Flight of Fancy: Vincent Price in MASTER OF THE WORLD (AIP 1961)

Posted on December 13, 2016 by gary loggins

MATSER OF THE WORLD is AIP’s answer to Disney’s 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA . Both are based on the works of Jules Verne, and involve fanatical protagonists commanding futuristic ships (an airship in this case). The difference is in budget, as studio honchos Samuel Z. Arkoff and James Nicholson didn’t have the financial means to compete with the mighty Walt Disney. They did have Vincent Price though, and within their monetary constraints came up with an entertaining mini-epic enhanced by another solid Richard Matheson script.

Price stars as Captain Robur, who’s fantastic flying airship Albatross rules the skies of 1868. When his amplified voice bellows some scripture from a mountain (does this make Vinnie the Voice of God?), balloon enthusiasts Mr. Prudent, daughter Dorothy, and her fiancé Phillip Evans, along with government agent John Strock, investigate, only to be shot down by Robur’s rockets and taken prisons aboard his flying fortress.

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4 Shots From 4 Films: Happy Birthday Charles Bronson

Posted on November 3, 2016 by gary loggins

4 Sots 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. Charles Bronson was born on this date in 1921. He was successful as a character actor in the 50’s and 60’s, but broke out to became a huge fan favorite in a slew of 70’s action films. Here are 4 Shots from some of Bronson’s greatest hits:

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The Magnificent Seven (1960, director John Sturges)

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The Mechanic (1972, director Michael Winner)

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Death Wish (1974, director Michael Winner)

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The Evil That Men Do (1984, director J. Lee Thompson)

Not Quite Spaghetti: Guns For San Sebastian (1968, directed by Henri Verneuil)

Posted on September 23, 2016 by Jedadiah Leland

bdsspos Leon Alastray (Anthony Quinn) is an outlaw in 18th century Mexico who is given sanctuary and hidden from the Spanish authorities by a kindly priest, Father Joseph (Sam Jaffe). In return, Leon agrees to escort the priest to a peasant village that is under siege from the Yaqui Indians. During the journey, Joseph dies and when Leon arrives at the village, he is mistaken for the priest. Even though Leon’s an atheist and a womanizer, he pretends to be a man of God and tries to broker a peace with the Yaqui’s bloodthirsty leader, Golden Lance (Jaime Fernandez). Standing in the way is Teclo (Charles Bronson), a mestizo rebel who wants to keep the Spanish and the Yaqui at war.

Because it features a score by Ennio Morricone and co-stars Charles Bronson, Guns For San Sebastian is often mistakenly referred to as being a spaghetti western. Instead, it was a big budget American-French co-production that was filmed, on location, in Mexico. (The majority of spaghettis were filmed in Spain.) While revolution in Mexico was a popular backdrop for many spaghetti westerns, none of them were as sympathetic to the church or the government as Guns for San Sebastian. If Guns For San Sebastian were a true spaghetti western, Teclo would be the hero.

Guns For San Sebastian is an above average western that starts out slow but gets better as it approaches the exciting final battle between the villagers and Yaqui. Morricone provides another great and rousing score but the main reason to watch Guns For San Sebastian is to see Anthony Quinn and Charles Bronson, two legendary tough guys, acting opposite each other and competing to see who can be the most intimidating. In the movie, Quinn may win but you can still see the determined presence that led to Bronson becoming an unlikely movie star in the 70s.

It’s the original THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN- or is it? (United Artists 1960)

Posted on September 22, 2016 by gary loggins

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There’s a large hue and cry about the upcoming remake of THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN (and remakes in general) among classic film fans. “How dare they”, it kind of goes, “Why, that’s blasphemy!”. The truth is, Hollywood’s been cannibalizing itself since almost the beginning, and remakes have long been a staple of filmmakers. THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN is a remake of Akira Kurasawa’s Japanese film SEVEN SAMAURI, moved to the American west by producer/director John Sturges . And while quite frankly most remakes can’t hold a candle to the originals, this 1960 action epic can stand on it’s own as one of the great Western adventures.

Sturges assembled a macho cast to tell the tale of bandits terrorizing a small Mexican village, and the seven hired guns who take on the job of defending them. Top billed is Yul Brynner as Chris, the black clad gunslinger who puts together the crew. First among them is

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More Of Bronson’s Best: Mr. Majestyk (1974, directed by Richard Fleischer)

Posted on July 2, 2016 by Jedadiah Leland

Mr_Majestyk_movie_poster What happens when you combine the great tough guy writer Elmore Leonard with the great tough guy actor Charles Bronson?

You get Mr. Majestyk, one of Bronson’s finest films.

Vince Majestyk (Bronson) may be a former U.S. Army Ranger instructor and a decorated Vietnam vet but now that he has returned home to Colorado, all he cares about is running his watermelon farm. With a lucrative harvest approaching, Majestyk hires a group of unionized Mexican migrant workers, led by the fiery Linda Chavez (Linda Cristal), to pick his crops. When a local criminal named Bobby Kopas (Paul Koslo) shows up and demands that Majestyk hire his drunken crew instead, Majestyk does what Bronson does best. He gives Kopas an ass-kickin’ beat down.

After Kopas charges him with assault, the local police arrest Majestyk and, despite his request that he be allowed three days to finish harvesting his crop, Majestyk is thrown in jail. Also in the jail is a Mafia hitman named Frank Renda (Al Lettieri). Renda may be a tough guy but nobody’s tougher than Vince Majestyk. When Renda’s associates attempt to hijack a prison bus, Majestyk ends up hijacking it instead. Majestyk plans to hold Renda hostage until the police agree to give him his three days of freedom so he can get back to his farm. Renda even offers to pay him off but Majestyk doesn’t care about his money. He just cares about melons.

Because he was the only 1970s action star who could be believable as both a decorated combat veteran and a no-nonsense watermelon farmer, Charles Bronson is the only actor who could have brought Mr. Majestyk to life. Before he became an actor, Bronson worked for a living. From the age of ten until he enlisted in the Army, Bronson worked in the Pennsylvania coal mines, earning one dollar for each ton of coal that he mined. Though Bronson was never a great actor, his legitimately working class background allowed him to bring an authenticity to a role like Vince Majestyk that most other actors would have lacked. When Bronson says that all he cares about is bringing in the harvest on time, you believe him just as much as you believe him when he’s beating up Paul Koslo or hijacking a prison bus.

The rest of the cast is full of good 1970s actors who have never really been given their due. Al Lettieri may be best known for playing Sollozzo in The Godfather but he also does a good job as Frank Renda. Paul Koslo plays another one his sleazy villains here and does a great job as Bobby Kopas.

Mr. Majestyk was directed by Richard Fleischer but, with its colorful characters, working class hero, and modernized brand of frontier justice, the film is clearly the work of Elmore Leonard. Though Mr. Majestyk is credited as being based on a novel by Leonard, Leonard actually wrote the screenplay before the novel.

The combination of Elmore Leonard and Charles Bronson makes Mr. Majestyk one of the best action films of the 1970s.

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Bronson’s Best: The Stone Killer (1973, directed by Michael Winner)

Posted on July 2, 2016 by Jedadiah Leland

Stone_killer After tough New York detective Lou Torrey (Charles Bronson) lands in hot water for shooting and killing a teenage cop killer, he moves to Los Angeles and gets a job with the LAPD. Working under an unsympathetic supervisor (Norman Fell), saddled with an incompetent partner (Ralph Waite), and surrounded by paper pushing bureaucrats, Torrey still tries to uphold the law and dispense justice whenever he can. When a heroin dealer is murdered while in Torrey’s custody, Torrey suspects that it might be a part of a larger conspiracy, involving mobster Al Vescari (Martin Balsam).

Vescari is plotting something big. It has been nearly 40 since the “Sicilian Vespers,” the day when Lucky Luciano, Frank Costello, and Busy Siegel killed all of the original mafia dons at the same time. Viscari has invited mafia leaders from across the country to attend a special anniversary dinner. During the dinner, all of Vescari’s rivals will be assassinated. To keep things a secret, Vescari will not be using any of his usual hitmen. Instead, he has contracted a group of mentally unstable Vietnam vets, led by Lawrence (Stuart Margolin).

Charles Bronson has always been an underrated film star. His legacy has been tarnished by the cheap films he made for Cannon and, unlike Clint Eastwood, he never got a chance to really take control of his career and reinvent his image. But during the 1970s, not even Clint Eastwood was a more convincing action star than Charles Bronson. Bronson may have never been a great actor but he was an authentic tough guy with a physical presence that dominated the screen.

It was during this period that Bronson made his first four movies with director Michael Winner. Though Death Wish and The Mechanic are the best known, The Stone Killer may be the best. Tough, gritty, and action-packed with a great car chase, The Stone Killer was filmed on location in Los Angeles and some of the best parts are just the scenes of Bronson awkwardly interacting with the local, California culture. If you have ever wanted to see Charles Bronson deal with a bunch of hippies, this is the film to see. The Stone Killer also has more of social conscience than the usual 70s cop film, with Bronson’s character not only condemning excessive police brutality but also his racist partner.

(Ironically, Bronson and Winner would follow The Stone Killer with Death Wish, a film that many critics condemned as being racist and which suggested that the police were not being brutal enough.)

The other thing that sets The Stone Killer apart is that it has a great cast, featuring several actors who would go on to find success on television. Balsam, Fell, and especially Waite and Margolin are all great. Keep an eye out for a very young John Ritter, playing one of the only cops in the film who is not portrayed as being either corrupt or incompetent.

Though it may not be as well-known as some of his other action films, The Stone Killer is one of Bronson’s best.

4 Shots From 4 Films: Charles Bronson Edition

Posted on August 30, 2015 by Arleigh

I think it’s becoming a sort of unofficial tradition to celebrate a particular film legend’s birthday using the 4 Shots From 4 Films series as platform to showcase these individuals best and lesser-known films.

Today, we focus and celebrate what would’ve been the 93rd birthday of one Charles Dennis Buchinsky. That name may not resonate to the csual film fans, but I’m sure his chosen professional moniker will: Charles Bronson.

Charles Bronson was part of that group of actors during the 60’s and 70’s who epitomized the macho and badass personality on the big-screen. Bronson’s legacy has lived on through such classic films as The Magnificent Seven, The Dirty Dozen and Once Upon A Time In America right up to his more lesser-known films such as Hard Times, Telefon and Death Hunt.

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The Magnificent Seven (dir. by John Sturges)

The Dirty Dozen (dir. by Robert Aldrich)

Once Upon A Time In the West (dir. by Sergio Leone)

Death Hunt (dir. by Peter R. Hunt)

6 Bronsonrific Trailers For The Month of March

Posted on March 19, 2014 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Even as I sit here typing, one of the local channels here in Dallas is currently showing a marathon of Charles Bronson action films. All of these movies come from the 70s, all of them star Charles Bronson, and all of them feature a lot of people getting shot.

Perhaps that’s why, when I sent the trailer kitties out to gather the trailers for this week’s edition of Lisa Marie’s Favorite Grindhouse and Exploitation Film Trailers, they came back with 6 trailers that can only be described as being Bronsonrific.

1) Mr. Majestyk (1974)

2) The Stone Killer (1973)

3) Cold Sweat (1970)

4) Telefon (1977)

5) Borderline (1980)

6) The White Buffalo (1977)

What do you think, Trailer Kitty?

The Evil That 6 Trailers Do

Posted on July 9, 2011 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Hi. I may be on the road at the moment but I wouldn’t ever let that stop me from providing everyone with the latest edition of Lisa Marie’s favorite grindhouse and exploitation trailers.

1) The Evil That Men Do (1984)

I haven’t seen this film but I love Shakespeare.

2) Satan’s Bed (1965)

Speaking of the evil that men do, this sexploitation film from Michael and Roberta Findlay is pretty rough even by today’s standards. Don’t watch this if you’re easily offended. If you are easily offended, just remember that ten years after making this film, Michael Findlay was decapitated by a rotating helicopter blade.

3) Moving Violation (1976)

On a slightly less disturbing note, here’s the trailer for Moving Violation. The film is actually a bit more odd than you might guess from just the trailer.

4) The House By The Cemetery (1981)

From the great Lucio Fulci comes this film, the third part of The Beyond trilogy. This film gave me nightmares the first few times I saw it.

5) Macon County Line (1974)

This is one of the most financially succesful films of all time and apparently, it extended the life of the Southern drive-in by a good decade or so. It’s actually a pretty good movie.

6) Telefon (1977)

Finally, let’s end things how we started — with Charles Bronson killing people.

Hobo With a Shotgun Teaser Trailer (AICN Exclusive)

Posted on September 2, 2010 by Arleigh

It looks to be grindhouse week. First we get Robert Rodriguez’s feature-length version of his fake grindhouse trailer Machete. A trailer created solely to give the Robert Rodriguez/Quentin Tarantino grindhouse/exploitation homage flick, Grindhouse, even more of that dingy grindhouse feel while it played in the theaters. While other fake trailers were shot and added to the film there was one which only saw a theater inclusion during Grindhouse‘s theatrical run and that would be Jason Eisener’s trailer (which beat out other amateur-made fake grindhouse trailers) titled, Hobo With a Shotgun.

Now with Machete set to come out this week on Sept. 03, 2010, the first teaser trailer for the feature-length film version of Hobo With a Shotgun has been released and exclusively for film site Ain’t It Cool News. Jason Eisener also directs this version, but with Rutger Hauer in the role of the Hobo instead of David Brunt who handled the role in the original trailer.

From the look of the film as seen in the teaser this particular flick definitely sticking to its grindhouse roots. This flick could almost be the homeless, perpetually drunk and angry cousin of another 1980’s exploitation action flick starring perpetually scowling and all-around badass Charles Bronson in Death Wish III.

Now, if Eli Roth can just get onboard this making the fake trailers become real flicks and do a feature-length version of his fake grindhouse trailer, Thanksgiving.

Source: Ain’t It Cool News