*contains spoilers Box office megaflop Honky Tonk Freeway (1981) was unleashed at the beginning of a period of conservative Reagan-ism and the public simply didn’t take to its community led by a corrupt Christian minister and politician… even if he did mean well! This reimagining of Stanley Kramer’s (1913-2001 pneumonia) It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad,…
Read more The Megaflop of Director John Schlesinger’s Honky Tonk Freeway (1981)
*contains spoilers There is a tale behind the making of the Australian science fiction movie The Time Guardian (1987) and it is not a pretty one. I credit the film to director Brian Hannant (1940-) but he more or less disowns the final product… his only venture into fully-fledged feature directing. In fact, Hannant wouldn’t…
Read more The Cult of Director Brian Hannant’s The Time Guardian (1987)
*contains spoilers Inner beauty is a hard thing to write about and to define which is probably the reason there aren’t too many movies on the subject. Of course, there are poets and filmmakers who can write or direct beautiful things – but what about inside of the creators themselves as we just assume that…
Read more The Cult of Inner Beauty in The Enchanted Cottage (1945)
*contains spoilers Director Robert Altman’s Images (1925-2006 leukemia) is an, at times, puzzling movie about the creation of writing and the madness that lies in between. It is also one woman’s journey through insanity brought to life by a great performance by Susannah York (1939-2011 multiple myeloma) in the lead. Or is the act of…
Read more Actress Susannah York goes insane in Images (1972)
Italian director Ivan Zuccon (1972-) is an experienced filmmaker who started his career with the short film Berenice (1997). He made several other short films before his interest in the American horror writer H.P. Lovecraft turned his mind to create horror movies related to that writer’s stories. His early features which were shot on video…
Read more Director Ivan Zuccon on H.P. Lovecraft and his Cult Film Career…
*contains spoilers and strong course language The fact actor Rupert Everett was gay was an open secret long before he appeared as Julia Robert’s pal in My Best Friend’s Wedding (1997). It just took him a long time to come out on the world stage. Everett probably would have come out on the world stage…
Read more Actor Rupert Everett and The Right Hand Man (1987)
*contains spoilers Among the Confederate soldier ghost and zombie movies of the 1980s, which there aren’t too many, is the underrated low-budget item The Supernaturals (1986) as well as the ultra-low-budget movies of Tony Malanowski (1948-). The Supernaturals has a robust b-cast and production values compared to Malanowski’s shot for a few pennies or so…
Read more The Confederate Ghosts of The Supernaturals (1986) and Night of Horror (1981)
*contains spoilers Fans of the original Insidious (2010) movie maybe interested in the aspect of astral travel or projection. In that film, a child travels in the astral realm while he is asleep and cannot return to his body. It is this aspect which makes the entire movie so interesting. The sequels less so. But…
*contains spoilers and strong course language Ian Barry (1946-) was born in Sydney. Growing up as a child, he was inspired through his Uncle Harold’s backyard cinema which seated fifty, to make movies. He describes his Uncle in retrospect as “the architect of my life”. Armed with an 8mm camera bought by his aunt, Barry…
Read more Director Ian Barry on The Chain Reaction, Cult Movie Airtight and plenty more…
*contains spoilers The Australian exploitation film The Chain Reaction (1980) was, along with Mad Max (1979), a ground-breaking and extremely well-made genre film directed by Ian Barry (1946-). Barry, like George Miller on Mad Max (1979), created something with the vision of an Aussie Roger Corman, a low-budget masterpiece, which remains his best movie. But…
Read more The Cult of Director Ian Barry’s The Chain Reaction
