Wednesday, December 30, 2015

Q - Larry Cohen - "The Winged Serpent" (1982)

So.... Out with the old and in with the older! Good-bye 2015, Hello 1982!
This is obviously the beginning of The End!

I used to watch "Q" in the late 80's on the boob tube, probably on USA Network if I had to guess, since I can't quite remember anymore, and I don't know exactly why, but I always liked this stupid movie! Let's see if we can figure it out!
Try these two minutes on for size!

Maybe "Q" is a cult classic! I don't know, I don't have time to look into stuff like that, but if it isn't, then it damn well should be! 
Detective partners Richard (SHAFT) Roundtree and David (Kung Fu) Carradine might give you a clue as to why!

"Q" is pretty gory! They go from skinning this bird in a restaurant to skinning a human in a hotel room!

The guys in the background of that skinning scene are thieves talking about their upcoming job! The odd man in the trio is big time loser Jimmy Quinn as portrayed by Michael Moriarty!
Mal-adjusted, misinformed, and misunderstood, Jimmy Quinn is supposed to be the getaway driver in an upcoming jewelry heist, but when he is forced to go inside, it doesn't go well at all! Michael Moriarty is what makes this movie work!

Meanwhile people on the rooftops of buildings in the city keep disappearing one by one!

Shades of "Bloodfreak," it's Chicken Boy!

Have you ever been shit on by a pigeon or an owl flying overhead? Well that's nothing compared to blood dropping from out of the skies!

I ain't no big city slicker, so I had no idea that there was a jewelry store named Neil Diamonds!
I thought he only wrote songs!

Look to the sky, it's a bird, it's a plane! No, it's a big winged serpent ready to eat your ass, and bite your head off!

Nobody ever sees the serpent because it uses the sun as a block, and nobody knows where it comes from or goes to except Jimmy Quinn when he stumbles onto the nest while he's trying to hide after the botched stickup! Jimmy's scared of everything except heights!

A high rise construction worker gets picked off at lunch time!

David Carradine needs a lot of cigarettes and an issue of Playboy to try and figure out this whole Quetzalcoatl thing!

I love Candy (The Man Who Fell To Earth) Clark as Jimmy Quinn's frustrated lover!

I never could figure out whether "Q" was intended to be a comedy, or if it just turned out that way, like in the scenes with the white face undercover cop and the black detective!

It's pretty hard to get a good shot of the monster, he's on and off camera so fast for the vast majority of the film! This isn't too bad!!

Just like Chicken Boy, there's other shots of big bird imagery in the city to help the viewer understand how this could all be happening!

Outside of Japan, most filmmakers had given up on making monster movies by the 1980's, so I give writer, director, producer Larry Cohen and his cronies a lot of kudos in that department!

One of the losers in the final shootout!

50,000 rounds later, the giant winged serpent is just a memory!

 Uh, Oh! There was more than one nest!
 I don't understand how these things work, but for some reason you can watch "Q" unencumbered on YouTube! What can I say? That's a fantastic deal!
Happy Freakin' Nuke Year!!!

Monday, December 28, 2015

LA SENORA MUERTE aka MADAME DEATH / Filmica Vergara S.A. - 1969

Since Xmas is over, I can review whatever I want, so, here's a cool Mexican flick starring John Carradine and sultry Regina Torne in a story about a mad scientist that teams up with an evil, disfigured woman to kidnap and operate on young women in order to make her beautiful again.

John Carradine was really an amazing guy. The intro in the sound clip is actually him speaking in Spanish, I've included it so you can hear how fluent he was in the language!

I have a wild sound clip for your approval, sooooo, you can push the big red 'GO' button located there by our sharpened kitchen knives, NOW, Ralphie The Tarantula!.. Here's a little sample from... LA SENORA MUERTE!

If you ever wanted to see sexy Regina run around naked, like me, well, this is definitely the movie for you, only $6 plus shipping on Amazon!..... GO!!

Anyway, her husband has a stroke so she seeks out the local mad scientist, Dr. Favel.

The doctor tricks wifey Marlene into helping with the experiment, aided by his little buddy! Shades of ASTRO ZOMBIES made the following year.

Well, let's just say things don't turn out too bueno for Marlene...

She's actually being double crossed by Dr. Favel, she must now seek out women to kill so that she can remain normal, while the doc can continue on with his experiments.

Here are two stills that I find quite interesting, I'd like to have a raven for my pad too.

No matter what Marlene does, the bad skin keeps returning, making her nearly insane...

As evident in this scene where she chases a young chica through the good old mannequin storage room with a big knife, the fun never ends!

The doc spills the beans to Marlene and while trying one last time to help her, the machine blows the Hell up! Tune in Wednesday for our last post of 2015...

Saturday, December 26, 2015

DER FLUCH DES SCHWARZEN RUBIN - Gert Wilden - "13 Days To Die" (1965)

So what the Hell could possibly follow up the twelve days of Christmas??

"13 Days To Die!" 
12 Ways To Die!!
11 Ways To Cry!!!
And A Tiger In A Palm Tree! 

Classic vintage Chevy convertible!
This movie is supposed to be in colour! I got this copy from Sinister Cinema, and there is no colour to be seen, nowhere, nada!
Actually, if you want to see some photos that are a Helluva lot better than mine, and in colour, then head on over to the Supernatural Theater blog! Unfortunately, it still doesn't make the movie any better!

For me, the two best things about this film are the title "13 Days To Die," and the music by Gert Wilden! Here's just a taste of Gert's talent! We'll probably never get around to most of the other titles that Gert composed for like "Run, Virgin, Run," "Nurses For Sale," and "Campus Pussycats!" You're just going to have to search those out on your own!

Talk about a cryptic message!!

It's so weird that just like languages, wherever you go in the world, there are completely different types of music and instruments like these!

Horst (The Head, The Dead Are Alive) Frank is bad guy Perkins!

This is one of the more exciting scenes in the movie!

Serge Nubret is Pongo! If he looks a little buff to you, it's because Serge was Mr. Europe 1966, Mr. Universe 1976, and Mr. World in 1977!!!

Here with Pongo are the stars of the show Thomas (The Red Circle) Alder as Rolf Torring (Ralph Tracy), and Peter (A Study In Terror) Carsten as Rolf's bestest buddy Hans Warren! They make for a tough trio to tangle with!

"Der Fluch Des Schwarzen Rubin" is set in Thailand!
The literal translation of the title would be something like "The Curse Of The Black Ruby!"
The black rubies are a crap load of Uranium that everybody is dying to get their hands on!

Pongo is in much better shape than this pinhead statue that only has one arm!

Everybody gets saved in the end! Hooray!

And our heroes get the big thank you celebration that they deserved to get!

Leaving it open for a sequel. 
Please spare me!
2016 here we come, who'd of ever thunk?

Monster Music

Monster Music
AAARRGGHHH!!!! Ya'll Come On Back Now, Y'Hear??