Entry Thirty-Two: Damnation Alley (1977)

Damnation Alley (1977)

Dir: Jack Smight

"You have seen great adventures.  You are about to live one."

Tonight in the Basement of Sleaze, join me on a family-friendly tour of post-nuke America as we rocket down...Damnation Alley!

Sometime after the end of World War III, long-haired, dirt bike-riding hothead Jan-Michael Vincent (The Mechanic, TV's Airwolf) and his "I'm just here to die 'cause I'm the black guy" best friend, Paul Winfield (Sounder, The Terminator) join straight-laced military man George Peppard (Breakfast at Tiffany's, TV's The A-Team) in his silly-looking "Landmaster" armored truck.  They're traveling the titular irradiated expanse from California to New York in hopes of finding fellow survivors.  In Vegas, they play slots in an abandoned casino and pick up a woman (Dominique Sanda,
Steppenwolf).  After Winfield is consumed alive by armored, flesh-eating cockroaches in an infested city, they rescue teenager Jackie Earle Haley (The Bad News Bears, Watchmen).  They kill the shit out of a town filled with rapist thieves and survive radiation storms and a flood before finding salvation with an agrarian society of survivors in Albany.

Damnation Alley has a solid (if derivative) story, but it's undone by a script with no real character development (not even the cliche "hothead vs. straight-arrow" conflict implied by the character differences between Vincent and Peppard is explored much after the first few minutes) and indifferent, TV-movie like direction by Smight (Midway).  Even the scene in the empty casino, which should be both surreal and joyful, a moment of release for these men as they reconnect with something from the old, dead world, falls flat.  The effects are pretty lousy, too (though people under the influence of controlled substances might enjoy the colorful, animated irradiated sky effects).  If you want to introduce a young child to the joys of post-nuke cinema, this is a safe bet, as it's pretty inoffensive.  Damnation Alley is probably best remembered today as a major blunder by the 20th Century Fox marketing department: early on in production, they decided that this was to be their big blockbuster for 1977 and they threw most of their marketing budget behind it.  This left very little money to promote a weird, low-budget space movie that the studio felt nobody would understand or want to see called Star Wars.  Oops.

Entry Thirty-One: Bloody Moon (1981)

Bloody Moon (Die Sage des Todes) (1981)

Dir: Jesus Franco

"Don't Panic...It happens only once in a...bloody moon."

Brush away that stale popcorn and take a seat; we're spending a little time with the incomparable Jesus Franco (Oasis of the Zombies, A Virgin Among the Living Dead, Vampyros Lesbos) down in the Basement of Sleaze!  In our first encounter with Franco, we find him trying his hand at the then-burgeoning slasher genre...

During an outrageous poolside disco party (complete with short skirts, insanely tight leather pants and cowboy boots...my kinda scene!), disfigured Miguel (Alexander Waechter) dons a Mickey Mouse mask (I wonder if the lawyers working for Disney are aware of this film) and graphically murders a girl who refuses his advances.  Years later, Miguel is released from a psychiatric hospital into the care of his sister, Manuela (Nadja Gerganoff), who helps run a boarding school with her bitchy aunt, Contessa Gonzales (Maria Rubio), who has recently revised her will to disinherit Manuela.  Also helping to run the school is Manuela's boyfriend, Alvera (Christoph Moosbrugger), who's introduced wearing a fantastic blue-dyed leather jacket that snaps in the front and makes him look like a suave-as-fuck European Rocketeer!  After an unseen assailant burns the Contessa to death, we're introduced to brainy star student Angela (Olivia Pascal), and it's revealed that Miguel has creepy fixation on his sister.  After her friend Eva is killed by a knife through the tit, American Angela begins receiving threatening messages during class, but receives no help from the local cops ("I wouldn't mind teaching HER the language!").  The bodies continue to mount (including a woman decapitated by a logging saw and a young boy having his head crushed beneath a car wheel, Toxic Avenger-style) and final girl Angela is left to unravel the mystery.

This slasher is quite obscure, but worth a look for genre fans.  Let's get this out of the way, this is an obvious Halloween/Halloween II knockoff (Miguel=Michael, sister fixation, brainy virginal heroine), but it has more than expected to offer for those willing to take a look.  The kills (mercifully free from the constraints of American censors) are pleasantly graphic and Franco (clearly making a bid for the mainstream), flourishes the production with stylish shots (the reflection of the moon in Miguel's eye during the opening scenes), at-the-time novel jump cuts and atmospheric lighting (thanks to cinematographer Juan Soler).  Best of all, expected-killer Miguel turns out to be a hero, albeit a doomed one, killed by Angela while trying to save her from real villains Miguela and Alvera.   This film features lots of supple, bare tits for the dolphin-flogging crowd and belies it's European origins with a parade of cigarette-stained teeth.  Worth seeking out for slasher fans.         

Entry Thirty: Tango & Cash (1989)

Tango & Cash (1989)

Dir: Andrei Konchalovsky

"Two of L.A.'s top rival cops are going to have to work together... Even if it kills them."

In my very first, introductory entry of this blog, I mentioned (among many other things) that I'd probably, eventually cover some 80's action movies (a genre very near and dear to my heart).  I figured I'd probably start with Commando or I Come In Peace or maybe even a Cannon Group Chuck Norris movie; instead, I pulled this sublimely ridiculous buddy cop movie out of my dirty, greasy hat...

Ray Tango (Sylvester Stallone) and Gabe Cash (Kurt Russell) are rival L.A. hero cops who are forced to work together after being framed for murder by arms & drug dealer Jack Palance (who devours every scene he's in and has a weird mouse fetish).  Hilariously, every time Tango or Cash makes a bust, it's front page news with their names emblazoned on the headline (can you name even one cop who works in your city?  I'm just asking...).  Anyway, they go to prison, make fun of each other's dicks a lot in the shower, escape, meet up with Stallone's go-go dancer sister, Kiki (TV's Teri Hatcher), and take down Palance and clear their names.  Did I mention Russell gets to dress in drag?

As far as 1980s buddy cop pictures go, this doesn't reach the heights of Lethal Weapon or 48 Hours, but it's got a weird charm all it's own, due mostly to the supporting cast:  James Hong (Blade Runner, Big Trouble in Little China) and Brion James (Flesh + Blood, Southern Comfort) as henchmen, Robert Z'Dar (Maniac Cop, Cherry 2000) and Clint Howard (Evilspeak, Ice Cream Man) as inmates, Eddie Bunker (Reservoir Dogs) as a police captain and Michael J. Pollard (Bonnie and Clyde, Candy the Stripper) as the LAPD's version of "Q", who builds the boys a nitrous-fueled, bulletproof SUV (I told you this movie was ridiculous!).  Russell (who I've always enjoyed) seems to be having fun and it's amusing to watch Stallone try to play the "smart" character (he stretches his range by donning a pair of glasses and attempting to clip his usual slurred delivery).  And where else are you going to see Jack Palance looking like he's about to cum while fondling a mouse? 

Entry Twenty-Nine: Chatterbox (1977)

Chatterbox (1977)

Dir: Tom DeSimone

"It speaks for itself!"

 "What would you say if I told you my vagina...Could TALK?!?!"  Yes, this is the infamous softcore talking vagina movie...
 
 Penelope Pittman (Candice Rialson, Hollywood Boulevard, Candy Stripe Nurses) has a problem; her vagina has spontaneously, and without explanation, gained independent sentience and the ability to speak and, more importantly, sing beautifully.  After ruining her relationship with her well-to-do boyfriend, Ted, this caroling clitoris endangers her hairdressing job by making passes at a lesbian client ("want to meet me down at the Y?"), advances that are unwelcome by her homophobic boss, Mr. Jo (Rip Taylor; casting the flamboyant Taylor as a homophobe is the height of this film's "wit").  Penelope consults with Dr. Pearl (Larry Gelman, Dreamscape, Einstein in the Command and Conquer computer game series), who soon becomes the first "doctor/agent" and makes Penelope's serenading sex organ (now dubbed "Virginia") a television star.  After a run-in with the cops and some troubles with her unscrupulous, financially-motivated mother, Penelope ends up on a Dating Game-style show, where she meets Dick (Michael Taylor, Escape from New York, Foxes), who woos her in a FULL-ON SUIT OF MEDIEVAL ARMOR...HOLY SHIT (I'm going to keep close tabs on Mrs. Basement of Sleaze next time we go to the Renaissance Festival)!  Dick, however, proves to be interested in Penelope and Virginia only for the fame and personal gain, and, after a failed attempt at a movie career, the free-spirited Penelope and her vocal Virginia meet up again with Ted, who reveals he has a singing penis.

I'll be honest, this is a dumb, dumb, DUMB, one-joke movie, and Rialson is really the only reason to watch it.  She gives a better performance than the film deserves, gamely appears naked throughout much of it's duration, and her natural sense of comedic timing makes Penelope genuinely likeable.  Sadly, she gave up acting at the end of the 70s and passed away in 2006.  Director DeSimone (AKA porno director Lancer Brooks) would later go on to work with Linda Blair in Hell Night.

Entry Twenty-Eight: Alice, Sweet Alice (1976)

Alice, Sweet Alice (AKA Communion, Holy Terror-1976)

Dir: Alfred Sole

"If you survive this night...Nothing will scare you again."

This unsettling psycho killer movie takes a very dim view of Catholicism...Naturally, I loved it!

Angelic Karen (Brooke Shields, The Blue Lagoon) and jealous, detached older sister Alice (Paula Sheppard, Liquid Sky) live with their mother, Catherine (Linda Miller, Elvis and Me) in a boarding house run by grotesque, pedophilic Mr. Alphonso (Alphonso DeNoble, Bloodsucking Freaks).  Also inhabiting the house are Catholic Priest Father Tom (Rudolph Willrich, a guest on nealy every incarnation of Star Trek) and his kindly elderly caretaker, Mrs. Tredoni (Mildred Clinton, Serpico).  When Karen is brutally murdered in church right before her first communion, super-Catholic aunt Annie (Jane Lowry) suspects Alice (she hates Alice because she was conceived out of wedlock).  When Annie is attacked by someone wearing Alice's raincoat and Halloween mask, Alice is taken into custody by the police, but she blames the attack on deceased Karen.  Catherine's ex-husband, Dom (Niles McMaster, also from Bloodsucking Freaks) shows up and tries to play amateur detective to clear his daughter's name, but ends up murdered by the same raincoated figure while Alice is still in custody.  Is the killer really Karen's vengeful spirit, or is there a more worldly explanation?  The answer comes in a double-twist ending and a haunting final shot.

With it's somber, doom-laden atmosphere, diminutive, raincoat wearing killer and out-of-nowhere twist ending, this reminds me a great deal of Nic Roeg's Don't Look Now (praise of the highest order coming from me).  It's also a little reminiscent of early, Hitchcock-channeling DePalma, but done on about 1/8th the budget.  Director Sole has a knack for lighting ordinary human faces in such a way as to make them appear distorted and grotesque and uses canted camera angles and bizarre imagery (A fat man eating a can of cat food, a cat lapping at a pool of blood around a bloated corpse, disgusting close-ups of mouths taking communion) to give the entire film a disorienting, disturbing feel.  It's too bad he really didn't go on to do much else of note (he became a production designer and currently works on the television series Castle).  Shields became a big celebrity after filming this, and it was re-released under two different titles to capitalize and her fame and dupe unsuspecting moviegoers into seeing it again (and if you're that easily fooled, you deserve to be taken for a ride!).  This is a prime example of eerie, weird 70s genre filmmaking and comes HIGHLY recommended.  

Entry Twenty-Seven: The Unholy Rollers (1972)

The Unholy Rollers (1972)

Dir: Vernon Zimmerman

"Queen of the Jammers!"

I only enjoy three types of sports movies: those that star Nick Nolte (North Dallas Forty), those that use a sporting event as a backdrop for a more interesting plotline (something involving Van Damme, great Shane Black dialogue or Robert Shaw battling Bruce Dern-Sudden Death, The Last Boy Scout, Black Sunday), and those in which the sport involves tough chicks kicking ass and taking names...this movie fits squarely into the latter category.  also, how can you not love a movie that begins with an elderly janitor sweeping filth up from around the passed-out body of a drunk while muttering about how lousy his tips are?

Karen Walker (former Playmate and drive-in queen Claudia Jennings, Gator Bait, Fast Company), is looking for direction in life.  She's recently quit her cat food cannery job after being slapped on the ass one-too-many times by her lecherous boss and gets her kicks by shoplifting from the local supermarket.  On a whim, she decides to try out for also-ran roller derby team Avengers, and is elated when she makes the cut.  With support from her best friend Donna (Candice Roman, The Big Bird Cage) and Donna's rockabilly boyfriend, Greg (Alan Vint, Macon County Line, Badlands), she becomes the Avengers' star Jammer and finds romance (and matching tattoos!) with teammate Nick.  After dealing with team hazing and a rapey doctor, Karen begins making those big roller derby dollars, but her newfound fame alienates Donna and Greg and she discovers that douchebag Nick is secretly married.  She makes Nick fuck her at gunpoint before kneeing him in the balls.  After she disgraces teammate Micky (Betty Anne Rees, TVs The Incredible Hulk), the rest of her team turns on her and destroys her new car.  In the end, frustrated Karen causes pandemonium at a crucial match, severely beating a member of rival team Demons and flashing her "famous tattoo salute" as the cops arrive to drag her away.

Roller derby was a sport of the seventies that's enjoying a bit of a renaissance these days, and if you're a fan, I highly recommend this movie.  I really like Jennings; she's tough, sexy and a naturally good actress.  Unfortunately, she fell into drug problems shortly after making this movie and, just as she was putting her life back together, was killed in a car accident shortly after appearing in Cronenberg's Fast Company in 1979.  For film historians, Martin Scorsese was an associate editor on this film.

Entry Twenty-Six: Humongous (1982)

Humongous (1982)

Dir: Paul Lynch

"Here are the monster's little toys...Once, they were little girls and boys!"

Let me get this (obligatory Road Warrior reference) out of my system first: "Greetings from the Humongous!  The Lord Humongous!  The warrior of the wastelands!  The ayatollah of rock-n-rolla!"
  
In 1946, virginal Ida is deflowered in a super sleazy, full-frontal rape scene by a drunken, bug-eyed creep during her parents' cocktail party.  Afterwards, her family dogs tear the deserving POS to pieces and she brains him to finish the job.  Cue credits, set to some TOTALLY INAPPROPRIATE soft jazz riffs (some real Kenny G shit!).  

36 years later, we're introduced to our cast of teenaged stock characters: alpha asshole Nick (mulleted John Wildman, who has a penchant for wearing wife beaters and too-short cuttoffs), skanky Donna (Joy Boushel, Goldblum's arm-wrestling trophy from The Fly), Nick's nerdy sister Carla (Janit Baldwin, Phantom of the Paradise, Where the Buffalo Roam) and good-guy brother, Eric (David Wallace, Mazes and Monsters, Mortuary) and Eric's model girlfriend, Sandy (Janet Julian, King of New York, the Swamp Thing television series).  Out on a nautical weekend adventure, our adolescent adventurers happen upon shipwrecked Ed, who warns them against journeying onto a nearby island, which is said to be inhabited only by vicious dogs and a mysterious old woman.  After an incident incited by douche-baggy Nick, they end up stranded upon said island and are systematically hunted down and slaughtered by an unseen, heavy-breathing (and sometimes roaring) assailant.  Fuckwit Nick is first to go, when he wanders off by himself, full of bravado and bluster and in search of help.  Donna has her neck broken (while topless) as she cares for the incapacitated Ed; meanwhile, the others discover a mansion containing an old-looking baby nursery filled with broken toys and housing a mummified corpse.  They then find Nick's and Donna's corpses hung on meat-hooks in the basement and, upon escaping the house, find Ed's severed head bobbing around at the beach.  They also find a diary that reveals that dear ol' Ida from the prologue gave birth to a brain-damaged son and moved, with her loyal dogs, to this secluded island to raise him.  Now that she's died and he's run out of dogs to kill for food, he's been hunting our heroes/heroines for sustenance.  After Eric gets folded in half and Carla has her face smashed in, lone survivor Sandy impersonates the creature's mother (shades of Friday the 13th and Psycho II) and manages to escape, using fire and a sharpened "no trespassing" sign.

This movie has a very negative reputation, but fuck it, I'll tell you it's actually one of the better entries in the post-Michael/Jason/Freddy oeuvre.  It dispenses with the typical "masked killer" trope and it's foggy island locales are genuinely unnerving and creepy.  It's Texas Chainsaw-but-less-visually-arty atmosphere reminds me a lot of early Wes Craven (or post-Chainsaw Hooper).  This Canadian production features art direction by Carol Spier, who's performed that duty on nearly all of Cronenberg's films.

Entry Twenty-Five: Styx (2001)

Styx (2001)

Dir: Alex Wright

"The diamonds are waiting..."

I know I promised to do something special for my twenty-fifth entry; well, I lied.  Actually, I had planned to do a lengthy write-up on a film that's very near-and-dear to my heart, but I've been very sick for the last several days and now am going to be busy for the next several and just haven't had the time/energy/inspiration to do the entry that that film deserves.  Instead, I'll save that for my fiftieth entry and go the opposite direction for this one...

In this heist flick, Peter Weller plays a guy named...You know what?  I don't give a shit what his name is, and I'm fairly certain nobody involved in the making of this film did, either.  Anyway, Weller's a once-great hold-up man who's purchased a little coffee shop, gotten married and trying to go straight when, stop me if you've heard this one, his ne'er-do-well little brother (Angus McFadyen, Braveheart, Equilibrium) gets in debt to the mob and asks Weller to help him pull one last job.  After catching his wife cheating, Weller says "fuck it" and agrees.  Also on board are a guy Weller once left for dead (Bryan Brown, F/X, Breaker Morant) and Weller's femme fatale ex, who's now fucking Brown.  The usual, tired double-crosses and betrayals occur until only Weller's left alive, with no money to show for it.

This is part of a string of (mostly unmemorable) DTV genre pictures Weller did between his heyday as a B-list leading man and his current career revival playing sleazy guest roles on shows like Dexter and Sons of Anarchy.  EVERYBODY involved seems to realize that they're just making product to fill a slot in a video store, and it shows.  The filmmakers make no attempt to dress up the Los Angeles-set film's South African shooting locations.  At least Weller and Brown are pros and try to do something with their (lazily written) roles...And it IS fun to see the two of them in a movie together, though well past their mid-eighties prime.  Worth watching ONLY if you're a diehard Weller fan (like me).

Entry Twenty-Four: Moontrap (1989)

Moontrap (1989)

Dir: Robert Dyke

"For fourteen thousand years...It waited."

Walter (Star Trek ) Koenig and Bruce (Evil Dead) Campbell are astronauts who discover a 14,000 year-old temple hidden on the surface of the moon.  Within the temple, they find a beautiful (human) woman in suspended animation, as well as a race of killer alien robots that can augment their bodies using any found material, including human flesh.  The awakened woman, Mera, informs our heroes that she's the last of her race, the rest of whom were wiped out by the killer 'bots.  After Campbell is killed, Mera removes her clothing and does the bone dance with Koenig and they get captured and brought to the aliens' hidden mothership.  Koenig discovers that the mechanized monsters are using the remains of his lunar rover to power their ship; he's able to disable it, destroy the ship and bring Mera home to Earth.

Moontrap was made in Michigan by Sam Raimi associates and, like Raimi's early efforts, Dyke and his collaborators make the most of their near-nonexistent budget.  The spaceship effects have a fun, throwback 50's feel, the lunar surface sets are appropriately sparse, dark and eerie and the robot creatures, with their mishmash of bone, exposed sinew and steel, have a cool Giger-look to them.  After years of being mostly relegated to the background in the Star Trek franchise, it's nice to see Koening land a leading role, and he acquits himself well.  Campbell, still several years from the home video success of Army of Darkness turning him into a cult superstar, is more subdued than usual.  It's slow to start and suffers from some amateurish secondary performances, but Moontrap looks better than most regional DIY efforts and fans of the Raimi/Scott Spiegel/Rob Tappert Michigan-lensed flicks of the 80s should add this to their "to-watch" list.

Entry Twenty-Three: Leviathan (1989)

Leviathan (1989)

Dir: George P. Cosmatos

"How long can you hold your breath?"

1989 was one of those strange years when Hollywood picks a theme out of a hat and all of the studios rush to beat each other to the theatre with their entry.  In '89, the theme was "underwater alien/monster" movies; in addition to this, we got James Cameron's The Abyss, Sean Cunningham's Deepstar Six, Corman's Lords of the Deep and the De Laurentiis production Endless Descent.  Cameron's picture is definitely the prestige winner, but I think Leviathan might be my favorite.

A crew of undersea miners led by Beck (Peter Weller, Robocop, Naked Lunch) discovers the wreck of the titular Russian freighter and brings several salvage artifacts aboard their rig, including a flask of what seems to be vodka.  After trouble-making discipline case Six-Pack (Daniel Stern, CHUD, Home Alone) and perky Bridget (Lisa Eilbacher, Beverley Hills Cop) drink the liquid, they both come down with flu-like symptoms.  Bridget kills herself after she witnesses Six-Pack mutate into a fish-like monster.  Beck and Doc (Richard Crenna, the Rambo trilogy) discover that the Soviets had intentionally torpedoed Leviathan after a botched biological weapon experiment.  When the monster begins killing/absorbing the rest of the crew, Doc jettisons the life pods to prevent the creature from reaching the surface and corporate stooge Martin (Meg Foster, Masters of the Universe, They Live) refuses to send a rescue mission for fear of bad PR causing company stock to drop.  It's up to Beck, along with fellow survivors Willie (Amanda Pays, TV's Max Headroom and The Flash) and Jones (Ernie Hudson, The Human Tornado, Ghostbusters) to find a way off of the mining station while evading the seemingly unstoppable monster.
  
Leviathan is most assuredly a B-movie that, by virtue of coming along at the right time, was graced with an A budget.  It's fantastic cast is a veritable who's-who of 80's character actors, it's got great, goopy effects by Stan Winston and production design by Ron Cobb (Alien, Aliens).  It's script is HIGHLY derivative; it's nearly a scene-by-scene rewrite of John Carpenter's remake of The Thing, with the evil corporation from Alien thrown in.  This is surprising, since it was written by David Webb Peoples, who has a mostly sterling track record (Blade Runner, The Blood of Heroes, Unforgiven, 12 Monkeys).  The biggest problem with the film, however, is director Cosmatos (Rambo: First Blood, Part 2, Cobra, Tombstone).  Both Ridley Scott with Alien and John Carpenter with The Thing were able to cannily use pacing, lighting and carefully-framed camerawork to create a real sense of tension, dread, isolation and claustrophobia in their respective films.  Cosmatos does nothing of the kind here; his point-and-shoot, workmanlike direction robs the film of menace, everything is just a bit too bright and he can't QUITE seem to figure out how to light/frame Winston's effects to make them not look rubbery.  Still, there's a lot of pleasure to be had from the cast, the gross-out effects and Peeple's slightly off-kilter dialogue (Weller's character often speaks like a burned-out hippie, saying "man" and "bummer" a lot).  Did I mention the movie ends with Weller punching a woman in the face?  "Say 'Ah!' motherfucker!"      

Entry Twenty-Two: Death Spa (1987)

Death Spa (1987)

Dir: Michael Fischa

"You'll sweat blood!"

Exploding bodies!  Naked titties!  Cross-dressing!  Homoeroticism!  Aerobics!  Melting faces!  Even a few good bush shots for my friend Jeremy...It's just another day at the Death Spa!

Some strange shit is afoot at the Star Body Health Spa...Spa owner Michael's girlfriend, Laura (Brenda Bakke, L.A. Confidential's Lana Turner) is burned and temporarily blinded when chlorine is diverted into the sauna.  A club regular is nearly killed when the high-dive board comes loose.  A ripped dude is disemboweled by a Boflex.  Concurrently, Michael begins having nightmares about his dead wife Catherine, who immolated herself after a botched childbirth left her paralyzed and their baby dead.  Michael begins to suspect that his security chief (and Catherine's twin brother), David (Merritt Butrick, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, here channeling Malcolm McDowell), is staging the "accidents" as vengeance for the death of his sister.  After several more deaths, it's revealed that Catherine has possessed David's body and is using him to torment Michael, whom she wants to join her in Hell.  Michael and Laura are forced to confront this vengeful spirit during a Mardi Gras party that turns into an epic bloodbath.

Good fuck, this movie is NUTS!  In fact, this may be the craziest of the myriad Nightmare on Elm Street knockoffs that plagued the late '80s-early '90's.  A woman is melted by acid in the sprinkler system, still gurgling and crying once all her flash has melted of and her still-beating heart is exposed.  Michael's crooked lawyer gets his brains splattered all over the place by an errant chunk of wood in the sauna.  A fat cop gets killed by a half-eaten sushi fish come to life.  In the film's best scene, club manager Priscilla graphically explodes for seemingly no good reason.  Catherine/David is burned, has his/her arm ripped off and gets shot twice in the head...and then his/her eyeball explodes!  In addition to the over-the-top violence, this movie also features and unending parade of FANTASTIC '80's workout clothing, Michael (who kinda looks like my friend Zack) has the solid brass balls to wear an open leather jacket with no shirt beneath and has his office decorated in the tasteful combination of '80's pastel colors, sports memorabilia and Native American art.  There's also A LOT of homoerotic groping/close-talking between Michael and his best friend, Marvin (the mighty Ken Foree, of Dawn of the Dead and From Beyond) and a couple of awkwardly lengthy close-up shots of Foree's junk.  Also with Chelsea Field (Masters of the Universe, Prison, Dust Devil) as a spa regular and Rosalind Cash (The Omega Man, The Monkey Hu$tle) as a cop.  HIGHLY recommended for group viewing!  

Entry Twenty-One: The Bat People (1974)

The Bat People (1974)

Dir: Jerry Jameson

"After the sun has set, and the night wind has died, comes the hour of the bat people!"

Samuel Z. Arkoff's legendary AIP released this (pretty pedestrian) entry in the 70's "bodily transformation" cycle (see also The Mutations, Ssssssss!).

Newly married Dr. Kirk Langstr...Err...Dr. John Beck (Stewart Moss, Raise the Titanic!) is doing research on bats in the hope of securing a grant in the field of preventative medicine.  On his honeymoon, he decides to drag his wife, Cathy (Marianne McAndrew, TV's Murphy Brown) into some dangerous caves.  BIG mistake.  John is bitten by a rabid bat and soon begins to undergo nocturnal transformations into a bat-like creature.  John attacks and kills a couple of vagrants and horny teenagers, but balances this out by using his medical training to try to help folks during his lucid periods.  He's hunted by Cathy and tough cop Ward (Michael Pataki, Easy Rider, Batman: the Animated Series).  Ward promises to help find a cure for John, but, when Cathy refuses his rapey advances, sets out to kill him instead.  John infects Cathy and, as the "bat-people," they team up to kill Beck and set off to form their own society.

This derivative feature owes a great debt to Frank Robbins' and Neal Adams' Man-Bat stories from Detective Comics and is most notable as the first credited effects job by Stan (here credited as "Stanley") Winston (The Terminator, Aliens, Predator, Jurassic Park).