6 Classic Albert Pyun Trailers

Posted on November 27, 2022 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Albert Pyun (1953 — 2022)

I just heard the sad news that director Albert Pyun has passed away at the age of 69.

In honor of Pyun’s career, it’s time for a special edition of Lisa Marie’s Favorite Grindhouse and Exploitation Film trailers! The six trailers below were all designed to promote films directed by the great Albert Pyun.

The Sword and the Sorcerer (1982)

Albert Pyun made his directorial debut with this film, which starred Richard Lynch. The Sword and the Sorcerer was Pyun’s most financially successful film.

2. Dangerously Close (1986)

In 1986, Albert Pyun directed the teen vigilante classic, Dangerously Close.

3. Cyborg (1989)

Due to the presence of Jean-Claude Van Damme in the leading role, Cyborg remains one of Pyun’s best-known films.

4. Captain America (1990)

20 years before Kevin Feige and the MCU, Albert Pyun brought Captain America to the big screen!

5. Omega Doom (1996)

In 1996, Albert Pyun was responsible for this post-apocalyptic western, starring Rutger Hauer.

6. Tales of an Ancient Empire (2011)

Finally, in 2011, Pyun directed his long-awaited sequel to The Sword and the Sorcerer, Tales of An Ancient Empire.

Rest in Peace, Albert Pyun.

Albert Pyun Films That We Have Reviewed:

Music Video of the Day: Blood and Roses by The Smithereens (1986, directed by Albert Pyun?)

Posted on November 17, 2020 by Jedadiah Leland

Blood and Roses was the lead single off of The Smithereens’s debut album, Especially For You. In the U.S., it peaked at #14 on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Chart. That’s not bad for the first single from a debut album.

It was also the theme song for a teensploitation film called Dangerously Close. Written by John Stockwell and directed by Albert Pyun, Dangerously Close is about a group of high school students who keep order in their school through fear and intimidation. It’s meant to be a statement about fascism and out-of-control policing but mostly it’s just remembered for being the debut film of future Bond girl and Law & Order actress Carey Lowell. Not surprisingly, the music video duplicates the film’s high school setting.

According to the imdb, this video was also directed by Pyun. However, according to Wikipedia, the video for Blood and Roses features clips from the film, none of which are featured in the video that’s available on YouTube. I’m going to guess that there were two versions of this video, one that just featured the band performing and another one that was done to promote Dangerously Close. Did Pyun direct both of those videos? I don’t know but for now, I’m going to assume that imdb is correct and that Pyun directed the video featured in this post.

Pat DiNizo, lead singer of the Smithereens, would later run for the U.S. Senate in New Jersey as the candidate of the Reform Party. (Remember them?) In the 2000 Senate election, he ran fourth with 0.4% of the vote. That election was won by Jon Corzine. Corzine later went on to serve as governor of New Jersey and did such a terrible job that he was defeated for reelection by Chris Christie. Corzine was then appointed CEO of M.F. Global. Under Corzine’s leadership, M.F. Global went bankrupt, investors lost over $1.2 billion in cash, and at least an extra two years were added to the Great Recession as a result.

In other words: you should have voted for DiNizo, New Jersey!

Enjoy!

A Movie A Day #320: Dangerously Close (1986, directed by Albert Pyun)

Posted on November 25, 2017 by Jedadiah Leland

Vista Verde, an exclusive suburban high school in California, has a problem. Some of the students have a bad attitude. Some of them are experimenting with drugs. Graffiti is showing up all over the school. What better way to return peace to Vista Verde than for a bunch of WASPy rich kids and other jocks to organize into a secret vigilante force? The headmaster thinks that it’s a great idea and soon “The Sentinels” are holding mock trials and shooting the other students with paintball guns. One bad kid even turns up dead. Graffiti is no joke.

The leader of the Sentinels is a rich kid named Randy (John Stockwell, who also co-wrote the script). Randy knows the importance of good PR so he befriend the editor of the school newspaper, Donny (J. Eddie Peck). Donny may not be rich but, because of his amazing journalism skills, he has been allowed to attend Vista Verde as a magnet student. At first, Donny is skeptical of The Sentinels but he soon finds himself seduced by not only Randy’s wealthy lifestyle but also by Randy’s beautiful girlfriend (Carey Lowell). Meanwhile, Donny’s friend Krooger (Bradford Bancroft) not only listens to punk music but also has a mohawk so he naturally becomes the latest target of the Sentinels.

A teen film with a conscience, Dangerously Close was one of the better films to come out of the Cannon Group in the mid-80s. The script is smarter than the average 80s teen film and Albert Pyun’s slick direction captures the appeal of being young and rich in the suburbs. Stockwell, Peck, and Lowell all give better than average performances and there is actually some unexpected depth to Stockwell and Peck’s friendship. Stockwell does not play Randy as just being a typical rich villain. Instead, he is someone who thinks he’s doing the right thing even when he’s not.

The cast is full of faces that will be familiar to anyone who has ever been a fan of 80s high school films. Keep an eye out for Thom Matthews, Don Michael Paul, Gerard Christopher, Miguel Nunez, Jr., and DeeDee Pfeiffer, all doing their part to keep the halls of Vista Verde safe.