Motorpsycho.

Review #1872: Motorpsycho.

Cast: 

Haji (Ruby Bonner), Alex Rocco (Cory Maddox), Stephen Oliver (Brahmin), Holle K. Winters (Gail Maddox), Joseph Cellini (Dante), Thomas Scott (Slick), Coleman Francis (Harry Bonner), and Sharon Lee (Jessica Fannin) Directed by Russ Meyer (#1420 - Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!)

Review: 

If you remember, Russ Meyer first made movies when he was with the US Army's 166th Signal Photographic Company during World War II. His first couple of films would be "nudie cuties", which thrived on the circuit of independent and exploitation audiences, which he wrote, directed, edited, photographed, and distributed himself. He did this for a couple of years before shifting to less nude fare with Lorna in 1964 (incidentally, that movie was about a woman being assaulted that sees her break out of sexual frustration with her husband - Meyer described himself as looking at sex in a humorous and outrageous way). Mudhoney (1965) was a Great Depression period drama without as much exploitation (and not quite successful with audiences). But August 1965 saw the release of both Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! and this film, with the former being the one that eventually became a cult classic. Each have their fair share of violence and sex (i.e. women you or someone would probably say is attractive) with villainous trios, with one featuring a gang of go-go dancers and the other featuring a gang of bikers. Meyer served as co-writer on this film, as James Griffith, Hal Hopper, and W. E. Sprague did the script with him. Meyer also served as producer along with his wife Eve, served as cinematographer, and he edited the film with Charles G. Schelling.

There are a handful of odd moments but seeing a blurb promoting the use of Toyota vehicles at the end certainly was a surprise. Seeing a movie with a character depicted as being a veteran of the Vietnam War in 1965 was another surprise in a movie filled with lurid energy. It may not spring as many eye-raising moments as the aforementioned Pussycat movie (which he also wrote/produced/edited), but it never loses sight of what it means to see raw human energy put on screen to the point where could almost call it a satire of exploitation. Who else would make a movie where a guy gets stung by a snake and yells at his lady accomplice to suck the poison out? Meyer has an efficient eye to making movies with the right degree of sleaze that means one gets to see a bunch of grim violence to go with the early moments of attractions (as one says). Sure, there are probably people who will say that it is the women that really attracts people to his films, but who cares? I would rather have a director who has a clear interest in what they want to show on screen rather than a pretentious bore, and Meyer knows how to edit his material into 74 minutes of entertainment with bombast. As was the case with Pussycat, it is the women (in this case, one) that sticks out among the cast, as Haji (playing a Cajun whose trip with a scuzzy husband turns into death) makes for quite a tremendous presence, one who vexes the screen with dazzling energy. Rocco is fine in the general hero of vengeance type designed to fill time in one-note moments that doesn’t waste all of one’s time. The biker gang (three of them, which is the minimum to even have a gang) do okay, with Oliver becoming more interesting when the deranged elements come through (i.e. going from hip lingo to fantasizing about being back in the jungle), with the radio-in-ear Scott being a close second. Older film lovers may notice Coleman Francis in a scuzzy role, which is amusing to consider when this might be the best film he ever appeared in where he is on screen (for longer than a couple of seconds) or behind the camera. As a whole, one would best consider this a decent companion piece to Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!, both having their own methods of going through the road of sleaze and violence that can be the difference between one being a cult classic and the other just being a decent little flick to find in the margins for those who like what they saw from the mind (and eyes) of Russ Meyer.

Overall, I give it 7 out of 10 stars.

Red Zone Cuba.

Review #876: Red Zone Cuba.

Cast:
Coleman Francis (Griffin / Narrator), Anthony Cardoza (Landis / Fidel Castro), Harold Saunders (Cook), John Carradine (Mr. Wilson), John Morrison (Joe), George Prince (Cherokee Jack), Tom Hanson (Bailey Chastain), Lanell Cado (Ruby Chastain), and Charles F. Harter (Cliff Weismeyer) Directed by Coleman Francis (#744 - The Beast of Yucca Flats and #767 - The Skydivers)

Review:
It has been 50 years since Red Zone Cuba (made on a estimated budget of $30,000; also known as Night Train to Mundo Fine) was released (even though there really isn't a source that gives a definitive date, I'm doing it on this day as a "Turkey" gift to you at home for Thanksgiving Eve). This was the third and last film that Coleman Francis directed. It took me a while to recover from his last two films, but here we are nearly a year later. Oh boy, this film. Remember how Madea seemed like the breaking point for this show? Here's one that will shatter those thoughts and assemble them into jagged edges. It only makes sense that Francis also had to star in this film, because I guess no one could play a wretched lead other than him (if he had wanted to star in another film, he should've played the part of a talented director). The movie might good at one thing, which is the fact that it might poke a hole in the idea that a movie can be be so bad it's good. Believe it or not, this movie isn't very good, nor is it shot in Cuba (shocking, I know). There is some sort of plot within this, with a trio of main characters that are about as appealing as melted cauliflower. Francis is at least consistent with the sound quality once again, in that it is questionable at certain points. Carradine (in a guest starring role) appears briefly in the movie, even singing the title song "Night Train to Mundo Fine", which could be the perfect song to play right before a movie as strange as this. On second thought, strange is somehow too nice of a word to describe this film as. The fact that he is used as a framing device to set up the plot (that he has no connection to) is almost as ridiculous as the song.

There must really be some sort of thought process to make a movie that goes from "escaped convict" to "Bay of Pigs" to "mining metals". Oh sure, there's acting, in the sense that I'm enacting a decision to waste time on a movie that has a guy with a Brooklyn accent playing a character obviously meant to be someone else. Here's a highlight: Francis' character stating how he wants to go legit, and 20 seconds later he attacks Cardoza's character for not giving him a ring. Even something like a character who was left for dead suddenly reappearing at the end isn't the most ridiculous aspect of a movie that thinks parts of California can pass off as Cuba (another gripe: Black title letters on a dark greyish background). You might be wondering why I even decided to review the film on its 50th Anniversary. On top of the fact that I like honoring film anniversaries (and certain birthdays), I figured that it was time to finally finish the last of the Francis films and fully give an assessment on his "trilogy", which goes as follows: They are all terrible, with scattershot plots and more scattershot acting than you can shake a stick at. You could watch his films...or watch the MST3K versions. Even giving this film a 0 doesn't do this film justice: Watch at your own risk.

In any case, I wish a Happy Thanksgiving to all of you readers at home. Enjoy tomorrow, but also if you're having a "Friendsgiving" today. Look it up.

Overall, I give it 0 out of 10 stars.

The Skydivers.

Review #767: The Skydivers.

Cast
Kevin Casey (Beth Rowe), Eric Tomlin (Joe Moss), Anthony Cardoza (Harry Rowe), Marcia Knight (Suzy Belmont), Bob Carrano (Bob), Michael Rae (Red), Jerry Mann (Bernie), Keith Walton (Jim the Photographer), Paul Francis (Pete), Titus Moede (Frankie Bonner), and Harold Saunders (Mr. Morgan) Directed by Coleman Francis (#744 - The Beast of Yucca Flats)

Review
It make sense the movie (also known as Fiend from Half Moon Bay and Panic at Half Moon Bay) is in black and white - it correlates with the lack of life in the movie. On the one hand, it could be argued it is less terrible than Beast of Yucca Flats...but that doesn't make it a film even remotely worth watching. Part of the problem is the lack of enthusiasm in the cast. You'll find more excitement in playing with an old View-Master. The skydiving scenes make me wonder how actual skydiving is, because it can't be as meaningless-looking as this film makes it seem to be. Nothing about this movie looks appealing because nothing in this movie looks like a movie that should even be made. One "positive" thing about the movie is that at least there is no narration to explain the plot. Of course the hokey soap-opera type plot nearly sucks out any "positive" result (by the way, was putting acid on a parachute a thing back in the day?). The movie lasts about 75 minutes, but I can't recommend the movie even with a length like that because there are quite literally dozens of films that last shorter and are better than this. Naturally, this was a film covered by MST3K, and I imagine that version is better than the actual film. The Skydivers manages to be "better" than The Beast of Yucca Flats by about an inch, but neither are particularly watchable. You can do better things with your time, like fiddling with your phone, doing household chores, reading past Movie Night reviews (wink wink), or learning how to actually skydive.

Notes: Apologies on forgetting to list the director on last night's review of "The Toll of the Sea", whose name was Charles M. Franklin.

Also, I got my final grades for my first semester of college. All A's.
I'll review Red Zone Cuba in 2016, BTW.
Overall, I give it 1 out of 10 stars.

The Beast of Yucca Flats.

Review #744: The Beast of Yucca Flats.

Cast
Tor Johnson (Joseph Javorsky/The Beast), Bing Stafford (Jim Archer), Larry Aten (Joe Dobson), Douglas Mellor (Hank Radcliffe), Barbara Francis (Lois Radcliffe), Ronald Francis (Randy Radcliffe), Alan Francis (Art Radcliffe), Jim Oliphant (Vacationing Husband), Linda Bielema (Vacationing Wife), and Anthony Cardoza (KGB Driver/Helpful Neighbor) Directed by Coleman Francis.

Review
Usually an independent movie has some resemblance of talent, resemblance of effort that makes you appreciate even the flaws (Like Teenagers from Outer Space), or even just something that makes the movie a non waste of time. This isn't one of them. Talking about the opening scene could be stretched into a minor section of this review, mainly because it is such a waste of a scene...and it's the first scene you see in the movie. It has little to no relevance to the rest of the movie, so why bother even mentioning it? I should note that Tor Johnson (previously seen in Plan 9 from Outer Space (#183)  from 1959 and Bride of the Monster (#537) from 1955) is credited as a "Guest Star", which is a weird way to credit someone, but then again that is the least strange thing to talk about. One concept that I'm sure one will notice early on is the narrator that talks about plot details, voiced by who else but the director, Coleman Francis. After noticing that he speaks, you'll watch a scene...and he talks. You'll watch more scenes...he'll talk not long after. It's one thing to have a narrator, but to have one that leaks plot details along with random splotches (examples: Flag on the moon. How did it get there? A man runs...someone shoots at him. Always on the prowl. Looking for something or somebody to kill. Quench the killer's thirst) of other phrases makes it seem like I'm listening to a radio drama.

It should be mentioned that the movie does not have much dialogue spoken...which is attributed due to the fact the movie was filmed with no audio, which means that any time a character speaks, their mouth is usually covered or they are filmed so we can't see their mouth, so that they did not have to sync the audio to their mouth movements. Yucca Flat has actually been described as "the most irradiated, nuclear-blasted spot on the face of the earth", so at least the setting of the movie is not something entirely illogical. Honestly, the movie is just so boring to watch. There is little to no tension mainly because you don't really see Johnson's character all too much, combined with the tremendously boring characters who sound less like actors and more like people just being in a film. It's sad when the only thing that you can say is good is that it only runs 54 minutes. It's not a hard movie to make fun of...but it's not really worth the effort to make fun of it. You could watch the MST3K version...or not watch the movie at all. There is no charm to this movie, no ounce of sympathy you could garner for this movie, because it is as disposable and wasting on one's time more than it is taking out the garbage. Fittingly, it ends with a jackrabbit being caressed by the Beast, possibly a representation of how one needs to pet an animal after watching this movie. I am well aware of the other two films Francis made...I think I'll need a while before I ever touch those two "films", but at least the next movie I watch can't be any worse. It has to be better. This is a real rival for worst film I've experienced on this show right next to other zeros like Birdemic, The Magic Voyage, and Battlefield Earth. Seriously.

Countdown to 750 Reviews: 10, 9, 8, 7, 6...

Overall, I give it 0 out of 10 stars.