Film Review: Lady Terminator (1989, dir. H. Tjut Djalil as Jalil Jackson)


Lady Terminator (Barbara Anne Constable)

Lady Terminator (Barbara Anne Constable)

It’s all here. She hunts down and kills innocent people on her way to her target. She rams a car into a police station in order to get to her target. She drives after the protector and her target while having a shootout. She appears as the Lady Terminator naked. She takes two guys to the back of a car where a snake comes out of her vagina and bites off their dicks, killing them so she can take their clothes.

What? Arnold didn’t bite off any dicks? Well, that’s because this isn’t The Terminator. This is Lady Terminator. Here, if a dick isn’t shot off, then it’s bit off by what we will refer to as the vagina snake.

The movie begins in the past where an evil queen takes a man to bed and kills him during sex. Then another man is brought in, but this time it goes differently. She gets into position, a snake slithers out of her vagina, he grabs it, it turns into a knife, and she’s banished. By banished, I mean she swears she’ll have her vengeance on his great-granddaughter in 100 years, appears outside on the beach, and walks into the ocean to join forces with evil. Isn’t that one of the most absurd openings to a movie you’ve ever heard of?

We jump to the future and meet Tania. She’s not a lady, she’s an anthropology student, as she reminds the sea captain. You see, she’s going to investigate the legend of the South Sea Queen. The lady who liked biting off dicks. She visits a library to have an encounter with a ridiculous character who knows exactly what she’s talking about, warns her, but gives her what she’s looking for anyways. You know, standard stuff.

She gets a boat, goes underwater, winds up on a bed, and the snake goes up her vagina. Makes perfect sense, doesn’t it? At this point I think we need to stop and notice that we have learned an important lesson. Fifty Shades Of Grey taught us that if you are a female English major then you’ll end up negotiating the use of butt plugs. But Lady Terminator teaches us that if you are a female Anthropology major then a snake will go up your vagina and turn you into a killing machine. Maybe major in Computer Science instead. Just saying.

See, I wasn't kidding. That's why we call it the vagina snake.

See, I wasn’t kidding. That’s why we call it the vagina snake.

Anyway, once the we really were inspired by the legend of the South Sea Queen and not The Terminator portion is over, the fun begins. And by fun, I mean almost a scene for scene copy of The Terminator, but with some differences to keep it exciting while doing those scenes well.

Emerging From The Water Naked

Emerging From The Water Naked

Lady Terminator Vision

Lady Terminator Vision

Shootout In A Club. Complete with getting shot to the ground, then popping back up.

Shootout In A Club. Complete with getting shot to the ground, then popping back up.

The Car Chase

The Car Chase

Crashing The Car Into The Police Station

Crashing The Car Into The Police Station

Cutting Out The Eyeball

Cutting Out The Eyeball

They even have somebody say Arnold’s name and the Kyle Reese character says, “Come with me if you want to live”. They also have the love scene together. I wish there was more to say, but telling you every added element would be spoiling it.

With all that out of the way. The question is whether this is worth seeing. You see the title. You know it’s a ripoff. You think of the Turks. You wonder is it worth your time.

Hell, yeah! It’s a lot of fun. It’s not as good as the real thing, but they did a damn fine job. I just wish they had made more of these movies with Barbara Anne Constable: Lady Rambo, Lady Die Hard, Lady Under Siege. Considering there is a new, legitimate, Terminator movie out, then this is a perfect way to take a trip back to the original, but with a fun twist.

Carry A Big Gun

Carry A Big Gun

Comic-Con Reel Looks At Star Wars: The Force Awakens Behind-the-Scenes


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Nothing more to say than Star Wars: The Force Awakens is just 5 months away. It’s a wait made to seem even longer after witnessing the behind-the-scenes reel shown during this week’s San Diego Comic-Con.

May the Force be with you.

4 Shots From 4 Films: Omar Sharif Edition


Today the film world received news that legendary actor Omar Sharif passed away at the age of 83. The acclaimed Egyptian actor would make quite an entrance with his very first English-language film: David Lean’s epic Lawrence of Arabia.

Omar Sharif would go on to star in such film as Dr. Zhivago, MacKenna’s Gold, Funny Girl and Behold a Pale Horse to name a few. He might be recognized by the younger generation in such films as The 13th Warrior and Hidalgo. He would be the vision of the noble romantic whether it was as a warrior, a poet or a leader. He would bring a bearing on-screen that exuded steadfast nobility yet still with a streak of roguish charm.

With each passing year we lose more and more of our classic performers. Now Omar Sharif joins the others who have gone before him but will always live on in our memories of him up on the screen.

4 SHOTS FROM 4 FILMS

Lawrence of Arabia (dir. by David Lean)

Lawrence of Arabia (dir. by David Lean)

Dr. Zhivago (dir. by David Lean)

Dr. Zhivago (dir. by David Lean)

MacKenna'sGold

MacKenna’s Gold (dir. by J. Lee Thompson)

Hidalgo (dir. by Joe Johnston)

Hidalgo (dir. by Joe Johnston)

Film Review: The Greatest (1977, dir by Tom Gries and Monte Hellman)


the_greatest_1977_portrait_w858The Greatest opens with 18 year-old Cassius Clay (played by Chip McAllister as a teenager and, as an adult, by Muhammad Ali himself) winning the light heavyweight gold medal at the 1960 Rome Olympics.  Returning home to Kentucky, Clay discovers that not even a gold medal can protect him from racism.  Angered after a restaurant refuses to serve him and his friend, Clay throws his gold medal into the Ohio River.  Under the training of Angelo Dundee (Ernest Borgnine), Clay turns pro and defeats Sonny Liston (Roger E. Mosley) for the heavyweight championship.  Inspired by Malcolm X (James Earl Jones), Clay also joins the Nation of Islam and changes his name to Muhammad Ali.  As heavyweight champion, Ali battles not only his opponents in the ring but racism outside of it.  The Greatest follows Ali as he loses his title for refusing to be drafted and concludes with the famous Rumble in the Jungle, where Ali won the title back from George Foreman.

Sadly, Muhammad Ali has never been the subject of a truly great feature film.  Even Michael Mann’s Ali failed to really capture the mystique that made Ali into such an iconic figure.  The Greatest is interesting because Ali plays himself.  Unfortunately, The Greatest proves that Ali may have been a great showman but he was not a natural actor.  You only have to watch the scene where Ali tries to hold his own with Robert Duvall to see just how stiff an actor Muhammad Ali really was.  Ali’s best scenes are the ones where he is trash talking his opponents or training.  The film opens with Ali jogging while George Benson sings The Greatest Love Of All, a scene that is made all the more poignant when you compare the athletic and confident Muhammad Ali of 1977 with the frail, Parkinson’s stricken Ali of today.

29Muhammad-Ali-1Instead of recreating any of Ali’s legendary fights, The Greatest instead uses actual footage of the matches.  The real life footage is the best part of the film.  After all these years, Ali’s fights against Sonny Liston, Joe Frazier, Ken Norton, and George Foreman remain exciting to watch.  Otherwise, The Greatest is too episodic and low budget to do justice to Muhammad Ali’s story.

If you want to see a truly great film about Ali and his legacy, watch the 1996 documentary When We Were Kings, 2009’s Facing Ali or 2013’s The Trials of Muhammad Ali.  Ali is such an iconic figure that it may be impossible for any feature film to properly do justice to his life and legacy.  These three documentaries come close.

(Director Tom Gries died during the filming of The Greatest.  The movie was completed by Monte Hellman.)

Film Review: Super Christian (1980, dir. John Schmidt)


Super Christian played by John Schmidt

Super Christian played by John Schmidt

I’ll admit it, I saw the title and thought this had to be hilariously bad. I mean it’s called Super Christian for crying out loud. But you know what, it wasn’t bad. It’s goofy and it’s low budget, but for a Christian movie, it has it’s heart in the right place. It’s not like God’s Not Dead.

Here’s the gist. It’s about a guy who during the week is a bit of douchebag. Let’s not mince words, he’s a total jerk. However, on Sunday, this happens.

Super Christian

Super Christian

Super Christian

Super Christian

During this spectacle a man takes notice and pays Clark Kant a visit. Yes, that is his name in the movie. He sits him down and explains that he knows what he is doing. He once did it himself. Then, the grand reveal. He was once The Lone Christian!

The Lone Christian

The Lone Christian

He tells him that he used to show up on Sunday to be the ideal Christian, but wasn’t a good guy the rest of the time. Clark gives up the secret identity nonsense and decides to just be a decent person all the time. Of course he still attends church, but the message applies to anyone who only acts like a great person when it’s convenient. It’s only 27 minutes which is perfect for getting the short point across to the audience. I liked it.

Apparently, Schmidt still makes movies. I wonder if he’s stayed above films like God’s Not Dead. Now I just need to find Super Christian 2. Yes, there is a sequel.

4 Shots From 4 Films: Douce, War and Peace, Rocker, Under The Bridges


Since it’s likely that many of my posts will be about films that come from the bottom, or near to it, of the barrel. I thought I would occasionally direct you to four films worth checking out simply through showing you a screenshot. Some may be difficult to find, but that’s part of the fun.

Douce (1943, dir. Claude Autant-Lara)

Douce (1943, dir. Claude Autant-Lara)

War and Peace (1966, dir. Sergey Bondarchuk)

War and Peace (1966, dir. Sergey Bondarchuk)

Rocker (1972, dir. Klaus Lemke)

Rocker (1972, dir. Klaus Lemke)

Under The Bridges (1946, dir. Helmut Käutner)

Under The Bridges (1946, dir. Helmut Käutner)

Here’s the latest trailer for Southpaw!


Will Southpaw get Jake Gyllenhaal the Oscar nomination that he deserved for Nightcrawler?

Hmmm…it’s hard to say.  The Academy definitely owes Gyllenhaal for snubbing him earlier this year.  But Southpaw doesn’t necessarily look like an Oscar nominee.  Instead, it looks like … well, it looks like every other melodramatic boxing film that’s ever been made.

But, still — I’ll see it when it’s released on July 24th.  At this point, I’ll watch Jake Gyllenhaal in just about anything…

(Except for Love and Other Drugs.  Don’t even get me started on that…)

Anyway, here’s the latest trailer for Southpaw!

A Moment With Priest (Street Soldiers, 1991)


A few nights ago I watched a bad movie called Street Soldiers. We could talk about how it’s similar, very loosely, to West Side Story. The lame training sequences. The fact that the martial arts guy similar to Mr. Miyagi suddenly becomes psychic. Or even the rubber cobra that is clearly squirting a liquid like milk. But no. I want to take a moment to pay tribute to Jeff Rector who plays the villain named Priest. He amazingly overacts. Every facial expression he makes is like a gift from the cinematic gods.

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This shot should be posted by anyone who accomplishes something.

This shot should be posted by anyone who accomplishes something.

This has been a moment with Priest. Now back to your regularly scheduled programming.