Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on January 16th, 2004
Synopsis
The film is also known as Black Lolita because it’s protagonist (Yolanda Love) isnamed Lolita, and not because she’s underage. On the contrary, this Lolita is a karate-choppinghellion, like a downscale version of Cleopatra Jones. After her uncle is murdered by the mob, ourheroine determines to take revenge. She hooks up with centerfolds Serena and Susan Ayers andpresto: a more explicit version of Charlie’s Angels. Approached in the right frame ofmind (i.e. you...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on December 4th, 2003
Synopsis
Lumi Cavazos had great hopes for her marriage, but now it has gone spectacularly on therocks. Amanda de Cadnet, rather more cynical, is still trying to deal with her husband’s infedility,and one of her responses is to seduce a young student. Ione Skye, meanwhile, is involved withphotographer Steve Jones, whose relationship with his daughter is just a wee bit creepy.
Audio
The sound is 2.0, and barely qualifies as stereo. It is, but only just. T...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on December 1st, 2003
Synopsis
Ray Greene wrote, directed and edited this documentary. He also narrates, and a fine guidehe is to the world of the exploitation film. He acknowledges such 30s classics as ReeferMadness, but his interest is primarily the 50s and 60s, tracing the post-WWII world of theindependent film, and ending with the 70s, as the major studios moved in on the market and theexploitationers became victims of their own success at challenging censorship laws. The filmis smart, ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 8th, 2003
Synopsis
Michel Bouquet and Stephane Audran are a well-off couple with a young son. They live in anice house in the countryside near Versailles. Everything looks swell. But Audran has beendistant lately. Bouquest suspects she is having an affair. He hires a PI to discover the truth, andthis truth leads to murder. The film is deliberately paced, with a musical score that convincesyou that something awful is going to happen, even when all is, on the surface, benign. Thismakes the viol...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 8th, 2003
Synopsis
China is under the rule of the Ching dynasty, who send out assassins to kill anyone whochallenges the regime. Greatest of these assassins is the blind master of the flying guillotine. Hesets out to kill the One-Armed Boxer (don’t ask me why all these guys have disabilities). Thecharacters come together at a huge martial arts tournament (this is where Mortal Kombat comesfrom, kiddies). The plot is no more developed than that of a typical porno. The film’s reason forbeing is ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 8th, 2003
Synopsis
When terrorists strike New York City (blowing up a ferry, for instance), a courageous TVreporter winds up being the only one who can stop the terror. Extremely low-budget stuff, andthe subject just isn’t as much fun as it once was (though the campiness remains). Interesting,though, to see Adam West as a senator (not to mention all the other cameos).
Audio
The soundtrack is mono. It gets the job done, but there isn’t too much to say about it. Themusi...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 8th, 2003
Synopsis
Ben Cross is a British officer during WWII. After the invasion of Sicily, he becomes themilitary governor of a small town. Naturally, all sorts of characters are present, and he falls inlove with a forbidden woman.
Audio
Mono sound on this disc. It’s acceptable, but certainly unspectacular, and there is somedistortion on the dialogue.
Video
A good news/bad news disc. The picture is widescreen at 1.78:1, but still appears to ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 8th, 2003
Synopsis
Imprisoned for the revenge killing of the man who murdered his parents, Calvin Jung isreleased after 25 years. He returns home to discover that his younger brother (Eddie Mui) is nowworking for a Chinese crime lord. This is a film that doesn’t reach the lofty heights it aims for,but does work an interesting social angle to the usual crime film.
Audio
The sound (2.0, as far as I can tell) is pretty good. The music comes through very nicely. Thesound ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 8th, 2003
Synopsis
I can’t say I’d ever heard of Michael Chekhov and George Shdanoff, but I have now. GregoryPeck narrates the lives of these two men, which play out with the 20th Century as a backdrop.There are many clips here of actors whom they taught (such as James Dean).
Audio
The sound is mono, but you don’t really need anything else for this sort of documentary,depending as it does largely on the spoken word. The sound is certainly clear enough.
Vide...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 8th, 2003
Synopsis
Tiger was once a fearsome fighter, but now he is a drunk. We learn, in flashback (and inflashbacks within flashbacks), that he fell from grace after being unintentionally involved in thekilling of his fiancee’s brother. Now his own treacherous brother has kidnapped the fiancee, andthat is all Tiger needs to come roaring back. This is truly awful stuff, with boringly filmed fightscenes, choppy editing, and nonsensical plot.
Audio
Bad as the film is, ...
