Today’s scene that I love comes from Lucio Fulci’s 1981 masterpiece, The Beyond.
Liza (Catriona MacColl) meets the mysterious Emily (Cinzia Monreale) on one of Louisiana’s famous bridges to nowhere. This scene is Fulci at his most dream-like.
Category Archives: Film
6 Shots From 6 Films: Special Lucio Fulci Edition
4 (or more) Shots From 4 (or more) Films is just what it says it is, 4 (or more) shots from 4 (or more) of our favorite films. As opposed to the reviews and recaps that we usually post, 4 (or more) Shots From 4 (or more) Films lets the visuals do the talking.
98 years ago today, Lucio Fulci — the maestro of Italian genre filmmaking — was born in Rome. Fulci would go on to direct some of the most visually stunning (and, occasionally, most narratively incoherent) films ever made. Fulci worked in all genres but he’ll probably always be best remembered for launching the Italian zombie boom with Zombi 2. His subsequent Beyond trilogy continues to fascinate and delight lovers of both horror and grindhouse filmmaking.
Lucio Fulci, needless to say, is a pretty popular figure here at the TSL. In honor of the date of his birth, it’s time for….
6 Shots From 6 Lucio Fulci Films
A Lizard In A Woman’s Skin (1971, dir by Lucio Fulci, DP: Luigi Kuveiller)
Don’t Torture A Duckling (1972, dir by Lucio Fulci, DP: Sergio D’Offizi)
Zombi 2 (1979, dir by Lucio Fulci, DP: Sergio Salvati)
The Beyond (1981, dir by Lucio Fulci, DP: Sergio Salvati)
The House By The Cemetery (1981, dir by Lucio Fulci, DP: Sergio Salvati)
Murder Rock (1984, dir by Lucio Fulci, DP: Giuseppe Pinori)
I Watched Fatal Exposure (2025, Dir. by Sam Coyle)
Red flags, girls! You need to know how and when to spot them!
Photographer Ariel (Sofia Masson) is the victim of a violent home invasion and her sex buddy Derek (Stephen Huszar) just happens to show up a minute later? Red flag!
The only photograph from Ariel’s exhibit that sells is an erotic selife called “No Daddy Issues” and then Derek suddenly wants to be called “daddy” while in the bedroom? Guess what? That’s a red flag!
Derek invites Ariel to his estate for the summer without telling her that he’s a widower and that he has a stepdaughter named Chloe (Jasmine Vaga)? You better believe that’s a red flag!
Chloe is the same age as Ariel and physically resembles Ariel and calls her stepfather “daddy?” Red flag, red flag, red flag!
I watched this movie because it was about a photographer and there really aren’t that many non-documentaries about photographers. I didn’t think that the selfie that Ariel sold was that impressive but some of her other photographs showed a hint of talent. But a photographer has to be aware of the world around her and she has to be able to see the things that other people miss. That’s what distinguishes a photographer from someone who just has a camera. How could any photographer miss all the red flags and all the strange atmosphere inside of Derek’s estate?
(I did like that Ariel had somehow developed a system to allow her to develop film and make prints within seconds. I’d love to know how she did that.)
Fatal Exposure requires a big suspension of disbelief. If you can do it, then the film itself is enjoyably trashy. Derek’s gothic mansion is a great location and the acting wasn’t bad at all. But you just have to be willing to accept that someone could miss all of those red flags. Derek was too obviously evil from the start but he did give Ariel a nice studio to work in. Maybe he wasn’t all bad.
Come On Get Happy: The Partridge Family Story (1999, directed by David Burton Morris)
In 1969, a group of television network executives get together and decide the world needs a sitcom that will mix music with family comedy. The result is The Partridge Family. While Shirley Jones (Eve Gordon) tries to keep her television family safe from the networks and, in some cases, their own dysfunctional families, David Cassidy (Rodney Scott) struggles with being a teen idol and Danny Bonaduce (Shawn Pyfrom) deals with living with an abusive father (William Russ). Danny finds a new father figure in the form of co-star Dave Madden (Michael Cheiffo) while Danny dates his tv sister, Susan Dey (Kathy Wagner).
This was one of the many made-for-TV movies that took advantage of boomer nostalgia at the turn of the 20th Century. Like most of those movies, Come On Get Happy is on the shallow side, providing the details that everyone had already heard without digging too far underneath the surface. The main thing that sets this film apart from so many other behind-the-scenes movies is that the cast, for the most part, actually resemble the real-life people that they’re playing. That’s especially true in the case of Shawn Pyfrom. If you’re a fan of the show or Cassidy’s music, this movie might appeal to you. I Think I Love You is still a banger.
It’s well-made but it’s still hard not to feel that it would have been more entertaining just to watch a 2-hour interview with the real-life Danny Bonaduce.
Brad’s “Scene of the Day” features Charles Bronson on a Bulldozer!
We’re watching THE MECHANIC (1972) on our #MondayMuggers live tweet tonight (see my prior post for the details). The film is a character study of an aging hitman, that just happens to feature some awesome action sequences. In case you’re on the fence about joining us, here’s a little taste of badassery to whet your appetite!
Lifetime Film Review: Kidnapped By A Killer: The Heather Robinson Story (dir by Lee Gabiana)
John Robinson has been described as being the Internet’s first serial killer.
I don’t know if that’s an accurate description but it is true that Robinson, who most of his neighbors and family knew as just being a somewhat eccentric businessman who always seemed to be in trouble with the IRS, did make contact with several of his victims in online chatrooms. No one is quite sure how many women Robinson killed in the 80s and the 90s. Robinson himself has given contradictory numbers. What is know is that Robinson started out by luring women to his home by claiming that he had a job for them. Many of the women who accepted his job offer were either never seen again or their bodies were eventually found on his properties in Kansas and Missouri. Eventually, after serving time on fraud conviction, Robinson started to use internet chatrooms to find his victims. He used the screenname Slavemaster, something that would have undoubtedly stunned all of his neighbors.
In Kidnapped By A Killer, Steve Guttenberg plays John Robinson. Now, it should be noted that Guttenberg doesn’t get much screentime and he’s also nearly unrecognizable under a ton of old age makeup. Guttenberg plays Robinson as being a creepy old man who uses the fact that he walks with a cane to put people at ease. The film doesn’t spend much time with Robinson and it doesn’t show any of his murders. Instead, the focus is on the police who investigated Robinson and also on Heather Robinson, a young woman who was Robinson’s adoptive niece but who was also the daughter of one of Robinson’s victims. After killing her mother, Robinson “gave” Heather to his brother and sister-in-law, telling them that her mother had been a drug addict who abandoned her baby.
The majority of the film focuses on Heather (Rachel Stubington), who is a teenager when John is arrested for the murders that he committed. Heather struggles to come to terms with the knowledge that her uncle — who seemed kindly, if a bit corny — murdered her mother and that she was essentially kidnapped and given away. What seemed like an act of kindness — Uncle John not wanting a drug addict’s daughter to get lost in the system — was actually John Robinson’s attempt to cover up his crimes. Much like the criminal who starts a business to launder money, Heather’s adoption was John’s attempt to launder evidence. Stubington does a good job as Heather, capturing her struggle to come to terms with her identity. The scenes of her dealing with her feelings towards John and the scenes of hardened detectives recoiling in shock as they discover the remains of John’s victims all serve as a reminder that murder is not an isolated crime. It’s something that effects communities and families long after the act itself has been completed.
Kidnapped By A Killer deserves credit for focusing on a victim instead of on John Robinson, himself. Too often, when it comes to true crime movies, the victims are forgotten while the serial killer gets all the best lines and the big moments. Kidnapped By A Killer presents John Robinson as being a rather pathetic old man and that’s perhaps the best thing about it.
The Films of 2025: Emmanuelle (dir by Audrey Diwan)
This film is taking itself way too seriously….
I had that thought 16 minutes into Emmanuelle. A remake of the wonderfully trashy 70s film that made a star (of sorts) out of Sylvia Kristel, this version of Emmanuelle takes itself way too seriously. It should be noted that no one is under the impression that the original Emmanuelle films or any of the unofficial spin-offs were high art. The first film may have pretended to be about something but, ultimately, it was a trashy sex romp that was made because some folks wanted to make a lot of money. That’s one reason why the original film and Kristel’s version of the character continue to be popular. Both were totally shameless and unapologetic.
The remake, though, is boring. Emmanuelle (played by Noemie Merlant) even has a boring job. She works in quality control for a large chain of luxury hotels. That’s right, quality control. This film reimagines Emmanuelle as being the female version of Creed from The Office Emmanuelle has been sent to Hong Kong so that she can evaluate a hotel that is being managed by Margot (Naomi Watts). The company has tasked Emmanuelle with finding an excuse to fire Margot and Emmanuelle is feeling conflicted about it. Let me tell you, there’s nothing sexier than quality control.
Emmanuelle has several sexual experiences while staying at the hotel. The sensuality of Hong Kong gets to her. While wearing a towel, she flirts with a nervous room steward. She touches herself in front of an escort who hangs out at the hotel’s pool and she gets upset when Margot sends the escort and her friends away. Emmanuelle wanders through the film with a blank expression on her face, staring at things that are often happening off-camera. Hong Kong is presented as being a world where everything is for sale and no desires are forbidden. If this was one of Joe D’Amato’s Black Emanuelle films, the decadence would probably be strange and entertaining. However, since this is an Emmanuelle film that takes itself seriously, it’s kind of boring.
In fact, this film really does get caught up in the whole “Will Emmanuelle get Margot fired?” plot. That is probably the least interesting part of the movie but the filmmakers really do want us to understand that Emmanuelle could lose her job if she doesn’t give Margot a bad report. But honestly, who cares? This film makes the mistake of assuming that “quality control” is a lot more exciting than it actually is.
Emmanuelle does fall in love over the course of the film. Kei (Will Sharpe) is an enigmatic guest who hasn’t had sex in “two or three years” because he lost his desire. He’s suffering from ennui! Emmanuelle yells at Kei for smoking in the hotel but she’s attracted to him as well. At least, that’s what the film wants us to believe. Merchant and Sharpe have so little chemistry — romantic or sexual — that it’s hard to really care. They have some philosophical discussions, the type of stuff that even Zalman King would have dismissed as being rather pretentious.
The main problem, as I said before, is that this film just isn’t fun. It gets bogged down with its plot and Merlant, Watts, and Sharpe all sleepwalk through their roles. This film should have been glorious trash. Instead, it’s just dull.
#MondayMuggers present THE MECHANIC (1972) starring Charles Bronson & Jan-Michael Vincent!
Every Monday night at 9:00 Central Time, my wife Sierra and I host a “Live Movie Tweet” event on X using the hashtag #MondayMuggers. We rotate movie picks each week, and our tastes are quite different. Tonight, Monday June 16th, we are showing THE MECHANIC (1972) starring Charles Bronson, Jan-Michael Vincent, Keenan Wynn, Jill Ireland, and Frank DeKova.
In THE MECHANIC, Charles Bronson plays a hitman who takes on a young apprentice (Jan-Michael Vincent) and trains him to be a professional assassin. But in their world, you never know when you’ll go from being the killer… to becoming the next target!
I reviewed THE MECHANIC for The Shattered Lens back on New Year’s Day!
Join us tonight for #MondayMuggers and watch THE MECHANIC! It’s on Amazon Prime. The trailer is included below:
I Watched Day of Reckoning (2025, Dir. by Shaun Silva)
In this modern day western, Billy Zane plays a U.S. Marshal who recruits a down on his luck sheriff (Zach Roerig) to help him capture a banker robber (Scott Adkins). Zane goes out to Adkins’s ranch and holds Adkins’s wife (Cara Jade Myers) hostage. Roerig is not okay with this, especially since he thinks that Zane and his men have ulterior motives for wanting to track Adkins. Eventually, some other yahoos show up, all wanting to join Zane’s posse, setting up a final violent showdown and Roerig having to decide which side he’s on.
Day of Reckoning had the right, dusty look and the acting was decent but it took forever for the action to actually start. Instead, there were way too many scenes of Roerig bonding with Myers, who spent nearly the entire running time handcuffed in a bathtub. Scott Adkins is a martial artist who has a huge online following but he didn’t get to show off any of his skills in the movie so I’m not sure what the point of casting him was. Trace Adkins (no relation to Scott) and Mike Wolfe (from American Pickers) are also in the movie and I’m always happy to see them. Rapper Yelawolf, who was supposed to be the next big thing 15 years ago, is also in Day of Reckoning. He plays the imaginatively named Wolf. I liked Billy Zane’s performance but it was mostly just because he was Billy Zane. (I even liked him in Titanic because it’s impossible not to like Billy Zane.) There’s nothing that interesting or surprising about his character. It’s obvious that he’s going to turn out to be bad from the first moment he shows up.
Once the action does start up, it’s decent. I just wish there had been more of it and less scenes of everyone standing around giving each other the evil eye.
4 Shots From 4 Films: Special Vilmos Zsigmod Edition
4 Shots From 4 Films is just what it says it is, 4 shots from 4 of our favorite films. As opposed to the reviews and recaps that we usually post, 4 Shots From 4 Films lets the visuals do the talking!
Today, we pay tribute to the legendary cinematographer, Vilmos Zsigmond. Born 90 years ago today in Hungary, Zsigmond got his start in the 60s with low-budget films like The Sadist but he went on to become one of the most in-demand cinematographers around. In fact, of all the people who started their career working on a film that starred Arch Hall, Jr., it’s hard to think of any who went on to have the type of success that Zsigmond did.
Zsigmond won one Oscar, for his work on Close Encounters of Third Kind. He was nominated for three more. He also received a BAFTA award for his work on The Deer Hunter and was nominated for an Emmy for his work on Stalin. He’s considered to be one of the most influential cinematographers of all time.
In honor of the legacy of Vilmos Zsigmond, here are….
4 Shots From 4 Films
Deliverance (1972, directed by John Boorman, DP: Vilmos Zsigmond)
The Long Goodbye (1973, dir by Robert Altman, DP: Vilmos Zsigmond)
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977, dir by Steven Spielberg, DP: Vilmos Zsigmond)
Heaven’s Gate (1980, directed by Michael Cimino, DP: Vilmos Zsigmond)
Through the Shattered Lens 