Monday, July 6, 2015
Primal Rage (1988)
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xms8jo_primal-rage_shortfilms#from=embediframe
http://www.attackfromplanetb.com/
http://www.attackfromplanetb.com/2012/10/primal-rage-rage-furia-primitiva-1988/
Directed by Vittorio Rambaldi and written by Umberto Lenzi (under the pseudonym Harry Kirkpatrick), Primal Rage (1988) is an Italian / American splatter film shot on location in Florida.
It’s not long before the bite on Duffy’s arm becomes infected and he begins to develop influenza-likesymptoms. Sam Nash (Patrick Lowe), Duffy’s friend and colleague, becomes concerned and decides to invite Duffy out on a double date with his girlfriend Lauren Daly (Cheryl Arutt) and her room-mate (Sarah Buxton). The night starts off great, and despite a seemingly minor confrontation with three belligerent students, ends well with Duffy sharing a kiss with Debbie…and then proceeding to playfully bite her neck.
This is the least of Dr. Ethridge problems, who at this time is still unaware of the deadly contagion’sside-effects. Debbie is soon abducted by the trio who confronted the group earlier and it turns out that they are aggressive would-be rapists.
Primal Rage isn’t perfect however, and Vittorio Rambaldi’s direction can at times be underwhelming and uninspired. Bo Svenson is also not on his usual top form as Dr. Etheridge and sleepwalks through most of his scenes. Primal Rage also feels very dated, despite being filmed during the tail-end of the 1980’s, thanks to the power pop ballads that punctuate the soundtrack. Thankfully Claudio Simonetti’s score is used just as frequently.
http://www.attackfromplanetb.com/
http://www.attackfromplanetb.com/2012/10/primal-rage-rage-furia-primitiva-1988/
Directed by Vittorio Rambaldi and written by Umberto Lenzi (under the pseudonym Harry Kirkpatrick), Primal Rage (1988) is an Italian / American splatter film shot on location in Florida.
In an effort to restore the dead brain tissue of a baboon, Dr. Ethridge (Bo Svenson), a professor at an unnamed University in Florida, inadvertently creates a deadly contagion. Unaware that the virus could be dangerous Dr. Ethridge continues his research. However when young college journalist Frank Duffy (Mitch Watson) suspects that the campus laboratory is conducting inhumane experiments on live animals he breaks in to get photographic evidence. As Duffy attempts to take a few snaps of the caged animals he is bitten by one of the infected baboons, which then escapes outside into the street, and is quickly run down by a Florida Police Department squad car in grotesque fashion.
It’s not long before the bite on Duffy’s arm becomes infected and he begins to develop influenza-likesymptoms. Sam Nash (Patrick Lowe), Duffy’s friend and colleague, becomes concerned and decides to invite Duffy out on a double date with his girlfriend Lauren Daly (Cheryl Arutt) and her room-mate (Sarah Buxton). The night starts off great, and despite a seemingly minor confrontation with three belligerent students, ends well with Duffy sharing a kiss with Debbie…and then proceeding to playfully bite her neck.
The virus soon spreads to Debbie causing her to feel fatigued. Duffy’s arm starts to form ugly looking sores from the infected bite and his symptoms worsen. Admitting himself into the hospital a uncontrollable rage takes over and Duffy’s starts to attack the other patients and staff before running out into the street on a killing spree.
This is the least of Dr. Ethridge problems, who at this time is still unaware of the deadly contagion’sside-effects. Debbie is soon abducted by the trio who confronted the group earlier and it turns out that they are aggressive would-be rapists.
With his debut as director Vittorio Rambaldi, son of special effects maestro Carlo Rambaldi, has managed to create an entertaining film that, despite it’s slow set-up, delivers a lot of the crimson red you would expect from 1980’s Italian horror cinema. The special make-up effects and gore, courtesy of Carlo Rambaldi (known for his incredible work on Steven Spielberg’s E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial in 1982) and Alex Rambaldi, are the highlight of Primal Rage, especially during the final act when the infected muscle-headed trio attend a campus Halloween party.
Primal Rage isn’t perfect however, and Vittorio Rambaldi’s direction can at times be underwhelming and uninspired. Bo Svenson is also not on his usual top form as Dr. Etheridge and sleepwalks through most of his scenes. Primal Rage also feels very dated, despite being filmed during the tail-end of the 1980’s, thanks to the power pop ballads that punctuate the soundtrack. Thankfully Claudio Simonetti’s score is used just as frequently.
Primal Rage may feel dated and flawed today but the ingeniously bizarre special effects on display help elevate this movie above most Italian exploitation films of the same era.
Cast
Patrick Lowe … Sam Nash
Cheryl Arutt … Lauren Daly
Sarah Buxton … Debbie
Mitch Watson … Frank Duffy
Bo Svenson … Ethridge
Doug Sloan … Lovejoy
Directed By … Vittorio Rambaldi
Sunday, July 5, 2015
Saturday, July 4, 2015
Cop Game (1988)
Cop Game (1988)
Movie Review:
"I'm gonna put your asses in a sling!"
I adore Bruno Mattei's films, I really really do. Only he can make schlock this entertaining. Made the same time as Born to Fight and Strike Commando 2, and with the same star Brent Huff, you know you are going to be getting some Vietnam War mayhem filmed in the Philippines and that can mean only one thing: exploding huts!
Not a straight-forward war movie like Phantom Soldiers or the previously mentioned Strike Commando's, there are scenes of urban action in this as well. From the beginning: some masked soldiers in American military uniforms attack and kill a member of the elite Cobra force while he's taking a bath. Obviously this looks bad for the American army so they want it dealt with quietly. That's when two cops, an American, Morgan (Brent Huff) and a Vietnamese, Hawk (Max Laurel) are brought in to find out who wants Cobra force dead and to deal with the situation outside of military jurisdiction.
That's the plot in a nutshell. I really don't need to explain much more do I? I'm sure you can picture it already, and what you picture is probably right on the money. Morgan and Hawk run around Saigon streets chasing informants through food markets. Morgan and Hawk get involved in a car chase that sees them flying over train tracks just in the nick of time. Morgan and Hawk burst through doors with artillery laying waste to half the Vietnamese army. When they make it into the jungle it gets even more explosive with rocket propelled grenades, helicopter mounted chain guns and exploding hut after exploding hut. That's also when the plot, such as it is, thickens as Morgan and Hawk learn new truths about who they are looking for.
Morgan: "Jesus Christ cock sucking mother fucking son of a bitch!"
Hawk: "You took the words right out of my mouth!"
It goes on like this for 90 minutes, barely stopping three times to visit the same nightclub to watch the same six people dancing. Oh and there's a smoking hot blonde informant that may be a Russian spy. Some of the plot doesn't make a great deal of sense, and the continued use of the Vietnam war theme - even though we clearly see late 1980's cars and clothing - has been seen and done a million times before, but it really doesn't matter. Seeing soldiers declare that the scenery is beautiful before tearing it up with mounted artillery never gets old. Bruno Mattei, I love you!
Huff is on top form again, roughing up anyone that needs roughing up to get answers out of them, or just plain shooting them when they don't co-operate, spilling out a few hilarious lines as he does. Max Laurel - as far as I can tell a native Filipino - is a great second banana, getting in on just as much action as Huff does, and also another grunt from Robowar (Mattei sure likes using the same actors again and again). However, the best part about the movie is the music. Sure most of the music is standard electro-symphonic rock like all these 80's Italian/Filipino movies, but most other movies don't get their own theme song! Cop Game features the song Cop Game played half a dozen times, and only half of those times is it really appropriate, but all of the times it's just glorious. Don't believe me, listen to it yourself.
"His name's Captain Kirk, just like in Star Trek!"
Romano Puppo, another Italian and Filipino action movie staple, is in this too. He was Cpl. Neil Corey in Robowar, Alex Bross in Born to Fight, Ratchet in 2019: After the Fall of New York... and it goes on like that. He's not the focus of the movie but he is the one that "knows just the two guys" to pull off this mission and makes a few appearances throughout. Mattei had the balls to call him Captain Kirk as well, which is just hysterical.
The gorgeous Candice Daly plays the female of the piece, Annie, first showing up when she leaves a message in lipstick for Morgan on a bar room mirror that she has information for him. It's a shame she didn't have a bigger part really but when she was there she provided a nice contrast to the otherwise male-dominated movie.
So it's pretty obvious that I really enjoyed Cop Game. Stuff explodes, countless clips are emptied, cars are chased and the day is saved. The journey may make little sense but it's a fun ride all the same. You're only going to find this on Dutch or Japanese VHS or grey market DVDRs sourced from the same tapes, but it's completely worth your time. Not quite Strike Commando or Robowar quality but not far behind.
The Video:
If you've seen any Italian or Filipino action film on Japanese VHS before then you know what you are in for. Soft, desaturated, murky blacks and overly bright whites. Still, it's perfectly watchable and in widescreen to boot. Runtime approx. 90 minutes.
Sourced From:
eBay, for more than a little, less than a lot.
Trailer:
You'll have to make do with the screenshots and the videos I linked throughout the review!
More Screens:
Slumber Party Massacre 2 (1987)
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Killer Workout (1987)
I'll set it up for you. Rhonda has a workout place called ... Rhonda's Workout. People start dying there in bunches. Dim witted detective Morgan is on the case! After stumbling blindly from one victim to the next he finally pieces together who the killer is. But will he be able to stop their master plan? Nah.
You know, I think the writer of Death Spa must've ripped this movie off. Think about it. Death Spa came out a year later in 1988 with a very similar premise. A health club killer. Don't believe me? What about this still? Look at what is spray painted on the window!
Where Death Spa is about possession and technology, Aerobicide is about good old fashioned mindless slaying for the sheer sport of it. So I guess we now have the luxury of choosing which 80's health spa slasher movie we'd rather see. An odd parallax if I do say so myself.
The killer in Aerobicide uses an oversize safety pin to stab their victims to death. What a great idea. I can guarantee you that is original to this movie. Before this I doubt that idea ever left the napkin storyboard stage. In Aerobicide however, the idea is fully "fleshed" out.
So this guy named Chuck Dawson (played by Ted Prior) takes it upon himself to stop the madness. Right from the word go we see what a stand up guy he is. He punches a guy senseless and ditches his first day on the job at Rhonda's Workout to have sex. He mops well and does a decent job of hiding in bushes. He doesn't see the crime in breaking and entering as long as it for a good reason. He likes to punish the innocent harshly, in the face, based entirely on incomplete situational knowledge. He also likes to wear really short 80's shorts. Everything goes pretty well for Chuck until he rams his body into a muscle car and a man with a large pointy object. Other than that though, he totally had it covered. What a guy.
So what makes this movie such a good time to watch? Everything. The mindless slaughtering of hordes of deservingly ham fisted youths is a good reason. Or you could always just watch it for the fantabulous aerobic workout dance numbers. Either way you win. I highly recommend getting together with your friends and popping this schlockfest into your "conveyance of video joy" device as soon as possible. You won't soon regret it.
Buy Aerobicide (DVD) on Amazon
Aerobicide on IMDB
Friday, July 3, 2015
Thursday, July 2, 2015
How to identify C64 and SID model
https://ilesj.wordpress.com/2010/07/01/how-to-identify-c64-and-sid-model/
How to identify C64 and SID model
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