Once upon a time, when Hollywood still had a smattering of original ideas bouncing around its empty little head, there was something called THE ABC MOVIE OF THE WEEK. If you don’t know what that is, probably because you’re under the age of sixty, it was this loose anthology series comprised of Made-for-TV movies that ran from 1969 to 1975 on the ABC network. It wasn’t always thrillers and horror and sci-fi flicks, but it was often thrillers and horror and sci-fi flicks. Often enough where you could say that these movies had a loose spiritual connection to The Twilight Zone or Night Gallery. Probably the most famous film that came out of it was Duel, starring Dennis Weaver and directed by Steven Spielberg. That one, which I’m sure you’ve heard of, is an excellent tightly woven thriller and a masterclass in how to build tension. It’s in my top five favourite Spielberg films actually. So of course I won’t be reviewing that one. Instead, I’ll be reviewing KILLDOZER!
Author Archives: Jeremy Knox
BAD MOVIE MONDAY: CRUEL JAWS (1995)
On today’s BAD MOVIE MONDAY review we’re going to tackle another Bruno Mattei joint. This time a Jaws rip-off called, appropriately enough, Cruel Jaws. Don’t worry though because it’s also known as Jaws 5 in some markets. Mattei didn’t get all soft on us in the 90s. He was still trying to sucker people into watching his fake sequels right up until the grunge era.
BAD MOVIE MONDAY: SHOCKING DARK (1989)
With the whole world of art on the very brink of an Armageddon caused by the glorified plagiarism software that is A.I. I thought I’d lighten the mood a bit and write a review of a thirty-five year old Italian exploitation movie that didn’t need a complicated algorithm to plagiarize a James Cameron movie. It did it manually. Tubi calls it Shocking Dark, which is also the name of the film’s 2018 North American Blu-ray release, but its official and original title in Italy was Terminator II. It was called that because, in typical confusing Italian movie fashion, it was ripping off Aliens. I guess the producers were trying to pull the old switcheroo on us by pretending to have made a crappy pseudo-sequel to one James Cameron film so we wouldn’t notice that they were actually stealing from a completely different James Cameron film. Didn’t work. Anyway, let’s review this particularly nutty turd directed by the legendary Bruno Mattei.
Bad Movie Monday: Bikini Med School (1994)
Remember that scene in Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure when Pee-Wee hitches a ride with this sinister lady trucker called Large Marge, who then proceeds to tell him at great length about a terrible car crash that she witnessed? Remember how she ends her story by scaring the bejeezus out of the audience with the greatest claymation jump scare of all time and then going “Yes Sir, that was the worst accident I ever seen.” before dropping Pee-Wee off at his destination? Well, after watching BIKINI MED SCHOOL, I kind of feel like that lady. So, grab your bindle and sit in the passenger seat, because it was on a night just like tonight that I saw the worst movie I ever seen…
Bad Movie Monday: THE MCPHERSON TAPE (1989)
Most found footage films are pretty review-proof. Seriously, how could anyone dare criticize a movie like The McPherson Tape? It is the perfect example of a no-budget film made by people working with what they had and trying to make something interesting. Criticism in cases like this feels like a venial sin, worthy of the pillory. So obviously I am totally going to review it, but by now I like to consider myself an expert at this sort of thing. Don’t try this at home kids.
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Bad Movie Monday: Splatter Farm (1986)
I’ve never really delved into the mad world of the Polonia Brothers before and I think it’s about time I gave their work a gander. The twin brothers gained fame and notoriety all the way back in 1996 when Blockbuster bought the distribution rights to their film Feeders and it became one of the video chain’s most rented indie title that year. Now, before I go on, I have to admit that I’ve tried to watch Feeders several times but I could never really get into it. It just felt really slow and meandering. Perhaps I wasn’t in the right mood. I don’t know. I will watch it one day, I promise. For now, I’m going to review one of their earlier movies SPLATTER FARM.
Bad Movie Monday: Dreamland (2019)
Since this is a review of the Canadian movie Dreamland (Not to be confused with the Margo Robbie starring movie of the same name that came out the same year) let me start by telling you a story about another movie that was also directed by Bruce McDonald and written by Tony Burgess. Pontypool. I kind of ignored Pontypool when it came out, only watching it on streaming much later, after which it suddenly became one of my favourite horror movies of all time. It certainly taught me never to rely on my initial gut reaction that’s for sure, but then again my gut was never too trustworthy in the first place. You’re talking to a guy that loudly and obnoxiously proclaimed that the Suspiria remake would be sure to suck “Especially with that Fifty Shades of Grey chick as Suzy Bannion!” Eeesh… am still wiping the egg off my face for that one. Shame unto me. Many apologies to Dakota Johnson. I should have had more faith. Anyway, Pontypool is a masterclass in simplicity. One location, four actors, and a lead with such a deep and smooth and sonorous voice that it nearly crackles with electricity when he speaks. It was perfection. Then, eleven years later the sorta-sequel Dreamland appeared out of nowhere while the world was hip deep in the COVID epidemic. So it got a less than stellar box office and the critics savaged it. Let’s see if I can’t undo some of that damage.