Survival Quest

Survival Quest (1989)

Runtime: 89 minutes

Directed by: Don Coscarelli 

Starring: Lance Henriksen, Mark Rolston, Steve Antin, Dermot Mulroney, Catherine Keener

From: Starway International Inc.

RIP Reggie Bannister

Last night on Twitter I saw the news that the actor had passed away. He received hospice care at his home for almost a year and a half (!) and managed to hang on for this long. I’ve seen the first three Phantasm films and the fourth one is suddenly impossible to find online (at least legally) so instead I went with another Don Coscarelli joint, a survival film in the woods. Bannister’s role-a pilot-is small and only appears in the beginning then the end but I still wanted to inform people of his passing. I viewed this on YouTube; it’s a shame that AFAIK Survival Quest never made it to the HD era.

There are two pairs of survivalists out in the California woods. One is a group of teen boys led by a tyrannical leader who resembles ECW/WWE wrestler The Sandman but of course is the dude who played Drake in Aliens; it’s run like a paramilitary group full of brutal challenges. The other is much more laid-back-the titular Survival Quest-led by another Aliens alum, Lance Henriksen. The latter features such challenges as scaling a wall, climbing a rope wall, swinging on a rope, rock-climbing, hiking in the lovely woods, and other activities done together as a team. This includes a person on release from prison-Dermot Mulroney!-a bride-to-be, a gap-toothed Catherine Keener, & an elderly man. Naturally, the militaristic folks start trouble with Survival Quest. This was how Mulroney and Keener first met; they were married for years.

The movie doesn’t have too many surprises. Of course, “the convict” is standoffish at first but becomes more vocal and starts working w/ everyone else, there’s other conflicts between them, someone who struggles at first notably improves, worms are eaten… OK, that last bit wasn’t expected but it sure made me chuckle. Plenty of time is spent getting to know everyone as they deal with various challenges before the enemies go after them. The challenges the heroes went through even before they’re targeted are legit as they go through an ordeal climbing a mountain, for example. In the final act there’s no lack of thrills with the various stunts that occur or them otherwise trying to cheat death.

Survival Quest isn’t a must see, not the best survival thriller you’ll ever check out by any means. That said, hopefully one day a label like Vinegar Syndrome can restore the movie & give it the proper HD or even UHD treatment. There’s also some familiar B-movie faces-Brooke Bundy, Traci Lind-in roles big or small. As for Bannister, it’s a shame he passed away due to complications of both Lewy body dementia & Parkinson’s. I’ve heard he was a great dude at conventions so those illnesses are just awful. The Phantasm movies are quite weird & not for all tastes; however, it’s great that a dude like him who (to be frank) didn’t look like a movie star became beloved for starring in an idiosyncratic horror franchise as an ice cream vendor turned badass.

The Immigrant

This is a highly-regarded 1917 Charlie Chaplin silent short: 

Due to circumstances beyond my control, much of my time since yesterday afternoon had been taking up by other activities. At least I was able to check out a famous (and popular, at least in terms of the number who have watched it on Letterboxd) Chaplin short. Indeed, The Tramp is immigrating to the United States from Europe & saw the Statue of Liberty as the ship docked at Ellis Island in New York Harbor.

Even while attempting to fulfill The American Dream and the poignancy of seeing the Statue of Liberty at the end of the journey, Tramp of course found himself engaging in nonstop mischief on the ship that constantly rocked back & forth. Some of the trouble he stumbled into wasn’t even his fault. Meanwhile, he takes a shine to frequent co-star Edna Purviance; as the Tramp character was kind-hearted by this point, he performed a magnanimous gesture for them.

Even upon arriving in New York City, Tramp was a victim of circumstance & experiences trouble in a restaurant when a coin he found unwittingly fell out of his pocket. It’s a joint which literally beats you up if you’re short about 2 ½ dollars-adjusted for inflation.

As I expected, there’s the puns involving the intertitles, slapstick goodness, and absurd scenarios. There’s even a sad moment, which was unexpected in a Tramp short subject comedy but resulted in a rather sweet ending. The Immigrant has heart and that coinciding with this laughs made this worthwhile.

Losin' It

Losin' It (1982)

Runtime: 100 minutes

Directed by: Curtis Hanson (!)

Starring: Tom Cruise (!!), Jackie Earle Haley, John Stockwell, Shelley Long, John P. Navin, Jr.

From: Embassy

Here is an oddity. Somehow, Losin’ It is only a film only discovered by me recently. The director is Curtis Hanson (!), the star is Tom Cruise (!! This was his first leading role) and was shot by Gilbert Taylor (!!!! He was the cinematographer for the likes of Repulsion, Dr. Strangelove, and… STAR WARS, no lie) so I was genuinely curious about them what sounded like a sex comedy w/ 4 Southern California teens driving down to Tijuana in 1965 for a night of debauchery.

Yes there are boobs, a DONKEY SHOW (which isn’t shown on camera) and Jackie Earle Haley stuffs a rolled-up sock down the front of his white briefs but the movie is mild in comparison to something like Porky’s or Revenge of the Nerds. Cruise, Haley, and John Stockwell are high schoolers either 17 or 18 who head on down to the Mexican border town of Tijuana-just south of San Diego-for the type of sex-filled night most teenagers dream of. Because of circumstances, a 14-year-old named Wendell is also along—don’t worry, he isn’t part of the sexcapades and is only present to acquire fireworks as he’s a pure capitalist! Oh, and SHELLEY LONG is also along for part of this journey. Via more circumstances, she’s in their car to get a quickie divorce after she and her husband “had a row.”

Apparently any American should be wary of visiting Tijuana now; I understand the crime rates are extremely high and the Mexican cartels are heavily nested there. Back in ’65, though… some residents are happy to take advantage of dumb gringos; the characters portrayed by Haley and Stockwell are the jerks of the film so they are punished for their actions. Those concerned about moments that are horrifying by 2026 standards-Haley does slip what he believes is Spanish Fly in a woman’s drink. Spanish Fly is alleged to, ahem, “increase sexual desire” so YIKES at this version of dropping a roofie in a woman's drink. However, don’t worry, the movie is accurate in stating that Spanish Fly is an old wives’ tale and doesn’t work. In fact, he is punished for the gross action he attempted against an innocent woman.

Losin’ It is not overly vulgar nor does it have aspirations like a Fast Times at Ridgemont High. Be that as it may, the movie was still fine in my eyes. At least Wendell and Cruise’s character (WOODY) had a nice relationship resulting in his maturation. There are still wacky moments and OOT characters that are the foils for our leads. I understand why people wouldn’t like Losin’ It. Vulgar comedies aren’t for everyone, yet this is mild compared to a Revenge of the Nerds. At the same time, while I haven’t checked out Risky Business (yet), by repute that is a clearly better motion picture concerning a young Tom Cruise coming-of-age.

At the same time, even if many would likely grumble upon viewing this only to complete their own journey through the filmography of Cruise or Hanson… somehow I still liked this silly motion picture. If you’re brave or completing a filmography, don’t see the version Shout uploaded to YouTube. I skimmed through it only after watching it on Prime… boobs are blurred and among the laughs I had throughout, the biggest came from a literal piano player in a whorehouse. He created incredibly uncouth song lyrics for the crowd, none of which I can repeat here but were somewhat censored in the YouTube video. What a job to aspire to… entertain patrons downstairs in a Tijuana bar by singing crass songs while prostitution occurs upstairs and topless women are hanging out w/ you while you play!

Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight

Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight (1995)

Runtime: 92 minutes

Directed by: Ernest R. Dickerson

Starring: William Sadler, Jada Pinkett, Billy Zane, C.C.H. Pounder, Dick Miller

From: Universal

I am subscribed to Shudder again, and unlike last time, I wanted to see this film before it leaves the platform. Several years ago, Shudder had this and Bordello of Blood, but it was for only a month. You typically have to try and find what’s leaving Shudder elsewhere; it’s typically on Reddit, of all places. Before anyone asks, both this and Bordello are leaving August 31; the latter will be viewed later this month.

Demon Knight is a blast. William Sadler (who starred in the first Tales from the Crypt episode on TV; he also had the all-timer name FRANK BRAYKER for this motion picture) is chased by Billy Zane; the latter is in fact a demon looking for a specific item that has end-of-the-world consequences. After a fiery car crash, both are in a remote New Mexico town, at a church converted to a boarding house. Those two leads are awesome-Zane successfully blended menace, seduction, and humor-as were the supporting characters. This included Jada Pinkett (to use her name at the time), Dick Miller in a large supporting role (yay!), C.C.H. Pounder, Brenda Bakke, Charles Fleischer, and in what is now my favorite Thomas Haden Church role… his leather pants-adorned ROACH.

The film has funny moments that land, badass moments, practical effects, creatures, creative lore, graphic gore… this take won’t be popular yet ‘tis true that horror like Demon Knight is quite a bit preferable to much of the “popular” modern horror in the past 15 or so years. The film is never lit poorly despite the nighttime setting that’s the vast majority of the runtime-the pace never lags, and there’s even a nice score/soundtrack. The picture opens with a car chase set to Filter’s Hey Man Nice Shot; now that brought me back.

I never saw too many episodes of the 90’s HBO show Tales from the Crypt-as it’s on Shudder, perhaps I’ll check out some episodes without mentioning it on Letterboxd. The show adapted various stories from 50’s EC Comics, and not just from the Tales comic but other horror comics the company released. Demon Knight is a wholly original story but matched the series for including some laughs that coincided w/ the scares. The inclusion of wicked characters is also a trademark, regardless if there’s a supernatural presence.

It's a shame that Ernest R. Dickerson did not have more commercial success & did not direct more high-profile pictures. Still, at least among nerds like us, we can appreciate the Black cinematographer (for the likes of Spike Lee) turned director; both Demon Knight and Surviving the Game are greatly entertaining genre pictures.

 

Delirium

Delirium (1979)

Runtime: 88 minutes

Directed by: Peter Maris

Starring: Turk Cekovsky, Debi Chaney, Terry Tenbroek, Bob Winters, Barron Winchester 

From: Delirium Associates/Worldwide Productions

How ironic for the plot of this film that a key supporting actor resembles Matt Gaetz*! I hate to bring up American politics as this can lead to trouble but that’s the crux of the plot to Delirium. I looked at the Eternal Family platform to see what they were playing on one of their 24/7 streaming channels. This had just begun. As the movie’s also available on Arrow’s platform, I went there to see it in full.

This regional filmmaking oddity (Missouri, in this case) concerns a Vietnam vet named Charlie that starts killing women, as two horndog police detectives-who like calling women “broads”-investigate. As the plot descriptions everywhere let the cat out of the bag, I’ll do the same. Charlie was hired by a secret organization which involves businessmen who wish to “clean up the streets” so ex-soldiers are tasked with targeting criminals that the legal system didn’t convict. At least such things couldn’t happen in real life… unfortunately for those vigilantes, Charlie has PTSD from ‘Nam and escaped from a mental health facility.

Yeah, this is low-budget to the max (there are ‘Nam flashbacks, where “Vietnam” is obviously the woods of Missouri, the acting is as uneven as you’d expect) yet how unique the plot was still intrigued. This mix of police procedural-styled after a 70’s cop TV show, to borrow a phrase-proto-slasher, and conspiracy thriller leans on the police procedural yet I eventually warmed up to those detectives—their behavior was just emblematic of the era. If it sounds like an uncompleted film was grafted onto a completely different new film… allegedly this was exactly the case.

The film went in some unexpected directions & always fascinated me, from the opening set at night with the city lights in the background, to the squibs, to the two cars exploding, to an astounding 1970’s flowery couch. There’s also the sleazy elements for some… topless women and a bit of gore. This landing on the infamous Video Nasty list is a little baffling as none of the gore was that gruesome.

A motion picture like Delirium will be more to my tastes than it will for many on Letterboxd. At least some will think of it no better than cheap, boring nonsense. Thankfully, this curio worked for me.

* For those not from the United States, Gaetz is a former member of Congress who resigned in disgrace due to allegations of heinous behavior made against him. He wasn’t convicted in a court of law but the Ethics Committee for Congress found evidence of this. Gaetz now has a radio show on a far-right platform.

Apache Drums

Apache Drums (1951)

Runtime: 75 minutes

Directed by: Hugo Fregonese

Starring: Stephen McNally, Coleen Gray, Willard Parker, Arthur Shields, James Griffith

From: Universal

A Western that (possibly) inspired Assault on Precinct 13 which isn’t Rio Bravo… sign me up!

Recently, a Letterboxd mutual reviewed this film and made this comparison. This was enough motivation to check out a film new to me in a genre I only dabble in occasionally. Stephen McNally is Sam, a gambler who is booted out of Spanish Boot due to his shooting of a man… even if it was in self-defense. The people of the town-some of whom are Welsh miners, believe it or not-are pious jerks who want to “clean up” even though many of them come off as irritating. The other “undesirables” include prostitutes and a Black servant. If it wasn’t for his love of Coleen Gray, I wouldn’t have blamed Sam if he thought, “The hell with Spanish Boot!” When even the town’s mayor despises you… as Gray’s Sally does live in the remote town, he returns to warn that the Apache are in the area.

Many people likely know by now that Assault was in essence a version of Rio Bravo. It’s unknown if Carpenter has ever commented on Apache Drums but the final half hour is straight fire. The Apache (none of whom were portrayed by Native Americans, as it’s still the 50’s. Instead, they were played by lifeguards from Santa Monica, no lie) do attack Spanish Boot, and the survivors are holed up in an adobe church with windows high up on the walls, making it much easier for the Apache to jump in than the townspeople to see this threat beforehand.

This was a Val Lewton production… his last before passing away due to ill health at the age of only 46. Befitting of a film produced by the horror maestro, he final act has its share of suspenseful, atmospheric moments. Often, the titular drums pounded different rhythms in the background, reminding the viewer of the unseen yet ever-present threat. The final act elevated the film and rose above its B-movie origins. There’s also fine action beats and a few memorable supporting characters, especially the Welsh reverend portrayed by Arthur Shields. Like with George Sanders and Tom Conway, I was wondering why Shields and Barry Fitzgerald seemed so similar. A “duh” on my part… like w/ Sanders & Conway, Shields & Fitzgerald were brothers.

Regardless if this film inspired a 70’s B-movie classic, Apache Drums was an enjoyable Western. As mentioned by me before, the Western milieu can be used to incorporate many different genres & ideas. This includes variations of “a long intense attempted siege.” As has been for almost a full year as of now, a pristine print can be found on YouTube; the Technicolor and the cinematography makes it look grand.

Looker

Looker (1981)

Runtime: 94 minutes

Directed by: Michael Crichton

Starring: Albert Finney, Susan Dey, James Coburn, Leigh Taylor-Young, Tim Rossovich

From: The Ladd Company

Featuring the 1981 versions of deepfakes, AI, CGI, LOOKSMAXXING, algorithms, and THE DISCOMBOBULATOR

Looker and its basic plot-Albert Finney as a Beverly Hills plastic surgeon becomes involved in a case where he attempts to protect Susan Dey as several models who appear in TV commercials who came to his office to have microscopic changes done to their bodies end up dead & she’s next on the list-has been known to me for years yet it was just last night that the motivation hit to press “play.”

Indeed, Finney attempts to protect Dey as he discovers a scenario straight out of a 70’s paranoid conspiracy thriller. Not to reveal too much but the film says plenty about advertising, television, beauty, and what were still prevalent fears over computers and how their computing powers could go horribly awry. A quibble or two could be made—even then I had a pretty good time with Looker.

An unfortunate aspect is that with its messages, re: advertising, technology, AI and CGI, Looker unfortunately hasn’t lost the relevancy in its themes. The scenario concocted by the villains (Digital Matrix, Inc.) could happen today… if it hasn’t already. I’ll take off my tinfoil hat and note that while there sadly was studio interference-the end product wasn’t always coherent… James Coburn as lead villain in particular wasn’t happy with how many of his scenes were cut-& the movie flopped, I was entranced nonetheless.

I never thought the word “looksmaxxing” would be uttered by me on Letterboxd-that does describe the ghastly trend of some Gen-Z influencer D-bags talking about women in a quantitative sense. There’s an interesting weapon used often which allows for creative action setpieces. It’s not quite the “discombobulator” uttered by <redacted> in terms of the capture of Maduro in Venezuela but is still a fascinating idea for a futuristic weapon in a fictional world. I also enjoyed the cast, including Tim Rossovich as a henchman w/ a tremendous moustache. No lie, he was credited as MOUSTACHE MAN.

Looker isn’t the best work from Crichton especially after the studio interference. However, as someone who noted how the ideas of the future sometimes came true-even if how they came true wasn’t accurate-and can appreciate interesting synth scores/city backdrop sets that are seen outside of windows… conceivably I was destined to enjoy Looker.