That Man Bolt

 

TITLE-That Man Bolt

SOURCE-DVD

It is rare I find a blaxploitation film that I had never heard of. This film is one I had never heard of. I got a big lot of "Kung Fu DVDS" cheap. And this was in it.

Fred the Hammer Williamson is in jail in Macau. He gets released to escort a pile of money out of the country. But it seems various groups want to make sure he doesn't succeed on his mission.

Simple plot. And it works. The almost 2 hours running time flies by. The film is an odd mixture of Blaxploitation+James Bond+70s Martial art cinema. Add in a dash of In Like Flint/Our Man Flint.

You can tell while watching that the writer was sure this would be a hit. So much stuff is hinted at that could be explained in sequels. If there had been sequels I would watch them.

Not amazing but still one where now I want it on Blu ray.

That Man Bolts gets a C.

31 Days of Horror 2024 Day 21 Blade

 

TITLE-Blade

SOURCE-New Line Blu Ray

I was sure I had covered this years ago. Checked the master list,either I never covered it or somehow I did and it ain't on the master list.

Ok so for all the attention Rami's Spider-Man or Singer's X-men films get as starting the modern MCU,even  if not fully connected to the proper MCU,Blade came earlier and started it.

1998 I am at the comic shop and hear from the owner that Blade is coming out. And it is Wesley Snipes playing Blade. Ok hell yea let me know what night it starts we will all go.

Was there opening night and loved it. Nice blending of horror and superhero genres. A modernized Blade,at this time I hadn't read much of the Midnight Sons era of Blade. Fairly gory it was a fun film. One I meant to buy. Then just didn't. Until I stumbled upon this Blu ray at a pawn or thrift a few years back.

Wesley Snipes is Blade a rare vampire that can withstand sunlight. He hunts down the other vampires. And is helped out by Kris Kristofferson,as Whistler. Deacon Frost,who IIRC was a minor villain in the old Tomb  of Dracula comic,is the lead vampire villain. 

The movie moves extremely fast for a 2 hour film. Part of that is just the pacing of the film,with a few pots where it slows down for the audience to rest a bit. And thankfully this isn't as quickcut shaky camera for action scenes. That horrible crap would infect movies a year or so later.

The FX is decently done for what I am guessing was a fairly low budget film for New Line of that era. There was no really horrible CGI that stood out.

Blade gets a B+

31 Days of Horror Day 16 Scream Blacula Scream

TITLE-Scream Blacula Scream
FORMAT-Orion VHS

A sequel to Blacula starring Pam Grier sounds great. Too bad it is a boring mess of a film.

Pam is the chosen one of a voodoo cult. But another member thinks they should be the chosen one. So they bring Blacula back to life.

And voodoo vs vampires is a neat idea that hasn't been used much.  This film has a decent cast.  All the blame for how boring it is has to be laid on the script.

Scream Blacula Scream gets a D-.

Scream Blacula Scream VHS review

First trip to Maw Peb's Needful Things Junkstore March 9th 2016

Since I couldn't sleep my plan was to go to town.Hit the library book sale.Then Dirt Cheap. Then grab a bite to eat on the drive home.

Well the library sale was a bust.Even though they had 3 boxes of brand new CDs,saw names like Reba Mcintire and The BeeGees in there.

Dirt Cheap was a total bust. The toy department is over run with opened lego sets,yeah not gonna take a chance on opened legos,and various Star Wars flying drones that are missing pieces.

So while driving to a little corner store that I know has good breakfast stuffs,named The Guy with the Good Biscuits and the name isn't a lie,I spotted a junkstore. One I had driven past a bunch but it was always closed.

I pull into the parking lot and the only other vehicle is a old pick up truck with both the back window and passenger side window covered with black garbage bags.I put my headphones on and continued listening to a podcast. Walked up to the door and saw the name painted on a big window "Maw Peb's Needful Things".Looking thru the windows looks to be lots of household bullshit and clothes.So I enter,but if I see Max Von Sydow I am getting the fuck out of this place. I walk in and to my right is a huge shelf of DVDs,VHS,PS2 and X-box games.A lady comes out of a back room and I get her attention and ask her what the prices are. "DVD is 2,PS2 is 5,X-box is 10 and VHS is 50 cents."I go thru all the DVDs first. Mostly shit that was in the Walmart $5 bin 4 years ago. Lots of grey market Sonny Chiba films. Then on the next to bottom shelf I find a VHS.

I looked closer at it once I got home and saw it was from an old video store.

But more on that in a bit.

The lady had went back into the back room. I was getting closer to the register and all of a sudden this huge great dane jumps up and barks. I was startled by the movement,didn't really hear the bark cause of my headphones. She comes back out tells the dog "Scooby be nice or no snacks today!" I chuckle cause the great dane's name is Scooby. Since she is back out I ask her if she has any toys in the store. Get pointed to a far corner.

The first thing I find was a blind buy DC mini statue thing. She tells me "Yeah all the toys are 1 buck if not in package.2 bucks if in the package." I figure 2 bucks is a decent amount to take a chance on the blind buy. Looking at the back there is only one figure I do not want,which was a crappy looking Superman.

I opened the DC mini statue package once I got out in my car. And here is who I got....

A pretty decent looking Cyborg. One nice thing to come out of the universe wide reboot DC did a few years ago is how much of a higher profile Cyborg now has in the non-comic merchandise.

Behind a stack of puzzles. I see a green package.So I pull it out.

 From the modern Nick TMNT toy line it is Head Droppin' Leonardo. I remember the old 80's line had the head droppin' action feature.

As you can see the packaging was beat up. I do like how they put the other figures from the line on the back. Seems like lots of the modern toy lines don't do this. As  a kid I would save the cards so I could figure out which figure to get next.

 Leo has 14 points of articulation. Most of them in his arms. His neck doesn't move. And besides at the hips his legs have no other articulation spots.

There is Leo with the head dropped. Unlike the old ones,were the head only stayed down if you held it down,these lock down. Then you squeeze the legs together to make the head come back up.

Leo comes with 2 swords. With one being slightly shorter than the other. And has a great set of scabbards on his back.

And there was another thing in the package that I remember toy lines  doing when I was a kid.

I got 2 huge foldout product catalogs. One of them is mostly cars with the Turtles permanently affixed to them.Then lots of pictures of a huge amount of action figures. This might end up being the toy line that gets me back into collecting modern toys.

Heading back to the register to check out,thinking that a $5 will cover what I am buying. Then the lady tells me the back room "While it is mostly clothes there is some books and VHS back there. Go take a look."

I walked back there and see another huge shelf. This time it is mostly books. With maybe 40 VHS near the bottom. And I find one that as far as I know isn't out on DVD or Blu Ray...

Shock'Em Dead!!! I rented this decades ago from Phar-More Video in Mobile Alabama.Back then I am sure I rented it cause I knew who Traci Lords was an wanted to see if she could act or not. Currently I want it cause not only is it not out on a digital format,watch as soon as I post this someone will link me to a Blu Ray of this,but also cause I am wanting to get copies of every 70s thru 90s Heavy Metal+Horror film.

So I mentioned when talking about Scream Blackula Scream,that the VHS was from a video store.

 I wonder when Video Stop closed.The sticker seems to say the store was inside Sack And Save. Which was a grocery store that our friends up here went to.And now is the Piggly Wiggly that always smells slightly of vomit. Then I looked at the other sides of the tape.

No idea how hard that will be to read. But it says West Coast Video. I am guessing this might be the name of the distributor? I really have no clue.

So I finally head to the register to check out. I jokingly ask her if they charge sales tax."Too early to bother with that.5 even." I hand her a five. And then get in my car and head home.

Finding this much VHS that doesn't look picked over is rare in this area.So I am adding this store to my "Must check every month"list.

31 Days of Horror 2015 030 MGM Midnite movies quadruple feature

Yep 4 films in one day. Last year around October I found 13 or so of these MGM Midnite Movie double feature DVD sets for cheap. $3 new IIRC. The plan was to watch some of them for last years 31 days of Horror. But that didn't happen.

Konga
Source-MGM Midnite Movie DVD

From 1961,this giant ape movie was a low budget ripoff of King Kong. And honestly this movie sucks ass. Bad acting and FX work.

Really the only good thing to come out of this was Charlton's Konga comic series.A series that has some very nice Steve Dikto artwork.

Konga gets a D-.

Yongary
Source-MGM Midnite Movies DVD

Made in South Korea this mid 60s giant monster on the loose film was sent straight to TV by AIP. And while it is much much better than Konga. It still isn't good.

Well that means this double feature DVD is now worth the $3 I dropped. Oh well,win some lose some.

Yongary gets a C.

Mephisto Waltz
Source-MGM Midnite Movies DVD

This turned out to be a interesting Satanic horror film from 1971. Alan Alda is a failed musician who know is a music journalist. And after interviewing a reclusive pianist,Alda becomes possessed by the pianist's spirit.

There is plenty of Satanic horror films from the 70s,and this one is pretty damn good. I never see anyone talking about it. Which makes me wonder how many people have actually seen it.

The cast is nice,besides Alan Alda you also got  Jacqueline Bissett. 

Mephisto Waltz gets a B.

The House on Skull Mountain
Source-MGM Midnite Movies DVD

This is one the earliest 70s Blaxploitation horror films. A woman is dying and sends for 4 family members. They all show up to her home,which of course is on Skull  Mountain. And find out all kinds of crazy stuff. While being chased by a hooded skull monster.

The only cast I knew was the guy that played Lamont on the Jeffersons. And Michael Landon's best friend on Little House on the Prairie. But the other members I didn't know did a good job.

Seeing the film was rated PG I was expecting something kind of tame and boring. I was wrong. If this had come out in the 80s it would easy get a PG 13.

The House on Skull Mountain gets a B+.

31 Days of Horror Day 11 Petey Wheatstraw the devil's son in law

Petey Wheatstraw the Devil's Son in Law
1977
Xenon Pictures DVD

I thought I had seen all the Rudy Ray Moore films. Then back in the fall of 2007 local rapper Squid-Key told me about Petey Wheatstraw. "Since you love horror and comedy you will love this film." About a year after that I found it at Walmart in a pack with "The Black Godfather" for $7.50.  Well Petey was worth that money.

Petey was born in the middle of a hurricane. And he looks to be 12 when he is born. As he grows up he becomes super famous and a duo of comedians get jealous. So they put a hit out on Petey. Petey dies and goes to hell. But Satan allows him to come back to Earth.But he has to marry the devil's ugly daughter.

Petey is sent back to Earth.Armed with a magic pimp cane. And we get all kinds of wacky hyjinx.With the rest of the film has Petey trying to figure out how to out smart the devil.

My major complaint about the dvd is the back of the case lists all kinds of extras.And none of them are on the dvd. All we get is the film and the barely over an hour documentary "The Legend of Dolemite".

Petey Wheatstraw the Devil's Son in Law gets a A.

Black History Month 2012 fifth movie

House Party
IFC airing
1990

I don't think I have seen House Party in over 15 years. But back when I was in high school Showtime showed it at least once a week for over a year. And I must have seen it close to 40 times back then. Somehow over the years I had forgotten about the movie and how funny it is.

The plot is simple Play is throwing a party at his house,cause his parents are away on vacation. He wants his buddy Kid to come and their buddy Bilai to be the DJ at the party. Well the day of the party Kid gets in trouble at school. And he knows if his father finds out there is no way he will be able to go to the party. So he tries his best to keep his father,played by the late Robin Harris from finding out. But of course his dad finds out and grounds him.

While this is happening we see Play getting ready for the party. Plus two girls Sharane and Sidney getting ready. The party is getting started and all seems like it is going good. But of course you know something has to go wrong.

Kid manages to sneak out,cause his dad has fallen asleep watching TV. So he starts walking to the party. But runs into so bullies that were fucking with him at school that day. And after some misadventures he finally gets to Play's house.

By this time the party is in full swing. We get to see lots of scenes of people dancing. And of course with this film being over 20 years old the clothes and dances are extremely outdated. Kid and Play have a dance off with Sharane and Sidney. And right after that Kid and Play have a friendly rap battle. One of the guys at the party passed out drunk. So while Play and another guy are carrying him home ,Kid offers to walk Sidney and Sharane home. Kid just barely misses his father who has arrived at the house looking for him.

Play gets back to the party to discover that someone has broken the toilet and left a huge stinking log in it. So he says the party is over and goes about kicking people out. Kid gets Sharane home to her apartment in the projects. It seems that he might have a chance with Sharane,but we find out that Sidney has a crush on Kid. So after he walks with her to her house she invites him inside. Kid is about to get him some when Sidney's parents come home early from a party. So Kid jumps out the window and is on his way home when he runs into the bullies from earlier. This ends with the bullies and Kid getting arrested.

Now Kid is in lock up and uses his one phone call to call Play to come bail him out. Well the bullies talk some of the other guys in the lock up into raping Kid. So in an attempt to prevent this Kid launches into a freestyle rap. Somehow this keeps the rapists off him until Play gets there to bail him out. Finally sometime early in the morning Kid gets back home. He makes it all the way into his bedroom with out his father seeing him. He is about to jump into bed when his dad catches him. And the credits start to roll. During the credits we here Kid's father beating the shit outta him.

Now the film is dated. But still I was laughing my ass off through out most of the film. Shit I now want to see if it is out on Blu ray. Somehow I doubt it is,but a DVD will be almost as good. House Party gets a B+.

Black History Month 2012 fourth movie

I'm gonna git you sucka
MGM DVD
1988

This is the movie that introduced me to the Wayons family. Now before seeing this film I had seen a few of the various 70's blaxploitation films. But not that many really. So I am sure on the first viewing lots of the various jokes and spoofs went right over my head. It didn't matter this became one of my favorite comedies. For some reason it seemed like this film never aired on any of the movie channels I got. So I had forgotten about it till sometime in the early 90s Fox aired it as a movie of the week. I watched it,and Fox had edited the shit outta it,and fell back in love with it.

Keenon Wayons plays Jack Spade,he is coming home on leave from the army and finds out his brother has OG'd. That means his brother died from wearing too much gold. So Jack goes on a crusade to find out who is selling all this gold. He ends up teaming up with Bernie Casey and with help from Bernie and his friends they try to take down Mr Big.

What makes this film stand out so much is all the appearances from the stars of  all the older blaxploitation films.You got Jim Brown,Issac Hayes,Antonio Fargas and many others. Fargas is a stand out as Fly Guy. He is a former pimp that has spent the last decade in jail. And the scene when he gets outta jail and puts on his oh so 70's pimp outfit is one of the funniest moments in the entire film.

Usually with a spoof film they hit you with so many jokes that outta every 5,2 or 3 of them fail. Not so in I'm gonna git you sucka,besides one over long scene with a young Chris Rock every joke hits it's point. One of my favorite scenes is when the guys go to take down the Big Brim bar. Where everyone is wearing a huge hat. And under most of these hats a midget is hiding. Midgets always make me laugh and this scene made me laugh so hard my sides were hurting.

Now the print on the DVD looks great. The sound is good. But the only extra is a theatrical trailer. I wish they had done a commentary with the Wayons brothers and maybe some of the other stars. But since I got this DVD for around 4 bucks I won't complain too much about the lack of extras. I'm gonna git you sucka gets a A.

Black History Month 2012 Third movie

Petey Wheatstraw, the Devil's Son-In-Law
 Xenon DVD
1977

Outta all the various Dolemite/Rudy Ray Moore films this is my favorite. We start off with Petey being born during the middle of a hurricane. He comes out wearing a diaper and looks to be 6 years old. Fast forward a few years and now Petey is a well known stand up comedian. He books a week long stay at a local night club. Which pisses off local comedy duo Leroy and Skillet. So they put out a hit on Petey. Petey gets killed and goes to hell.

In hell he meets Lucifer who tells him he will bring Petey back to life. But Petey has to marry Lucifer's fugly daughter and provide Lucifer with a grandson. Petey agrees. He gets sent back to Earth with a magic pimp cane.

The rest of the film is Petey using his magic pimp stick to solve problems and trying to figure out a way outta his deal with Lucifer.This DVD looks amazing. Before getting it I had only seen Petey Wheatstraw on the old VHS,which looked horrible. Sure the DVD is full frame. But then it seems every DVD from Xenon is full frame. Petey Wheatstraw the devil's son in law gets a B+.

Black History Month 2012 Second movie

Don't be a menace to South Central while drinking your juice in the hood
Director's cut DVD
1996

I have been a fan of the Wayons since I first saw "I'm gonna git you sucka" years ago. So when I saw ads for this movie I knew I had to see it. Well for some reason I didn't get to see it in the theater. But made sure to go rent it the day it came out. What we get is a spoof movie of all the various "hood" films that were popular at the time. And of course most of the Wayons family has at least a small part in the film. I don't remember seeing Damon but the rest of them are there. Now I have never been a fan of either Shawn or Marlon Wayons.But this is the only film with them I enjoyed.

Ashtray is in his late teens,and his mom sends him to live in da hood with his Father. His dad seems to either be the same age as Ashtray or maybe even younger. Ashtray's best friend is Loc Dog. Who is a drug dealing under educated mess of a person.

We gets lots of great parody scenes. And plenty of laugh out loud moments. Now this dvd is the director's cut. But I only really saw 3 scenes that I didn't remember from the theatrical version. Thanks to the deal Miramax has worked out with Echo Bridge entertainment this dvd is easy to find for $5 and totally worth that price. Don't be a Menace to South Central while drinking your juice in the hood gets a B+.

It's Black History month at Double T's Blog of Reviews day 01

Dr.Black Mr Hyde
1976
VCI entertainment DVD

Usually when I have heard about a film for years but never seen it,when I do finally see it I am almost always disappointed. I had heard of Dr Black Mr Hyde for decades now. But never seemed to find it for rent in any video store. And never saw it airing on any of the movie channels. So last year when I found it in the Walmart $5 dvd dumpbin I was somewhat excited.

Bernie Casey is a doctor working on a formula that regrow dead liver cells. He also works at the Watts free clinic. We get to see how he actually cares for all his patients and does whatever he can to help them out. Well after years of work he thinks he has profected his formula. So he uses it on himself. And there is one seriously bad side-effect.

The formula turns him white and he goes out killing people. Now this shouldn't be funny,but instead of say hiring a white actor to be Mr Hyde they instead seem to throw some white pancake make up on Bernie's face. Then spray something onto his Afro to make it white also.

After attacking a bunch of pimps and hookers the cops track down Mr Hyde to the Watts Tower. At first they send in some police dogs to get him. But Bernie breaks it's neck and throws it over a fence. This part had me laughing super hard,cause it was so obvious that the dog was a fake. Of course at the end the villain dies and the world is safe again.

The DVD is pretty much bare bones. But the print looks good and the sound if well done. I love the cover. Dr Black Mr Hyde gets a C+.

What is coming up next month

With next month being Black History month I have decided to review nothing but films with all black or almost all black casts. Most of what I review will be from the blaxploitation genre. Strange thing,I was a fan of this genre before I even knew it existed. Back when I was a kid we got 5 TV channels. And one of them was a independent UHF channel. Well every Saturday after they stopped showing cartoons at 12pm they would show two movies. The first film was always a horror movie. And was even for a few years hosted by the local horror host. But the second film could be almost anything. The channel did seem to show stuff in cycles. Like for a few months the second film would always be a martial art film. Then they would do a month or so of all the old Blondie movies. Then one week after they showed "Frankenstein vs the monster from outer space" they were showing a film I had never heard of. But my Dad was excited to see. The movie was the original "Shaft". I sat there and watched it with him and was hooked. Well for the next 2 months they showed all kinds of Blaxploitation films. The ones I remember are "Sheba baby","Get Christie Love" and "Blackula". I was so pissed off when after 2 months they went back to showing Blondie movies. Something about the slang,clothing and just oddball energy of the blaxploitation films appealed to me then.

Now I have no idea if I will do this like I do the Horror movie a day thing each October. But I will promise to have up a new review every Monday,Wednesday and Friday in the month of February.

31 days of horror Year 3 day 07

Soul Vengeance AKA Welcome home brother Charles
1975
Xenon Entertainment Group DVD

Now I had heard about this film for many many years. It is as far as I know the only non-porn killer penis movie. I have heard that this version of the film is cut. But I have never heard what is cut out of it. But back in 2008 I got this is a double pack with The Black Godfather for $8.This film was directed by Jamaa Fanaka ,who is also known for the Penitentiary series of films.

Charles is a low level dope dealer. And he gets arrested by a very racist cop. The cop beats the shit outta Charles and almost castrates him. He spends his 3 years in solitary confinement. And he learns how to make his penis grow to any length.

Once he gets outta jail he goes on a quest for vengeance. He is able to use his super powered penis to hypnotize women. So he goes around hypnotizing the wives of the police and justice system that did him wrong. And then uses his super long penis to strangle the husbands.

Now this is like most Xenon DVDs in that it is 4x3 full frame. And it looks barely better than VHS. The cover of the DVD says this is a special edition. But I have never seen any extras on the DVD. And really if it wasn't for the killer penis angle I doubt hardly anyone would remember this film. But since it is the only killer penis films it is well known in the horror fan circles and the blaxploitation circles. Truthfully if you have to see this don't pay more than $5 or if you can rent it first. Soul Vengeance gets a D+.