Trailer Park Tuesdays - Dangerous Men

Welcome to the Trailer Park.  This month, instead of a collection of four or five movie trailers we have just a single preview to share.  When it's a movie like this one though, one trailer is all you need.


Usually I only share trailers for new films, but this month is a little different, as we have a new trailer for an old film that is just now getting released.  This is a movie that took 26 years (!) to complete and, by all accounts, is a crazy piece of low budget action insanity that no true lover of B-movies, cinematic whatthefuckery, and/or outsider art could do without witnessing.




Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you, DANGEROUS MEN!

Holy Smokes!  This has WTF written all over it!
This very much looks like something for a specific crowd and that that specific crowd will enjoy it very much!
I bet some tires squeal on dirt in this one!

Dangerous Men is making its way into select and special theaters courtesy of the fine folks at Drafthouse Films!  Check out their website HERE for more info and for showtimes NEAR YOU!

If you live in the Portland, Oregon area (like me!) you can witness Dangerous Men THIS WEEKEND, Nov. 13th and 14th, at the best theater in town, the fantastic Hollywood Theatre.  See you there!

Trailer Park Tuesdays - Roar

Welcome to Trailer Park Tuesdays.  This week we're looking at the movie trailer for Roar (1981), not a new movie, but an old movie that is now being released for the first time in the U.S.

Roar is quite possible the most irresponsible movie ever made.  Producer Noel Marshall and his wife Tippi Hedren (star of The Birds) set out to make a film that would bring exposure to big cats and their plight in Africa from game hunters, as well as to the inhumane treatment of big cats in captivity...or something.  They would do this by using the hundreds of wild lions, tigers, and other cats and animals that the couple had gathered and used to populate their animal sanctuary located north of Los Angeles.

This (crazy) idea was first (ill)conceived in 1970 and after the success of The Exorcist (which Marshall produced and made a lot of money from) they started filming in 1974.  Things did not go well as the cats proved unpredictable and unable to take direction.  This led to as many as 70 members of the cast and crew getting attacked or harmed while making this movie!

Noel Marshall was bit and clawed multiple times, Tippi fell off an elephant and broke her leg, and their daughter, Melanie Griffith, who was just starting her acting career, suffered facial lacerations and needed reconstructive surgery and 100 stitches.  Not to be outdone, director of photography Jan De Bont (future director of Speed and Twister) was SCALPED by a lion and required over 200 stitches!

Not surprisingly, the film took a total of 11 years to make and when it was finally released in 1981, it was only done so overseas and not here in America.  Until now. . . .

Drafthouse Films has acquired the film and has been releasing it in various cities the past couple weeks.  Check out HERE for full details on where you can see this amazing motion picture.  If you're like me and you live in or near Portland, Oregon, you can see Roar this weekend, May 2nd and 3rd, at the great Hollywood Theatre.

Here's the amazing and dangerous trailer:

This movie looks INSANE!  I've been looking forward to it greatly.  It looks like a visceral and surreal experience, a real jaw-dropper!

For more info on this crazy story, read THIS from Drafthouse Films founder Tim League, THIS blog post from crew member Randolph Sellars, and watch this piece from CBS This Morning.

The Marsupials: The Howling III

Back in June last year I started a project, The Howling Series Retrospective Review.  I got exactly two films in before I got distracted by a shiny object or something.
However, I am a man who likes to finish what he starts (especially sandwiches) and I promised to review all of the films in the Howling series, so in the tradition of following through, here's the third installment.

-*Catch up with my reviews of Joe Dante's original Howling HERE and Part II HERE.

The third part of the Howling series is titled The Marsupials: The Howling III (1987) and yes, that is how the title is displayed onscreen.  The movie mainly takes place in Australia and has no relation to the previous two films.  The only connection to the previous sequel, Howling II…Your Sister is a Werewolf (1986), is sharing the same director, Philippe Mora.

Howling II is what I would call a "fun-bad" movie sequel; cheesy and not very good, but entertaining in its ridiculousness.  Part III here is more of a "weird-bad" sequel, watchable only because every fifteen minutes or so something really strange would happen, some of these things being incredibly strange.

The plot of Howling III is difficult to explain, as the movie itself has a hard time presenting it straightforwardly.  The structure and editing doesn't make any sense, sometimes bordering on illogical, as scenes just seem to smash up against one another with characters quickly and clumsily introduced.  This is a movie with plenty of different elements, but it fails in successfully bringing them together.  What I'm getting at is, this is a bad movie.

The elements at work within Howling III include and involve an anthropologist who is tracking evidence of werewolves in Australia, a young werewoman who runs away from her colony/family, her brief participation in the movie industry, werewolves dressed as nuns, the birth of a were-marsupa-baby, werewolves being hunted by the military and experimented on by doctors, a werewolf ballerina, plenty of werewolf transformations, and at least one explosion.

Like I said, there are a lot of elements at work here making it difficult to explain or supply any clarity.
Instead, let's just go over some of the highlights:

The young werewoman, Jeroba (Imogen Annesley), runs away from her colony of reclusive werepeople and her abusive father Thylo (Max Fairchild, bit player in both Mad Max [1979] and The Road Warrior [1981]) and hits the city where she is picked up by this doofus guy Donny who works as an AD on a horror movie called "Shape Shifters - Part 8," as his generic white tee proudly declares on both front and back.

 Jeroba is immediately cast in the movie, which is directed by this guy doing his best Hitchcock impersonation, both visually and vocally:

Ha ha.  Get it?  He's the director and he vaguely resembles another famous director.  Ha ha.

*note: this actor is Frank Thring and he played Pontius Pilate in Ben Hur (1959), which is fairly respectable, but probably just as much so as his role as the gatekeeper to Bartertown in Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome (1985).

With this movie subplot we get some movie-within-the-movie action, specifically when Donny takes Jeroba to see a film called "It Came from Uranus."

Strange as it may seem, this isn't even the craziest thing in this movie.  Also, say what you will, but these goofy special effects are better than pretty much anything that was featured in Howling II.

Slightly crazier:  while Jeroba is in the city she's being tracked down by three members of her colony who, for reasons I'm fairly sure are left unexplained, are dressed as nuns.

The werenuns get into the Shape Shifters wrap party (because it's a costume party, of course) causing a little bit of comedy (or what passes for comedy in a movie like this) but they eventually find Jeroba at the hospital where she was recovering from a (offscreen) car accident.   They take her back to their colony and, not long after, she gives birth to a werebaby (Donny is the father) in what may be Howling III's craziest scene.

The birthing sequence really is something to see, and I'm fairly sure that Howling III is the only place you can see a woman birth a small baby creature that then crawls up her stomach and into her pouch.  Behold:

Apparently the filmmakers put a werewolf fetus suit on a small mouse to achieve this effect.  They also had to sedate the mouse and use some backwards photography.  It kinda reminds me of a maggot with a face, which is a horrifying thought.

Later the little guy grows into this little abomination:

Even worse, later on he looks like this:

*Shudder*

Oh, and I forgot.  Before Jeroba has the baby, she has a classic-horror-movie-nightmare where a monster bursts through her stomach, Alien-style, and her and Donny freak out and overact.

After Jeroba escapes the hospital, Prof. Beckmeyer (Barry Otto), the anthropologist on the hunt for werewolves, fears he might have lost his chance at studying one, so he goes to see a ballet practice (as anthropologists are known to do).



It is here that Beckmeyer witnesses, by what seems to be complete randomness and coincidence, the lead ballerina, Olga, turn into a werewolf onstage and attack her dance partner.





Well, it's less of an attack and more just a case of the other dancer jumping into her open mouth.

After this, Beckmeyer uses Olga to get to the colony of werewolves, which, oh yeah, is named "Flow," which, in a bit that is not unlike that part in Troll 2 (1990), is "wolf" spelled backwards.  The military then raid the colony and take most of everyone prisoner, except Jeroba and Donny who escape into the mountains.

They perform some experiments on the werewolves, there's some crazy negative video effects like it's a Rob Zombie video, etc., but then Beckmeyer falls in love with Olga and grows sympathetic towards the wolfpeople, so he helps her and Thylo escape.

The military come after them, along with what appears to be a hunting posse, but Thylo and this other werewolf, Kendi, kill all of them, both dying in the process.

Thylo, it should be mentioned, goes out with an explosion, sticking his big wolfsnout into a soldier's tent and getting a face full of rocket launcher.

This giant head might resemble that of a pig, and that's because, more or less, that's what it was.  It's a recycled prop from the film Razorback (1984), which featured a massive wild boar terrorizing the outback.

After the climax of Thylo blowing up (which, yeah, turns out to be the climax of the film's action), the movie sputters along for another 10 minutes or so.  Jeroba, Donny, and their baby are safe, as are Beckmeyer and Olga.  They all live in the outback for awhile.  Olga has a baby.

Then Jeroba and Danny take off for the city, where they change their names and start new lives in the movie industry.  Sometime after that Beckmeyer and family move back to the city (like I said, it sputters).

The movie ends with various characters sitting around televisions watching a movie awards show presentation where Jeroba (now going by the name Loretta Kass) wins an award for Best Actress.

The award is presented to her by Dame Edna.

All of the flashing lights make Jeroba turn into a werewolf and she crushes her award in front of everyone. And that's how the movie ends.


I guess it's a callback to how the original Howling ends with Dee Wallace turning into a werewolf during a televised newscast, but where that was clever and felt like the right ending, this ending for Howling III feels forced, more than a little silly, and maybe a touch sad, as in, "this is sad that this is the ending they came up with."

Like I said, The Marsupials: The Howling III is a a weird-bad movie sequel.  Not much makes sense, the least of which is that the film ends with a screen that says "adios amigos."

Director Philippe Mora has said in interviews that the movie was intended as a comedy, one with tongue firmly planted in cheek, and while that might be evident, it doesn't actually seem to work in the movie's favor and it also doesn't mean that any of it is funny.

Yeah I don't know, man.  I can't say I would recommend this to anyone.  This is a "completists only" type of movie.

The special effects are marginally better than the previous film, definitely more unique.  Like I said, that birthing scene is worth checking out, maybe, if you're into that kind of thing.  I guess the best thing to be said about Howling III is that it's an interesting mess of a movie.  Check out this trailer and you get the idea:

This would be the last Howling film to see a theatrical release.  After this, it's all direct-to-video (even though, honestly, these first two sequels already felt and looked like DTV horror sequels and I'm surprised to find that they both actually saw release in theaters).

Thylo agrees.

Donny, too busy being a stud to care.

The credits say this is based on Gary Brandner's 1985 novel, "Howling III," but it bears no similarities to his book, other than being about werewolves.

And one last thing:  apparently Nicole Kidman was up for the lead role of Jeroba but the director went with Imogen Annesley instead, deeming Kidman to not be "werewolf" enough for the picture, which is a shame, as that award show ending would've made for a great internet meme years later if Kidman was in it.

CUT!

The Reincarnation of Peter Proud

I chose to watch this film based on two reasons:

One:  that title.  I've always been a fan of wordy, lengthy titles and also of titles that have a person's full name in them. This has both.

Two:  this movie poster:

Holy smokes!  Look at that thing?  It's a naked muscle guy clutching his junk in apparent agony amongst a sea of psychedelic 70s reds and blues!  I don't have to explain it, just look at it up there!  It's electrifying!

So yeah, I watched The Reincarnation of Peter Proud (1975), and while it's not as awesome as the above poster, it was still mildly intriguing and interesting. . . .sort of.

Here's the deal with this one:  Dr. Peter Proud (Michael Sarrazin) is having a series of reoccurring nightmares, the most intense of which is one where he is another man who gets murdered while swimming in a lake at night.  The nightmares, it seems, are not dreams at all, but in fact memories of a life previous lived (by a man named Jeff Curtis [Tony Stephano, whose only other screen credit is in Tron (1982)]).  Peter goes on a search for answers, which lead him to the previous man's wife Marcia (Margot Kidder) and daughter Ann (Jennifer O'Neill).  Peter starts to feel and develop an attraction to Ann, and she to him, but Marcia doesn't trust Peter and his presence has dredged up some old memories and secrets.

The Reincarnation of Peter Proud is one of those strange, slightly trippy, but serious and arty type of mystery-thrillers that was made during the 1970s.  This movie could be described as sordid, but it's also a well made film, with some strong visuals and good performances, but I gotta say, the main problem with the film is that nothing really happens.

I mean, stuff happens, but it's really nothing.  There is no real tension and there is very little rise in action over the course of the movie.  One portion of the story involves Peter driving around randomly in Massachusetts looking for landmarks that he recognizes from his dreams.  In another, he and Ann go to a square dance.  What I'm saying is that this isn't a thrill-ride suspense mystery and it is less of a slow-burn and more of a no-burn.  It exists mainly in a holding pattern of low-intrigue until the inevitable conclusion.

Peter's attraction and relationship with Ann is interesting because he is the reincarnation of her father and ewwwwwwwwww.  To be fair, Peter doesn't have all of Jeff's memories, just bits and pieces, and he does seem slightly conflicted about Ann, but it's not long before he's all in.  (ewwwwwwww)

The other seedy element in the film takes place in a bathtub scene where Marcia has a flashback to a sexual assault (committed by her husband, who it turns out, is a real jerk-ass) and it is ambiguous as to if she is enjoying the memory.  These two things (the reincarncest and the rape-fantasy) are the two most grindhousey elements in the movie, but they are handled with such seriousness that it feels less grindhouse and much more arthouse.

I, for one, could use a little more grindhouse, but hey, this is nice too.

The likable Michael Sarrazin comes off a little emotionally flat in this, with his self-obsessed pursuit of the truth in his memory/dreams getting in the way of any deeper characterization.  He's the most lively during the square dance, which takes place in a barn and may (or may not) be an homage to his role in They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1968).

Margot Kidder puts in a pretty solid if not great performance as Marcia, even though she spends most of her screen time in barely convincing old age makeup (really, just a gray wig).  Haunted by guilt, older-Marcia is a sad sack who seems to always have a cigarette or a drink in her hand, or both.








Kidder was fresh off of Black Christmas (1974) when she made this and just a few short years following she would take two of her most identifiable roles in Superman (1978) and The Amityville Horror (1979), although my personal favorite Kidder performance is her dual roles in Brian De Palma's Sisters (1973).

This is an early-ish role for Jennifer O'Neill, who would also star in Lucio Fulci's The Psychic (1977) and David Cronenberg's Scanners (1981).  In Peter Proud she's the innocent character, unaware of Peter's memories or of her mother's past.  She's quite good; I like her.

The score is one of the best elements of the film, and that should be no surprise, as it comes from the great Jerry Goldsmith.  Mr. Goldsmith has done some of the most well known and iconic film scores of all time, including Planet of the Apes (1968), Patton (1971), Chinatown (1974), The Omen (1977, for which he won an Oscar), Alien (1979), Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979), Poltergeist (1983), Gremlins (1984), and Total Recall (1990).  Most of Peter Proud has this nice, classical and melodramatic score, except for the dream sequences, which are accompanied by strange, piercing electronic synth sounds, probably the most unnerving element of the movie (the blaring sounds actually woke up my fiancé, who was sleeping in the other room, and she yelled at me to "turn it down."  True story).

Director J. Lee Thompson brings some class and style to this dramatic mystery, having previously helmed classics like The Guns of Navarone (1961) and Cape Fear (1962), not to mention the last two films in the Planet of the Apes series, Conquest of the... (1972) and Battle for the... (1973).  After Peter Proud, Thompson would direct the great slasher film Happy Birthday to Me (1981) and would also collaborate with Charles Bronson multiple times, including on The White Buffalo (1977), 10 to Midnight (1983), and Death Wish 4: The Crackdown (1987).

Cinematographer Victor J. Kempler would get his start on John Cassavetes' Husbands (1970) and would also shoot the underseen crime flick The Friends of Eddie Coyle (1973).  The same year as Peter Proud he would also film the great Dog Day Afternoon (1975), and while he has a few other genre film credits, like Eyes of Laura Mars and Magic (both 1978), Kempler would mainly work on a bunch of comedies, including classics like Oh, God! (1977), The Jerk (1979), Vacation (1983), Mr. Mom (1983), Pee Wee's Big Adventure (1985), Clue (1985), See No Evil, Hear No Evil (1989), and Tommy Boy (1995).  Guess the guy liked to laugh...

I wouldn't call The Reincarnation of Peter Proud an exciting movie (not by a long shot) but it manages in sidestepping the terrible movie-sin of being boring by containing some watchable elements and by being just weird enough to hold my interest until the end.  I dunno if this a testament to the film itself or just my personal tolerance for this kind of thing.  It's a toss up.

While I kind of dug it, I have to fully admit that this movie is not for everybody.  I guess I would most recommend it to fans of obscure 70s cinema and also to Margot Kidder fanatics.  Oh, and also to reincarnated-fathers-looking-to-hook-up-with-their-adult-daughters-while-trying-to-stay-classy-about-it.  If you're one of them, totally check this movie out.

One last thing:  the title of this movie is totally wrong.  Peter Proud isn't the one who gets reincarnated.  Jeff Curtis is the guy who is reincarnated as Peter Proud, so the title should be "The Reincarnation of Jeff Curtis", but since that's not as cool sounding, they shoulda switched the names of the two characters, make the dead guy Peter Proud.  Maybe they didn't understand how reincarnation works?

This woman isn't involved in the movie at all, she's just a random weirdo who approaches Peter when he's in an occult bookstore.  She tries to guess his sign.  She guesses wrong.  Random side characters in 70s movies are some of my favorite side characters..

There have been reports (going back to 2009) of a remake of this film going into development over at Paramount and Columbia Pictures with Andrew Kevin Walker and David Fincher, the team behind Seven (1995), attached to write and direct, respectively.  Not sure if anything will ever come of this almost-5-year-old announcement, but it would most likely be pretty interesting if Fincher did tackle this subject.