Frankenhooker (1990) [Blu-Ray]

Posted on April 22, 2012 by Felix Vasquez

I liken “Frankenhooker” very much to the classic “Re-Animator.” That is if “Re-Animator” were conceived by a mentally deranged chimpanzee. Even as a dark horror comedy “Frankenhooker” is a film that has to be taken with a grain of salt. It’s so monumentally moronic and ridiculous that I couldn’t believe what I was seeing most of the time. Of course going in to a film named “Frankenhooker” you’re not going to get high art, but Frank Henenlotter takes viewer expectations and drags it in to the mud with a shit eating grin. “Frankenhooker” is yet another take on “Frankenstein” with a bit of a Lovecraft twist that really is never as creative as it thinks it is.

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The Cheerleaders (1973)

Posted on June 4, 2011 by Felix Vasquez

I remember watching “The Cheerleaders” on skinemax back in the mid-nineties when they were never afraid to expose audiences to the delights of the grindhouse sub-culture. “The Cheerleaders” is one of my favorite bits of grindhouse fare ever made, a bonafide entry in the rare cheersploitation sub-sub genre that explores the lives of a group of jail bait teenagers who partake in lustful delights as a form of sexual expression. Particularly there’s jail bait Stephanie Fondue who is the Lolita of the group, indulging in group activities when the occasion calls for it. “The Cheerleaders” actually has a hilarious and clever premise to it, and one that will stretch in to two more movies.

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Drive-In Cult Classics: 32 Movie Collection (DVD)

Posted on June 2, 2011 by Felix Vasquez

Are we really going to review thirty two movies in one review? Well yes and no. For years I’ve always found the boxed sets from discount chains like Mill Creek to be something of a peculiarity. Sometimes they can be really cheap starter kits for prospective movie buyers. You can find them at discount stores or garage sales and for anyone looking for an untouched two dollar version of “Night of the Living Dead,” they can surely find something of use for a set.

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The PC Thug: Grinding Better Than the Pros

Posted on March 28, 2011 by Felix Vasquez

For a long time I’ve boasted that if you want to see what’s happening in the neo-grindhouse movement, the best thing you can do is go look for the independent filmmakers and see what they’re up to. Because whether it’s “The Hood Has Eyez,” or “Foxxy Madonna vs. The Black Death,” the odds are it’s better than the entirety of “Grindhouse.” Don’t get me wrong I enjoyed “Grindhouse,” I did. I thought it had a lot of creativity to it but felt more like a throwback than an attempt to mimic the actual grindhouse motif. Because even the most ardent grindhouse fans will tell you that the best grindhouse films have a lot going for them: One is that they’re usually comprised of zero budgets, and two, they’re often tedious. “Thriller: A Cruel Picture” is one of my favorite cult films of all time, but mid-way it lags with gratuitous sex scenes with Christina Lindberg, and her ultimate plot for revenge.

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Secrets of Sex (1970) (DVD)

Posted on March 1, 2011 by Felix Vasquez

You either know it as the title “Secrets of Sex” or the more aptly titled “Bizarre,” as director Antony Balch’s sexploitation horror anthology is clearly a film that lives up to such a title. Synapse re-releases this seventies gem in the guise of a sexploitation movie, but don’t be fooled. It is very much a horror film of the truest nature that’s reliant on the appeal of sexuality to lower the audiences guards. “Secrets of Sex” is such an unusually surreal piece of genre work that uses sex and the awakening of our sexual natures as a tool for incomparable horror. And through that it tells various stories through the mouth of an inexplicably placed mummified corpse that has seen the battle of the sexes waged for too long.

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The Sinister Eyes Of Dr. Orloff (Los ojos siniestros del doctor Orloff) (1973)

Posted on January 28, 2011 by Felix Vasquez

Normally I’m a big fan of Jesus Franco’s work as they often border on the delightfully sadoerotic where reality and fantasy are often blurred and dissolve in to bouts of acid like dreams and flashbacks. “The Sinister Eyes of Dr. Orloff” is sadly one of the bigger bores from the Franco library and one that feels like a thirty minute premise stretched in to almost ninety minutes. Factor that in with a goofy villain relaying a hopelessly convoluted devious plot, and you have what is essentially just a glorified Spanish novella that is a take on Svengali.

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I Spit On Your Grave: Unrated (2010)

Posted on January 20, 2011 by Felix Vasquez

Was this remake entirely necessary? Actually no. Especially when you consider Meir Zarchi’s 1978 revenge film continues to be a widely revered, and critically reviled piece of volatile grindhouse cinema that not only set the stages for future revenge films, but was already remade subsequent its theatrical release where we saw no end of women on a rampage revenge films in the late seventies in to the eighties. “I Spit on Your Grave” is still one of the most heavily discussed and angrily debated cult masterpieces to this day inspiring hatred and praise from many film buffs and to this day inspires pure vitriol from iconic film critic Roger Ebert who despises Zarchi’s film so passionately, he banishes anyone who enjoyed it.

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