopsis, but just in case.....)


Terminator 2: Judgment Day(1991, James Cameron)(IMDB)

November 14th at 1:30 PM @ MoMA 11 W.53rd St

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Big Screen Big Apple:Goonies at Midnight Tomorrow




Do I really have to give any of you assholes a synopsis of one the best movie to come out of 1985, possibly the 80's altogether? If the name "Fratelli" doesn't ring a bell, or the screaming of "Hey Yooouuu Guy-uuuyyys!" bring a smile to your face, Your probably elderly or braindead. Regardless, even if you have seen it a million times, it's still going to just as fun seeing it once more tomorrow and Saturday night at the Sunshine Landmark Theater

Goonies(1985)Directed by Richard Donner (IMDB)

November 13th and 14th at Midnight, Sunshine Theater 143 E Houston St






Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Count Orlok in 3-D at Tribeca




Yesterday I was listening to the most excellent Cinemaslave podcast #116 and discovered some even more excellent news: The Murnau classic Nosferatu has been re-edited for 3-D!! Keith Carter, the director/animator and man responsible for this herculean effort, was able to dissect an original print of the movie and , through modern animation techniques, put forth a re-imagining unlike anything done.

The best part about this story is I'm going to be able to see it next week ,on the Big Screen at the NYC Horror Film Festival. New York, get your 3-D glasses ready, because Nosferatu:Orlock the Vampire in 3-D will be showing Saturday, November 21st, 1 PM, at the Tribeca Cinemas(54 Varick St., New York, NY 10013).

For a great interview with the director, follow the link here.
Time for some trailer action...

Sunday, November 8, 2009

Colin(2008)



I'm a huge fan of low budget movies if you couldn't already tell. I would say that the majority of the films I've reviewed don't even come close to having a budget of 1 mil. Most of them are probably made for less than 100 grand. I do have standards and try to steer clear of no budget cinema though. There are some Troma flicks that I won't touch or have had to shut off within minutes of hitting the play button. I do have some taste, despite what you may have read. I recently discovered a movie with a budget so low it scared the shit out of me. Less than 100 bucks! How can anything worthy of a public viewing be made for under 100 bucks? It made me curious to see what kind of movie could be made for less than the price of my bar tab on a bad night. Not only was it made on shoestring budget, it also showed at Cannes. After finding this out there was no doubt in my mind I had to track down Colin(2008), even though I have almost reached the point of saying goodbye to zombie movies for good, I had to watch it.

Colin is the story of one young man's struggle with the loss of his own humanity. The movie starts with our name character discovering, in shock, that he has has some type of wound inflicted upon him. This is quickly followed by an attack of the undead variety, in which Colin comes out victorious, even though said victory is worth very little. You see, we quickly learn that Colin has been infected, and slowly begins the process of kissing life as he knows, goodbye. not that it really mattrs much , considering that London is currently going through a zombie apocalypse. As Colin begins his slow-moving voyage through the dead-infested streets of London, we start to see the metamorphosis from life to (un)death. The whole time seeing, despite the flesh eating, robbing of his shoes, and a run-in with his sister, there are still aspects of Colin's humanity that he is trying to hold onto.

The fading humanity is theme that kept my interest the most. Sure, empathizing with the undead has been done before (I heart Bub), but never have I seen a movie that follows the poor little zombie boy down the path of the damned, like this one does. In movies like Land of the Dead and Day of the Dead the poor, wittle flesheaters are secondary characters, and nothing but. Colin provides us with a first-person perspective on how much it sucks to be a zombie. It's a life constant starvation, shambling, and fighting for your food while under the constant threat of angry, human hordes. Doesn't sound like any life I would pay to have.

I read a couple of reviews over at IMDB(my best friend) from viewers who didn't think as highly of Colin as I did. Complaints about the camerawork, the acting, and comparisons to a student film. No shit, Sherlock!! This movie was made for less than 100 bucks, what do you expect? Yes, shaky cam is an annoying technique, but it was used to incite anxiety and wasn't used too much. As far as the acting was concerned, you don't need to be a fuckin' thespian to groan and shamble. This is flesh-eating, not a Shakespeare production. The actors were all volunteers and most under the age of 21, so it of course wreaked of student film. It damn well could have been a student film, but I don't give a shit. It was a damn good time and I will watch it over and over, and probably tell others about it.

Enough ranting, I think this is a must see for any fan of the horror genre. Lack of quality camera equipment was compensated for with quality digital filters and decent editing. The special effects were realistic and never lacking, and the soundtrack was creepy and kept the film intense. I wish the director well and can't wait to view future endeavors. I'll gladly give him 90 minutes of my time in the future.

Friday, November 6, 2009

The Vampire Diaries or better yet, Diarrhea

Last night, while lounging around waiting for dinner, I came across the broadcast atrocity known as the Vampire Diaries. I know many of you have seen at least one episode of the Undead One Tree Hill, so I'm going to keep this pretty brief. Besides, you've probably heard it all before. I didn't just stumble upon Diaries thinking,"Hey, this might be good". I was actually more of the mindset of," I know I'm going to hate this, but I might as well give it a test drive". Besides, it will give me something to bitch about, and we all need to vent about shallow shit during the cold months. It keeps our blood boiling and body temperature up.

I, like everybody else in the horror community, have just about had enough with the vampire overkill prevalent in pop culture today. Again, we have all heard it, but I'm going to give my two cents. The older I get, everything that I once held sacred starts to lose it's meaning. Whether it be music,cinema, or fashion, the pink, fluffy pop machine has co-opted it and churned out a much weaker, brain-dead clone of almost everything in this world that made me happy in my youth. Anyway, before this turns into an old man rant, lets focus on the bloodsuckers.

As far as watered-down vampire culture is concerned, it's not even the cry baby vamps that bother me so much. I watch and like True Blood immensely. Even though Bill's a pussy, I'm still there for Erik. Even though i prefer my fanged folk to be barbaric, nosferatu, i can settle with the whiners, especially if they have opposition. What really bothers me are the daywalkers.

There are reasons vampires have weakness' like wooden stakes, silver, and sunlight. Because if they didn't, humanity as a whole would play slave race to Undead Godkind. Trust me, if vampires didn't burn up upon the touch of our friend, The Sun, they wouldn't be mopey,pale skinned whiners with a penchant for human girls. No, my friend, I guarantee their psychology, or lack there of, would change accordingly. I'm sure they would be worrying less about love and more about playing living-flesh chess.

This is one of the reasons why the idea of the daywalker bothers me. I'll go into more in depth one day, but I've given you a basic idea why I hate shows like Diaries and Twilight. Even if the vampires in Diaries weren't daywalkers, I'm sure I could find a million more reasons why the show sucks balls. As I said earlier though, if your reading this I'm just preaching to the choir.

Looks like I'll stick with Medium and a plethora of sitcoms for my primetime entertainment. I now know for a fact I won't be watching that Vampire Diarrhea's in the future.

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Give Me An Extended Vacation To Midian




Question: Do I want to see an extended director's cut of one of my favorite Clive Barker horrors? I of course am speaking of Nightbreed, one of my fondest cinematic memories as a teenager. The answer would, of course, be "yes" with a capital Y.

I'm sure many horror fans out their feel the same way I do, if not all the horror fans in the world. But apparently, Morgan Creek, the company that owns the rights to Nightbreed don't really think so. In fact, there is a 159 minute cut in existence that might never see the black of night, and that's just wrong. From what I understand after listening to the latest Outside the Cinema podcast, Barker would even agree to do a director's cut if the extended version were to be released.

So what can we do to make this happen? I don't know if it's a fruitless effort or not, but the first step would be to join the letter writing campaign to Morgan Creek. Hopefully, if they hear enough of an outcry they will reconsider their decision to release one of the most visually-stimulating horror movies from it's era. I could definitely use an extra few minutes of Peloquin action, and I'm sure the rest of you sickos out there could too.

So write some letters, and lets make this happen. Try to be nice though. Remember, straight-laced, corporate probably don't respond well to hordes of angry nerds.

To contact Morgan Creek:

frontdesk@morgancreek.com

And to show your support for the effort by Clive's compatriots:

philandsarah@clivebarker.info

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Running on Empty(1982)



I’m not much of a fan of stand alone flavor. Not that I hate mono-taste, I just don’t believe most foods work well by themselves.Can you imagine eating broccoli without butter or salt? Sure, vanilla ice cream is good, but the taste flies off the map when chocolate of any type is added? From curry to French cuisine, everybody can agree that food is always better paired with other tastes, and if you don’t agree, then you are probably the Emperor of the Land of Boring and feel sorry for you.

The same can’t always be said for film. Most Hollywood productions cater to a certain taste and don’t travel to far away from it.I myself am guilty of the same crime, as most of us are. Romantic comedies, modern, big-budget action, and chick flicks are all the same to me, but I will watch horror time-and-time again no matter how many times I’ve seen decapitations and blood sprays. Some might consider it boring and flavorless. FSM knows I do a great deal of the time, but this is how most people’s taste towards movies tend to veer.

You might ask yourself, ”Where the fuck are you going with this food and movie comparison?”

And my answer to you will be Running on Empty, a 1982 Ozploitation phenomenon that left me with a flavor explosion in my pants. I’m not going to say it was the best movie I have ever seen, but it certainly had a great deal of fun going on. If you think that a JD flick with a New Wave twist sounds interesting, then keep reading on my friend.

Mike is a factory worker with a fast car and a model girlfriend. After long days in the shop he likes to spend his days working on cars with his Italian best friend, Tony, and hanging out with his model girlfriend,Julie. Julie used to date Fox, the local Hot Rod King Douchebag, and he is none too happy about her picking Mike over himself. After a skirmish with Fox on the beach, Mike agrees to race him for money and loses, which causes a pretty severe ego bruising. After some taunting from Fox, Mike agrees to race Fox again, this time with the stakes being doubled. Unfortunately, Mike doesn't have the money, but he has a plan. He figures if he road trips in the country he might be able to raise the funds racing hicks and winning. See Mike has a fairly big ego for a city boy and doesn't realize that the country folk might be a bit more car-oriented than he prides himself on. After an unfortunate altercation with the local color, Mike realizes that his big plan might not have been the best idea. Fortunately, he and his posse are taken under the wing of and old, blind greaser and his plans for living at the top of his hot-rod game once again blossom when the old rockabilly helps Mike jack up his car to an even better state just in time for the next big cock race against the supremely creepy Fox.

Unfortunately, things don't go quite as planned and life plans don't follow Mike's dream storyboard. But he still has his honor and ego, which apparently is all a man needs in 80's Australia.

I've just got to say I think this flicked kick ass. I know nothing about cars and gearhead culture(I've never even owned a driver's license), but classic race movies like this are always fun. I may not know the operation but I understand the capability. I am, anyhow, a fan of aussie movies from this era. Great stunts, explosions, and sex. There really isn't much more to say about that. Yes, there are lots of bad movies to come out of Australia during that time, but I will still sit back and laugh at the ridiculous situations that come out of said movies. Everybody can get a chuckle out of cars that explode on impact and the willingness of the director to cater to the ego of the American male audience. If you love 70's and 80's action movies, where the male super-ego shines like a supergiant star, this is where it's at. Not to mention that the main characters provide so much entertainment as to make the movie abundant in the personality department.

I thought of the characters in this flick as an Australian government experiment in cloning the Stray Cats, but with that crazy Aussie persona. It was very New Wave era, but with less hair net and more rockabilly. The cars were fuckin' classic and the fashion was a perfect blend of Teddy Boy and glam punk. Seeing the old, blind greaser dance to a rockabilly tune, with his road hard betty put a huge grin on my face and I would have been even more satisfied if this was the soundtrack. Fortunately, I am a huge fan of synth OST, and the soundtrack was mainly this. For me, it was the best of both worlds, those being 80's synth and roots rock. The soundtrack keeps the movie interesting, in that 80's mixed with 50's JD sort of way.

Although, from what I read on IMDB, this is the quintessential Aussie Hot Rod-head movie. Most likely for the race sequences. This wasn't the crowning acheivement for me, as I have already let known. Not only was the story durable for the action crowd, but some of the comedy was spot on for those of us who look for that in a flick. For example:

"Whats ya name?"

"Piss off!"

"Piss off? What type of a name is that?"

"Its polish. Pissov's a Polish name!"

Comic genius as far as I'm concerned for a movie of this caliber.

As far as the negative is concerned, I must admit the acting wasn't great and some of the stunts were ridiculous, but i expect that out of ozploitation. It was slow at points, but the action scenes and character acting pulled it out of any slum. The fact is if you are a fan of the genre, love rockabilly culture and hot rod movies, this movie is for you. I've seen a great deal of bad shit out of the southern hemisphere and this is not one of those movies. This is something I can watch time and time again and still get the same thrill as the first time.

And here is the trailer: