The Boondock Saints (1999)

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Watching “The Boondock Saints” is something of an experience, and one that I’m actively working on forgetting as soon as humanly possible. Director Troy Duffy’s action trashapalooza is much too mind-numblingly moronic to be taken as an earnest effort for indie action cinema, and much too stern to be considered camp garbage. You can clearly sense director and writer Troy Duffy working actively to portray every single character in this film as something to be taken with a straight face and a shiver, but in the end none of it works out for the better.

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Kitten with a Whip (1964)

kitten_with_a_whip_poster_0I am admittedly ignorant to the praise and mocking this 1964 ditty has received over the decades. From a treatment on MST3K in America, to a cult following, “Kitten with a Whip” is that rare piece of cinema fodder that is a completely obvious chunk of sixties conservative propaganda demonizing the youth, free spirits, and sexuality altogether. Setting aside the context, “Kitten with a Whip” is a dumb movie. It’s sometimes very ridiculous to the point where this can just be deemed as a fantasy or a cartoon of a sorts. The vivacious Ann Margret coming off of “Viva Las Vegas” slums it and mugs it for the camera in this cliché youth gone wild quasi-thriller that is something of a fractured romance beneath the hilarious camp and utterly absurd dialogue.

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Turkish Superman/Supermen Donuyor (1979)

I make no allusions about my passion for Superman. I love the character, I’ve followed him since I was five, and I’ve seen everything I could get my hands on involving him. I even brag to people about it and gladly welcome their mocking. Most recently I was able to grab a copy of “Turkish Superman” a cult classic that has managed to remain an underground joke among movie collectors for decades since its release. A cinematic embarrassment up and down, it’s tough to really hate this when you consider all the quirks behind the production.

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American Pop (1981)

Ralph Bakshi’s “American Pop” is not so much about a story as it is about music and the power it holds. As trite as it is to say, Music is the soundtrack of our lives, and as such has a power over us to help us cope, help us think, and is the key to our memories and fates. “American Pop” is not so much the story of many men through history originating from a faithful Jewish man who refused to vacate his temple during the raiding of Russian Czars one day, it’s more the evolution of music and how the people in and around the transformation are but a mere microcosm. From a Canter to a Vaudevillian, to a piano player, “American Pop” may be the exploration of music but Bakshi also manages to convey how it’s served as a source of love and emotion for a long line of men craving some sort of love and affection in their lives.

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All the Boys Love Mandy Lane (2006)

I loved “Mandy Lane,” I can’t deny it. It’s damn good, probably one of the best slashers in the last ten years. A masterpiece? Nah, not really. But what it is is a strong and surprising slasher film with characters that are actually engaging to watch. All the while it sets us up for some of the most vicious kills I’ve seen since “Sleepaway Camp.” Humorously enough, “Mandy Lane” is exactly what I was reminded of while watching, because both films feel like two completely different genre fueled narratives.

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Two Thousand Maniacs! (1964)

When “Two Thousand Maniacs!” arrived into the cult kingdom of the horror geek, Herschell Gordon Lewis’s horror comedy was an all out assault to Southern xenophobia and fanaticism, as well as a look at the vengeful spirit the South possessed if society continued to evolve from an Aryan aristocracy, to a melting pot of multi-racial ethics and politics. I mean, I’m sure there’s a vengeful spirit for almost anything, including pure evil, and Lewis’s horror comedy is a stripped down, low budget over the top horror film about the vicious unforgiving ghosts of the South who wreak havoc on outsiders that have evolved in the new world, punishing them for their decadence, sexuality, and freedom.

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Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead (2006)

Arbie: I’ll believe in the supernatural when I see it, talking sandwich.

So I sat down at my chair, popped in the movie and sat prepared to watch another shit fest from Troma. I’m somewhat of an anti-Troma pusher, so I was not looking forward to this. And my eventual reactions were a varying degree of disgust, horror, disbelief, and amusement. I laughed. And I laughed a lot. I’d even go so far to say that “Poultrygeist” is quite excellent. It’s something of a demented twist that it took Native American chicken zombies to finally get me to like a Troma movie, and trust me I had no intention of enjoying “Poultrygeist,” so much. But from the ridiculous opening to the horribly catchy musical numbers, Lloyd Kaufman has created a very memorable bit of horror comedy that may just lure more anti-Troma individuals like me.

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