Witch Hunt - Paul Schaffer - USA - (1994)

 

 

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0111730/ 

Plot by Imdb: "In a twisted 1950's where everyone does magic, a private detective investigates a murder case without it."

Apparently the following movie from a previous hit (first one is "Cast a deadly Spell", haven't seen it). Not totally convinced by this one from Paul Schrader. Should be half Lovecraft (the detective is called Harry P. Lovecraft) and half Chandler but it's more half Harry Potter, half McCarthy area satire, with all the "good taste" from a 80/s tv movie. It's a weird mix and doesn't work very well, but it has its moments. Dennis Hopper is good, as always, and there is some fun moments. The fx are so cheesy, it's a delight. If you wanna go back in time, and pretend you're a kid again, wasting an evening watching tv during the 80's, it's highly recommended.

 

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

 Trailer

Incident at Raven's Gate - Rolf De Heer - Australia - (1988)

 

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095098/ 

Plot by Rotten Tomatoes: "A mysterious otherworldly force is affecting a small town; first strange things start occurring with the machines, then to the water supply and finally to the minds of the townsfolk. People begin to murder one another on impulse."

Aka "Encounter at Raven's Gate" 

Another incredible gem form Australia !! It's not surprising that it comes from Rolf de Heer, the Director of "Bad Boy Bubby", another classic Ozzy cult movie. To begin with, the photography is amazing. I saw this one in 16/9 Widescreen and it's really impressive. Story is a nice 80's paranoid UFO / Encounter of the third kind thriller but is not really interesting. The sheer interest leans more toward the formal artistic qualities of the direction: amazing scenery (welcome to Oz, mates !), dynamic use of the camera -specially the crane- top notch lightning with the use of different color lights in a single frame (like the Italian's Giallis), really good framing, contrast of dark / light is well used... The actors are ok and the music is a bit outdated  but goes along the vintage style of the all thing. Ozpoitation lovers, you need to see this. Abduction movies fan, you need to see this. And if you got any curiosity at all, you need to see this. This movie is a total MUST SEE !

 

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

 

Sorry, no trailer available.

A mysterious otherworldly force is affecting a small town; first strange things start occurring with the machines, then to the water supply and finally to the minds of the townsfolk. People begin...

Red Riding Trilogy - Epìsode 1980 - James Marsh - UK - (2009)

 

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1260581/ 

Plot from Imdb: "Police corruption interferes with the search for a killer in Yorkshire, England. Based on David Peace's novel "Nineteen Eighty".

Nice following to the impressive first installment. Not quite as thrilling as the first one but still in the same vein: a descent into the dark underbelly of police corruption in Yorkshire. Less of a conspiracy in this one, more  of a "Serpico" kind of tale. Acting is excellent, direction is discreet but good and the plot works well. Less gripping than the opening one but really still worth the viewing. If only, half of the current movies had the quality of theses "tv movies", we would be blessed. Another indication that british tv can create the most amazing shows. Can't wait for the third installment. 

 

  

  

  

  

  

   

  

  

 

Trailer of the 1980 episode:

The Brother from Another Planet - John Sayles - USA - (1984)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087004/ 

Plot from Imdb: "A mute alien is chased by outer-space bounty hunters through the streets of Harlem in this thought-provoking cult classic."

I thought I was in for another Blaxploitation movie and I found instead a great little SciFi movie, with a real atmosphere and a lot of social content. Our heroe is mute, witch gives us a great oportunity to hear the others characters rumbling about their lives all they want. Classic story of the stranger introducing us to the social reality, in this case Harlem in the 80's...Our heroe has healing powers, including fixing machines and a few other special skills. The main character is played by Joe Morton, who also played the genius programmer form Cyberdyne in Terminator  2, and he's perfect in a difficult mute role. Lot's of great scenes all along, in the bar or in the subway with the "magician". The space bounty hunters looks like two cheesy MIB and act as such. The bar  brawl is really lame but, hey ! It's a b-movie, by all means. Strange steel drum music all along, that adds weirdness to the lot. This one is really something else in the great genre of blaxploitation. Watch it if you can.

 

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

 

Trailer: