Fear City (1984, Abel Ferrara)

Continuing on with reviews of Abel Ferrara films, the king of "dirty city films", here we have Fear City. I came across a bootleg of this about a year ago when I was into some of Ferrara's other films but never got around to watching it. I started watching his films again recently and was glad that I still had Fear City. From what I had read about it, it seemed similar to a lot of his other films though it boasted a much "bigger" cast then his other early films. By bigger I mean more famous (at least for the time). After the attention Ferrara received for his first two films, Driller Killer and Ms. 45, he was given a bigger budget and well known actors to create this film. I recently read that it was similar to Lucio Fulci's New York Ripper, which also made it a film I had to watch.

Matty Rossi (Tom Berenger) is an ex boxer who now runs a strip club in NYC. Along with his partner Nicky (Jack Scalia), they soon start losing their women one by one to an unknown killer. On the trail of this psycho is police detective Wheeler (Billy Dee Williams) who is not very fond of the club owners. Matty takes matters into his own hands to protect his dancers, especially Loretta (Melanie Griffith), who he is in love with.

Fear City is like a big budget version of Ferrara's earlier two films (Driller Killer and Ms. 45). It has all the sleazy big city locales (strip clubs, dark alleys, etc) you'd expect from Ferrara but also some people you've actually heard of (at least in the 80's). Melanie Griffith appears (right before her breakout role in De Palma's Body Double) mostly naked throughout the film, which is a treat. Berenger is a fun tough guy who has one of the worst hairdo's and leather jackets ever captured on celluloid. Billy Dee Williams is good as a hard nosed cop and also featured are early performances by Rae Dawn Chong, Maria Conchito (before the Alonso) and Ola Ray (Michael Jackson's girlfriend from the Thriller video). Overall, the movie is very dated and a little silly, but sleazy enough to not just be another throwaway 80's crime film. The villain is a little lacking in depth but he excels in weirdness. Overall, worth a watch (if you can find a copy).

Getting a cash advance isn't nearly as sleazy as the strip club in Fear City.

RATING: 3/5

Bad Lieutenant (1992, Abel Ferrara)

Bad Lieutenant is a film I knew nothing about when my friend let me borrow it about a year ago. I hadn't even heard of the name Abel Ferrara so I really had no idea what to expect. Upon first viewing I really didn't know what to make of it. It was just so sleazy and wrong that I kind of pushed it away. I knew I wanted to see it again but I put it on the back burner for another time. I recently had the urge to watch some of Ferrara's films again so it was a perfect time to revisit Bad Lieutenant.

In Bad Lieutenant, Harvey Keitel plays a police lieutenant (I don't think it ever says his character's name) who has some problems. Well, actually he has a lot of problems, namely gambling, drug, alcohol and sex addictions. He takes bribes from crooks, steals drugs from crime scenes and does pretty much every thing he shouldn't do. After a nun is raped, the Lt. tries his hardest to get the nun to reveal who the rapists are, mainly because he needs the reward money for gambling debts.

Bad Lieutenant is such a generic, silly title but it actually fits the film perfectly. Keitel is such a scumbag in this movie and his performance is one of his best, easily on par with his early work with Scorsese (Mean Streets, Taxi Driver, Who's That Knocking at My Door and Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore). Ferrara excels in creating his usual dirty city setting and the supporting cast are all perfect, including co-screenwriter/Ms. 45 star Zoe Lund (formerly Zoe Tamerlis) as Zoe, the lieutenant's heroin partner. There are some really tough scenes in this film and it stretches the envelope so much that you are pretty much left paralyzed until the film is over. Some of the scenes are so over the top that you can't help but laugh, though it's not because the film is unintentionally funny. I think I was laughing mainly because the subject matter was just so extreme that you either laugh or cry. I don't really know how to explain it, I would just recommend seeing it and judging for yourself. In my opinion though, it is a masterpiece in urban drama.

RATING: 5/5

If you think you can stomach another Abel Ferrara movie after seeing this, why not try watching movies online such as King of New York or Body Snatchers.

Ms. 45 (1981, Abel Ferrara)

When I think of Abel Ferrara's films, the first word that comes to mind is gritty. From his first film, the Taxi Driver meets Texas Chainsaw Massacre classic Driller Killer to his more well known films featuring such stars as Harvey Keitel and Christopher Walken, they all have a certain feel that just leaves you feeling dirty. Ms. 45, Ferrara's second film, is a perfect example of this.

Ms. 45 is about Thana (Zoe Tamerlis), a mute young woman who works for a clothing designer in NYC. On her way home one day she gets raped, not once but twice!! Talk about shitty luck! She snaps and manages to kill her second rapist who has broken into her apartment. She dismembers him, puts his remains into her fridge and takes his gun (a .45, of course). She then goes out on the street to get vengeance but the point of her killing spree starts to become less defined.

Ms. 45 was an interesting, exploitation film that is also darkly comedic. The extremes Thana goes through to hide evidence to her crimes and keep her identity as the killer a secret is often hilarious. Not that this film doesn't have the look and feel of Ferrara's other, more serious films. It has that dirty city feel that is synonymous with his style and also explores how much a person can take until they snap. In many ways, Ms. 45 is like a companion piece to Driller Killer. They both follow a normal person who slowly starts to go batshit crazy and ends up killing people. The character of Thana actually reminded me a little of Catherine Deneuve in Polanski's Repulsion too, in which they are both quiet, reserved characters who go crazy. Overall, it was an enjoyable film that fits well with Ferrara's classics.

RATING: 4/5

Danger: Diabolik (1968, Mario Bava)

So I was asking around online for more films, similar to Casino Royale and 10th Victim (review coming soon) that exude the look and feel of the 60s. Films with the over the top set designs, psychedelic colors, beautiful women and suave leading men. The first response I got was Danger: Diabolik, a film I had heard of but didn't really know anything about. I looked it up and instantly had to see it.

Danger: Diabolik is about a thief named Diabolik (John Phillip Law) and his girlfriend Eva (Marisa Mell). After stealing $10 million dollars from the government, there is a clampdown on crime in the area, which puts a crime boss named Valmont (Adolfo Celi) into a panic. Valmont strikes a deal with police investigator Ginko (Michel Piccoli) to capture Diabolik for them. In the meantime, Diabolik steals a prized emerald necklace, further enraging the police. Time will only tell if Diabolik's crime spree will continue or if he will be brought to justice.

Though not a spy film, Danger: Diabolik is a great find for the type of movie I was looking for. It has such a great 60s feel. It's such an oddball movie but I loved it. John Phillip Law as Diabolik was perfect - smart, debonair, athletic and dangerous. When you think about how you are rooting for a criminal through the whole movie it might seem weird, but with Diabolik you just can't help it. The bumbling cops and villains in this film are just no match for someone like Diabolik. Bava's direction was perfect for the film and it's stunning how different this is from some of his other films. One thing about Bava is that no matter what the budget (usually low), he always has a great sense of style to add to his films. Ennio Morricone's music score is classic, a nice combo of the big band music of the 60s spy films with a touch of surf that fits the chase scenes perfectly. The more I think about this film, the more I like it and want to watch it again. I really can't think of anything bad about this film. I definitely recommend it.

RATING: 5/5

Casino Royale (1967, a bunch of directors)

When most folks hear the name Casino Royale they instantly think of the 2nd to last Bond film starring Daniel Craig as Bond (in his debut performance in the role). The fact Casino Royale was finally made into an "official" Bond film so long after the series debuted in 1962 is a funny story. Casino Royale was the first James Bond novel written by Ian Fleming way back in 1953 and unbeknownst to most, it was made into an American TV movie the following year, starring Barry Nelson as Jimmy Bond (an American secret agent) and Peter Lorre as the evil Le Chiffre. When the Bond film series started up in the 60's, they didn't have the rights to Casino Royale so it was never made. But then, at the height of Bond-mania, the owners of the rights decided to cash in on this phenomena and make a film of Casino Royale. Though instead of making a straight forward action film like the rest of the series, they decided to make a spoof of the series featuring the top comedic actors of the time. Being the huge James Bond fan that I was, I stumbled upon Casino Royale browsing through my local video store. I had a book detailing all of the official Bond films, but it left out Casino Royale (and the other unofficial Bond film, Never Say Never Again) so I never even knew it existed. Anyway, I rented it expecting a great 60s Bond films (as the others were) but was very disappointed. I hated it so much and though I have seen the other films in the series all multiple times over the years (at least up through Goldeneye), I didn't revisit Casino Royale until a few years ago.

Casino Royale follows a retired James Bond (David Niven) returning to the secret service after the death of his boss "M" (John Huston). He decides to recruit a whole group of secret agents and have them all go by the name James Bond 007 to throw off their enemies. The main enemy of which is SMERSH and Le Chiffre (Orson Welles), a card player (and magician!?!) who is being funded by SMERSH. One of the new James Bonds, a card expert named Evelyn Tremble (Peter Sellers) is brought in by fellow agent Vesper Lynd (Ursula Andress) to win against Le Chiffre. It is also discovered that a greater evil is out there in the form of James Bond's dorky nephew Jimmy (Woody Allen), who has a plot cooked up of his own.

Casino Royale is definitely not for everyone, especially fans of the more serious Bond films. It is true that the film is silly and not what you would expect, but it is still a brilliant film. What I love most about this film is the feel and the atmosphere. Never have I seen a film so "sixties" as Casino Royale. The set designs, sixties British humor a la The Pink Panther series (which also features Peter Sellers and David Niven) and the hallucinogenic camera work are all just perfect. Normally when a film is as dated as this it becomes distracting, but in the case of Casino Royale, that is what is so great about it. Watching this film almost transports you into that time like few other films can. The cast is all brilliant and the scenes with Woody Allen and Peter Sellers are particularly are hilarious. There are some great action scenes too to appeal to the average Bond fan and some of the most beautiful Bond girls as well. Ursula Andress (who was also in the first Bond film Dr. No) is probably the single most beautiful Bond girl out of the entire series. Barbara Bouchet as Moneypenny and Joanna Pettet as Mata Bond (the illegitimate daughter of James Bond and famous spy Mata Hari) aren't far behind. David Niven plays a great aging, debonair Bond and apparently was Ian Fleming's original choice for Bond. Overall this film is brilliant and easily the best of the 60's spy spoofs I have seen. There is so much going on in this film (there were 5 directors each directing different scenes) that it may take a few watches to absorb it all, but it is well worth it.

RATING: 5/5

Operation Kid Brother (1967, Alberto De Martino)

Not sure how many times before I've mentioned it, bu I LOVE James Bond. Ever since I was 9 years old, in the summer of 1990, I have been a huge fan. This film here is a spoof of the Bond series featuring original Bond star Sean Connery's brother Neil as well as many actors from the Bond series. I remember a local video store had a VHS copy of a Bond spoof and something is telling me it might have been this. I could be wrong though, considering the number of Bond spoofs from back in the 60s.

The story of this film is not too important (or interesting) but I'll try to sum it up. Neil Connery plays Dr. Connery, the younger brother of an unavailable notable secret agent so he is chosen to help save the world against THANATOS, an evil crime organization led by Beta (Adolfo Celi). Apparently he can read lips and shoot a bow an arrow, very important skills....if you're a deaf Indian.

That's as far as I'll go with the plot because it didn't really keep my attention and I'm sure I missed parts. Though some of the 60s Bond films themselves are a little silly and the plots are sometimes heavy handed, they had more than enough to keep your attention and even marvel at the ingenious characters, gadgets and visuals on display. Operation Kid Brother (aka OK Connery aka Operation Double 007) had very little of any of that. The only real pluses for the film was the cast, which I stated before was comprised of mostly actors from previous James Bond films (Bernard "M" Lee, Lois "Moneypenny" Maxwell, Adolfo "Largo" Celi, Anthony "Professor Dent" Dawson and Daniella "Tatiana Romanova" Bianchi) as well as seeing Sean's younger brother on screen, despite the fact that his voice was dubbed with an American actor. I read online that Neil said he had appendicitis when they were to dub his lines so someone else filled in. I say What the Fuck? The dude probably talks like a girl or Gilbert Gottfried or something and the producers were planning on dubbing him all along. Regardless, I wouldn't waste your time tracking this down unless you are a huge (and by huge I mean HUGE) Bond fan. Not that you'll be able to find a legitimate DVD of it anyway. Oh, this movie was even featured on MST3K, which pretty much sums up the quality of it.

RATING: 2/5

Steven Seagal

As promised, here begins my Steven Seagal reviews. To be honest I had never seen a Steven Seagal film before. I know it sounds impossible and astonishing, but it's the truth. I do remember watching part of one on TV in the early 90's (I think it was Above the Law but I'm not sure), but that's it. I happen to work with two passionate Seagal fans and after hearing them talk about some of his films I just had to give them a shot. I decided to write up a few short reviews, mainly because I think these films can be summed up as such.

Above the Law (1988, Andrew Davis)

In Seagal's debut, he plays an ex CIA agent and Martial Arts master named Nico Toscani. He quit because he didn't agree with certain practices being performed on Vietnamese prisoners by a commanding officer Zagon (Henry Silva). Many years later, Nico is now a cop and gets mixed up with Zagon again as well as a bunch of illegal immigrants and drug dealers.

This was a great debut for Seagal, actually one of my favorites of the ones I watched. Seagal did the most karate (or Aikido) in this one and it was amazing how one blow to the chest and the villains would just fall. Overall a great action film with a decent story and a great villain (Henry Silva).

RATING: 4/5


Hard to Kill (1990, Bruce Malmuth)

Seagal's second film starts off with him as a cop named Mason Storm who is doing a little detective work trying to bust a case involving some mobsters and crooked politicians. After being spotted videotaping a meeting with the criminals, Storm's house is invaded and him, his wife and son are all killed...or so the criminals think. It turns out that Storm is still alive but is in a coma and being held in the hospital under the name John Doe. A British nurse named Andy (Kelly LeBrock) is caring for him and after 7 years, he finally wakes up. He is discovered to be alive by the criminals and is taken into hiding by Andy so that he can regain his strength and after some self acupuncture and a lot of training, Storm is ready to continue where he left off 7 years earlier.

Hard to Kill is a fun movie, though there are a lot of silly parts. Seagal waking up after a 7 year coma with a big burly goatee was hilarious. Why he only grew a goatee I will never know, but it was hilarious. Bill Sadler was great as the villainous politician trying to wipe out Storm and Kelly LeBrock was a perfect heroine for Seagal (they would later marry...and divorce). Not as good as Above the Law, but still watchable.

RATING: 3/5

Marked for Death (1990, Dwight H. Little)

Continuing on we have Marked for Death, the third Seagal film. This time he plays John Hatcher, a DEA agent who decides to retire after his partner is killed. He goes to stay with his sister Melissa (Elizabeth Gracen) and niece Tracey (Danielle Harris) and meets up with his old friend Max (Keith David). Max is disgruntled because he keeps seeing a group of Jamaicans selling drugs to kids at his school where he is a coach. Hatcher ends up killing a few of the Jamaicans, which we find out are part of a voodoo drug dealing gang lead by the evil Screwface (Basil Wallace). Screwface's gang ends up shooting and almost killing his niece, causing Hatcher and Max to seek revenge, which takes them to Jamaica where Screwface has fled.

Marked for Death is a step up from Hard to Kill. The story is more straight forward and Screwface proves to be one mean mofo. The voodoo angle was a little silly in parts, but it didn't detract from my enjoyment of the film. Marked for Death definitely had the most bone crunching courtesy of Seagal. It seemed like every villain who attacked him would end up having their arm bent in a way it shouldn't be bent or their spine being snapped (see my "vertabrae cracking" picture a few posts before this one). It was also cool seeing Danielle Harris from Halloween 4 and 5, as well as Rob Zombie's Halloween films (who I met last year) as Seagal's niece.

RATING: 3/5

Out for Justice (1991, John Flynn)

Here, Seagal's fourth film, he plays Gino Felino, an Italian cop working in Brooklyn, where he grew up. He still sees all of the people from his childhood, some good and some bad. One of the bad ones, Richie Madano (William Forsythe, who I also met last year) has turned into a crack-smoking psychopathic murderer who must be stopped. It is now Gino's job to try to find Richie, through a series of lifelong neighbors and bring him to justice.

Out for Justice was probably the best Seagal film I watched, mainly because of William Forsythe. He is such a skilled actor and turned his portrayal of Richie into a very scary, brilliant performance. The scene where he gets out of his car and blows a woman's head off for telling him to move his car was chilling and just wrong. Seagal's performance and faux brooklyn accent was actually quite believable. Lots of violence and shooting and just a great action film.

RATING: 4/5

Under Siege (1992, Andrew Davis)

Under Siege finds Seagal as Casey Ryback, an ex Navy Seal who is now the personal chef for Capt. Adams (Patrick O'Neal) who is heading a group of sailors on a Navy Battleship armed with a bunch of missiles. A band and a playboy playmate (Erica Eleniak) are flown in as a surprise for the Captain's birthday but it turns out the band are actually a bunch of terrorists (led by Tommy Lee Jones) who are in cahoots with some of the sailors to take over the ship. It is now up to Casey to try to take the ship back.

Under Siege had its moments but overall it was a little too much. Seagal is locked in a freezer for the first half of the film and when he gets out the film just takes a little too long to get to it's climax. It wasn't a bad film, but I definitley preferred his earlier movies where Seagal is out fighting crime. Tommy Lee Jones was excellent as Stranix, and ex military man who got screwed over and is now getting revenge.

RATING: 2/5

Fire Down Below (1997, Felix Enriquez Alcala)

Here we have Seagal as an EPA investigator named Jack Taggart investigating Jackson, Kentucky - a small town where his friend and fellow agent was recently found dead. Jack received an anonymous letter from Jackson stating that something is being dumped into their water causing fish and people to die. Jack goes undercover as a handyman passing through town to help the people of Jackson fix anything that needs fixin'. He discovers that local millionaire Orin (Kris Kristofferson) is responsible for dumping the chemicals into the water and must find a way to stop it, without being killed by a bunch of suspicious rednecks.

Fire Down Below was a good addition to Seagal's filmography. It had a solid story and some really good fight/action scenes. Seagal also had a fairly believable southern drawl too. Marg Helgenberger as local misfit Sarah proves to be a decent love interest for Seagal and the performances by other well known actors and/or musicians (Kristofferson, Harry Dean Stanton, Levon Helm, Randy Travis) were also good. Some people might gripe at the "message" of the film and how Seagal movies should be about compound fractures and not messages, but in this film I think there was a good mix of the two.

RATING: 3/5