With the release of “Piranha 3D” back in 2010, New Jersey's own Joe Dante found himself in rarefied film territory. He's one of the few directors who have been around long enough to see one of his own low budget movies remade in 3D by a new director. Born in Morristown, New Jersey, Dante grew up in the 1950s and fell in love with the sci-fi and horror movie explosion of the decade (on some DVDs you can hear him wax poetic about some of the theaters he watched movies at). During the 1960s he wrote for popular monster movie magazines like Calvin T. Beck’s “Castle of Frankenstein” and Forrest J. Ackerman’s “Famous Monsters of Filmland.” By the early 1970s he and fellow New Jerseyan Alan Arkush (director of “Rock and Roll High School” [1979]) found their way to Roger Corman’s New World Pictures and began cutting trailers for the legendary low budget director. While making trailers for exploitation films such as “Black Mama, White Mama” (1973) and “Tidal Wave” (1973), Dante and Arkush were convinced that they could make better movies. They approached Corman and told him that if he let them direct, they would make sure that it would be the least expensive film New World ever produced. Corman agreed and the result was “Hollywood Boulevard” (1976) a funny, snappy and slick look at the making of a low budget movie that both mocked itself as well as the bloated Hollywood film making system. True to their word, it was the cheapest movie New World ever made, and of course, it made a tidy profit. And with that, Dante was on his way. So here’s a quick look at three of Joe Dante's best films.

The Howling (Avco Embassy, 1981) - 1981 was an unusual year in horror films in that three major werewolf movies were released. Joe Dante's “The Howling” was the first and it still remains one of the best werewolf movies ever made. Ambitious reporter Karen White (Dee Wallace Stone) agrees to go to a mountain retreat run by famous therapist Dr. George Waggner (Patrick Macnee) after a traumatic incident with serial killer Eddie Quist (Robert Picardo). What she finds is a family of werewolves who want to indoctrinate Karen into their way of life. With a witty and bright script by Gary Brander, Terrance Winkless and future filmmaker John Sayles, “The Howling” is a great reboot of the werewolf movie. Incorporating effective makeup effects by a young Rob Bottin, “The Howling” was one of the first films to ignore the traditional time lapse photography route for its monster transformations. Dante keeps his tongue firmly in cheek balancing terror and humor and winds up reinvigorating a venerable horror genre. After more than 30 years, “The Howling” has lost none of its bite.

InnerSpace (Universal, 1987) - What would make more sense to Joe Dante, then to send up one his beloved seminal sci-fi flicks from the 1960s? In this hilarious spoof of “Fantastic Voyage” (1966), tough guy pilot Tuck Pendleton (Dennis Quid) and his state of the art one man sub are ready to undergo miniaturization and be injected into an experimental animal. The process goes wrong, however, and the miniaturized Tuck is instead injected into the body of hypochondriac Jack Putter (a wonderful Martin Short) who is now convinced that he's hearing voices. It's up to Tuck to save Jack from evil spies while it's up to Jack to teach Tuck how to share his feelings with girlfriend Lydia Maxwell (Meg Ryan). “Innerspace” is a total treat, from its spoof of sci-fi and spy films, to its wicked take on the "I'm OK, you're OK" psycho babble of the 80s. Dante includes many affectionate nods to classic sci-fi in this charming film and gleefully takes the audience on a trip that mixes summer blockbuster spectacle with genuine belly laughs.

Matinee (Universal, 1993) - Leave it to Joe Dante to come up with a nostalgic and funny take at growing up during one of most stressful times in American history. In October 1962 Florida teenager Gene Loomis (Simon Fenton) takes his little brother Dennis (Jesse Lee Souffer) to the local theater to experience producer Lawrence Woolsey's (a boisterous John Goodman) new sci-fi sensation “Mant.” However, it seems that the Cuban Missile Crisis is also on everyone's mind. Can Gene grow up, find true love with pretty Sandra (Lisa Jakub), meet Mr. Woolsey and save his little brother all at the same time? “Matinee” is a pure nostalgic delight. It's a sweet and likable look at the end of innocence in America. Dante spoofs the showmanship of legendary horror producer William Castle while paying homage to him at the same time. And “Mant,” the film within a film, is a treasure for all lovers of 1950s sci-fi. “Matinee” remains a triumph for Joe Dante and one of his most heartfelt movies.

Though his film output has slowed down quite a bit from his heyday in the 1980s, Joe Dante continues to direct smart and fun movies. And let’s not forget that he’s launched one the greatest websites ever – “Trailers from Hell.” For that feat alone, Joe Dante walks on hallowed ground.

Jack Arnold was one of classic sci-fi’s first superstar directors. While the genre currently has many wunderkinds (Cameron, Lucas, Spielberg, Nolan, Jackson), back in the 1950s there were very few directors who wanted to direct sci-fi movies and even fewer who liked directing them. But Arnold thrived within a very rigid studio system and left an indelible mark on the minds of both fans and future directors alike.

Over the course of five years (1953-1958) Arnold directed three classic sci-fi films and also directed some second unit work for another classic all for Universal International. What separated Arnold from other directors of 1950s sci-fi was that he really enjoyed the genre. Arnold admitted that as a youth he collected pulp magazines and was a fan of sci-fi. So when directing at Universal, the studio left him alone since none of the executives there understood the genre as well as him.

Paired with producer William Alland (who also enjoyed sci-fi), Arnold directed the classics “It Came from Outer Space” (1953), “Creature from the Black Lagoon” (1954), and “The incredible Shrinking Man” (1957) (“Shrinking Man” was produced by Albert Zugsmith) as well as several other sci-fi movies. He also directed some second unit pick up shots on “This Island Earth” (1955). From the use of the eerie desert setting as a character in “It Came from Outer Space” to the wonderful underwater ballet between the unsuspecting Julie Adams and the monstrous Gillman in “Creature,” Arnold bought a keen eye and steady hand to his fantastic projects. He always established a mood for each of his films and carried this mood through to the closing credits.

Arnold left Universal in 1958 and directed only three more sci-fi films - the underrated “The Space Children” (1958), the witty and satiric spoof “The Mouse that Roared” (1959), where a small backward country declares war on the US in order to surrender and collect massive amounts of government aid and the lugubrious “Hello Down There” (1969). He turned his attention to TV for most of the 1960s and directed episodes of many classic TV shows including “Rawhide”, “Gilligan’s Island” and “The Brady Bunch”. And in the 1980s filmmaker John Landis attempted to launch a new production of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s “The Lost World” with Arnold as the director. The project collapsed and Arnold died in 1992 without helming another film.

But for classic sci-fi fans, he will always be remembered for his wonderful movies from the fabulous 1950s.

The Classic Sci-fi Films of Jack Arnold

1. It Came From Outer Space (Universal, 1953) – director
2. Creature From the Black Lagoon (Universal, 1954) – director
3. Tarantula (Universal, 1955) – director
4. Revenge of the Creature (Universal, 1955) – director
5. This Island Earth (Universal, 1955) – second unit shots
6. The Incredible Shrinking Man (Universal, 1957) – director
7. Monster on the Campus (Universal, 1958) – director
8. The Space Children (Paramount, 1958) – director
9. The Mouse that Roared (Columbia, 1959) – director
10. Hello Down There (Paramount, 1969) – co-director

Reference

Warren, Bill. Keep Watching the Skies! American Science Fiction Movies of the Fifties (The 21st Century Edition). Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland and Company, Inc. 2010.

In the worlds of finance and industry there is a glass ceiling that keeps gynos from climbing the corporate ladder. Similarly, in the realm of horror, there is a blood ceiling that gynos cannot penetrate. There are probably thousands of horror movies, but only a claw full made by gynos. This is ironic because the men who dominate this field pat themselves on their mutant hunchbacks for being part of a trendy cinema underground - a cool and alternative genre that defies norms and expectations - yet gynos (for the most part) are still only in front of the camera. Unfortunately, and counter intuitively, the genre of horror seems, to me, to be the most male chauvinistic area in pop culture.

Textbooks and professors tell us over and over to write and direct “what we know.” If there is one thing gynos know, it is horror. This first hand knowledge can be attributed to monthly menstrual monsoons and enduring excruciating childbearing pains. No man can possibly know the horror of having a creature grow inside of him for nine months or what its like to Jackson Pollock bedsheets with placenta.

Furthermore, gynos are constantly suffering threats to their safety. What gyno hasn’t, at the very least, been sexually harassed or worse. These realities makes it obvious that gynos can portray fear, terror, and gore onscreen in ways only those who’ve experienced it up close and personal can.

Supporting my claim that women know horror, is the fact that Gothic fiction is dominated by estrogen fueled authors and consumers. Gynos like Ann Rice, Lisa Tuttle, and Nancy Collins have made it clear that they are masters of the dark, gothic world of writing. Why can’t this success translate to writing and directing for the silver screen? The answer is because it is often assumed, by both the producers of horror films and the critics of the genre, that taking pleasure in horrific or frightening images is a masculine trait, not a feminine one. Obviously these men are mistaken.

Ladies do not need to shield their eyes. As I participate in horror festivals and conventions across the world, it is clear to me that gynos make up a large percentage of horror fans. There's no reason why this genre would particularly appeal to males as opposed to non-males unless we've been telling ourselves for years that gynos are delicate flowers who hate violence. Too many horror films perpetuate that stereotype and the fact that not many gynos are given the chance to create these films, cements it. It is a disgrace that a genre that purports to be so hip and cool seems to be a sexist boys club that discriminates against those who pee sitting down. There is too little interest in gyno voices unless it’s their screams, moans or dismemberment. For example, the Master’s of Horror television series may as well go by the name Sausages of Horror. Since this anthology began in 2005, there has not been one episode directed by a gyno.

Not only is the sexist exclusion of gynos unfair, it is unfortunate for the movie-going public. Typically, horror has historically reflected masculine fears and male fantasies about sexuality. I believe the expanding of the genre through the gyno’s perspective would allow for brilliant new interpretations of classic stories and themes. For example, with all of the remakes happening in the genre, it would be refreshing if some of them could be written and directed by gynos.

The celluloid world is full of mediocre horror movies made by men. Gynos are certainly as capable and, in my opinion, even more capable than men to create horror movies. The fraternity of horror needs to give these gynos more opportunity so that they can shatter the blood ceiling and reinvigorate our beloved genre!

Net Neutrality permits every point of view to be equally available to all providers and users- from the New York Times through Fox News to the folks who believe that humpback whales willed the tsunami in Japan. The absence of Net Neutrality means that Internet Service Providers (ISP's) such as Time Warner or Comcast would enjoy, exclusively, a faster, more expensive internet access whilst the rest of us would travel a slower, muddy, dirt road. Think of your best content being banished and impossible to find-sort of like being on Public Access TV. The public would not be able to find your sites no matter how great your content might be. Also your sites may become hard to load, heavily buffered…who knows what all the implications may be? What we do know is that the marketplace of ideas and creativity will be dominated even more by the homogenized and purchased large content providers and the preposterously wealthy companies with the resources to pay for speed. The internet would then become a CBS/NBC/ABC kind of world with a super-highway for the rich and powerful. The current free flow and accessibility for all ideas and websites would cease if certain members of the United States government, large phone companies, media conglomerates, and large broadband providers have their way. Your efforts are required to prevent the destruction of the internet highway of ideas and creative accomplishment, a lot of it admittedly dreck, but all of it free.

The First Amendment is preeminent among all because the founding fathers recognized that freedom of thought is a fundamental human freedom, and the ability to express and exchange one’s thoughts freely is an essential means by which the freedom of thought can be protected and enhanced. The free exchange of ideas is, at the end of it, the guardian of all of our freedoms. It hardly requires much thought to understand how different the United States would be if freedom of expression resided in the hands of only the very few. All dictatorships recognize the vitality of freedom of thought and free communication of those ideas. That is why propaganda evolved greatly under the Third Reich and why the Soviet Union stationed guards at Xerox machines. It is why the first thing that the Chinese or Libyans did to stymie revolutionary thought and the possibility of revolutionary action is shut down the Internet.

In this country, brutality does not present itself naked, as it does elsewhere. It appears clothed in smooth talking executives, their lawyers, and congressman who live on their campaign contributions. Thus, we will never hear, “Let’s shut down the net to dissenting voices.” What we are hearing are arguments why there should be a fast internet lane for some, and a slow, encumbered road for the many. The “some” want Net Neutrality to come to an end.

The issue of "Net Neutrality" is one about which I have written before: http://tinyurl.com/348fcwc. This is a very important subject because it concerns our ability to give and receive information and art. Preserving Net Neutrality is especially vital to all of us who are trying to make a living from "independent" art and commerce. Senator Al Franken has also written about Net Neutrality: http://www.alfranken.com/index.php/splash/netneutrality.

"Net Neutrality" refers to the fact that the internet is, for the moment, a level playing field. It is the only democratic and diverse medium that we have left in a vertically integrated industry of media cartels. Currently the internet treats everyone's website or content equally. www.troma.com, for example has the same chance to attract eyeballs (and, hopefully, revenue) as do Rupert Murdoch's 10,000 sites. The neutral internet is vital to all of us who are not Rupert Murdoch or who are not in Occupy’s famous one percent. Thanks to Net Neutrality, if your content is interesting, people will find it and it has the chance to go "viral" and reach millions of people. If a rich and powerful entertainer puts his latest work online, no amount of money can make it go viral unless people really love it. This free democracy of internet thumbs up or thumbs down; this referendum in daily action is regarded askance by large media, which seeks to live by saturation and thought-bending commercials of various kinds. Platforms like theatrical, home video and T.V. are mainly controlled by a small number of vertically integrated media conglomerates. The same conglomerates control the newspapers and periodicals. Most independent content providers are excluded from these platforms, so the general public finds itself saturated with an abundance of bland entertainment and art. The end result is to marginalize us "indies" so that we find ourselves without revenue. As it is, it is almost impossible to sell independent content to HBO, Showtime or Network T.V. For the most part, we "indies" are economically blacklisted from American T.V. and most T.V. worldwide. The few who are lucky enough to strike a deal with HBO, or the like, find the terms more and more onerous. Furthermore, no matter how important or good one's independent content may be, it will be denied coverage in mainstream cartel-owned publications or on the 24 hour T.V. news cycle. Something similar will soon be true on the internet if Net Neutrality goes away.

Yes, the entertainment and the news we receive through the mainstream media is the product of mainstream "gate keepers"; so very often we do not receive the "truth" or the news that we should be receiving! Civilization loses! Though the Net Neutrality debate has since been cast aside by the ever-churning 24 hour news cycle in favor of juicier material like Congressman Anthony Weiner’s meltdown and Miley Cyrus's salvia smoking escapades, the fight to maintain our last level media playing field has grown no less important or urgent. The way things stand right now everybody, from Donald Trump sitting pretty in his Manhattan skyscraper office to the pimply-faced Troma Films fangirl blogging from her parents' basement, have to compete for a slice of the Internet pie-- and that scares the vertically integrated media conglomerates. These corporate drones, greedy for ever greater revenues and terrified of falling ratings that would put their jobs and power to corrupt at risk, want their cartels alone to control the internet. That way their overpaid "suits" don't have to get up in the morning and actually use their grey matter to create innovative content.

Recently the House of Representatives approved House Joint Resolution 37, a bill which overturns The Federal Communications Commission's current very tepid support for Net Neutrality. Although the measure did not pass the Senate, and President Obama has indicated he would veto the measure should it ever reach his desk, the mere existence of the measure and the peril in which it places the most powerful engine of First Amendment expression, highlights the fact that we must fight daily to keep the internet free and open for everyone to use. Right now the internet as we know it is in danger of becoming just as bland and homogenized as network television and corporate video store chains. By arguing that the FCC does not have the power to regulate the internet, powerful media conglomerates, telcos, and members of Congress are trying to invalidate the only instrument we have in our struggle to preserve Net Neutrality and by extension the public's right to a variety of political points of view and artistic expression….and our ability to get our product to the public for commerce and viewing. Also, in my opinion, the FCC, the current caretaker of Net Neutrality, as well as President Obama are extremely wobbly on the issue of protecting Net Neutrality on the internet.

The idea of wanting government regulation in order to keep the internet free and open may seem confusing to many people who view it as a contradiction in terms. A bit of history may be useful here to illustrate what led up to this point. The internet was originally largely text-based (due to cripplingly slow dial-up speeds) with pretty much everyone posting whatever they wanted. Once it became clear that the internet was a possible source of revenue, investments started to be made to upgrade from dial-up to broadband and to build high speed capacity for video and other forms of content that required better speed in order to function properly. This financial incentive also provided a reason for the ISP's/broadband providers to begin to discriminate between types of content. They were able to claim this discrimination as a result of technological requirements for good delivery but this soon led to further discrimination based on source, format and the actual content being sent. There is a huge conflict of interest with the ISP's who are both providing transport service AND offering their own content which competes against average every day internet users. We need the FCC to put back in place the original "rules of the road" where ISP's can only provide different levels of service when there is a real issue of network capability or illegality- NOT to use the network to eliminate the competition.

While much of the public does not even know what Net Neutrality is, the phone companies, ISP's, and mass media conglomerates have sent their lobbyists into Washington DC with tens of millions of dollars to destroy Net Neutrality. They say that by keeping the internet free and open, it will send us on a downward spiral of piracy and pornography. These same weak arguments were made at the dawn of home video by Media Industry Bosses. They used to say that home video would open the floodgates of porno and piracy and worse, that copyright law would be destroyed. Dissolve to five years later and not only was copyright stronger than ever, but Home Video became the Media Cartels' greatest source of revenue.

The internet is one of the few places where innovation is still happening every day, but by allowing large corporations to put themselves alone on the information super-highway (while forcing everybody else onto unconnected dirt roads), it would leave any young creative soul or independent film business entrepreneur who doesn't want to play by cartel rules out with the dogs while allowing those in power to churn out bland crap that consumers have no choice but to consume, brought to you by Hot Pockets and Burger King. Whenever there is new technology that favors the "independent", the mainstream tries to put a monkey wrench in the gears until it can co-opt the "dangerous" new technology and own it. This is the media cartels' current strategy regarding taking over the free, open and diverse internet and subverting it.

We as a country cannot stand idly by and allow this infringement of our First Amendment rights to take place. The conglomerates have taken over newspapers, movies, music, books, television and more. The internet is the last frontier where everybody can present content on an equal playing field, an oasis of ideas that exists among the parched landscape of old media. If we allow the conspiracy of the labor elites, corporate elites and bureaucratic elites to control cyberspace, it will be the final nail in the coffin of free expression in the media. If the First Amendment is important to you, and if you care about independent art and commerce, make your voice heard. Write to your local Congressperson and tell him/her/it that if they don't keep the internet free and open in your home you'll be sending them back to theirs. Also, write to the FCC and demand a free-flowing internet; and write to President Obama [1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20500], to say, “If you really care about the First Amendment and the importance of the free exchange of ideas, put Net Neutrality at the forefront of your platform for 2012.” Post and pass along this essay and urge your friends and colleagues to do the same. Now, let's make some art!

* This article was written with the assistance of Roger Kirby, esq., Chelsea Holland and Chase Winslow Marotz.

I can't imagine anyone who hasn't seen this Sci-Fi Classic, but for those who haven't; I'm not going to give the ending away! Soylent Green takes place in the year 2022... Where people are still the same. They'll do anything to get what they need. And they need SOYLENT GREEN. With this as a tagline for the film you could be in for anything and we were! In late 60s early 70s Filmmakers began pushing the bounds of science fiction and director Richard Fleischer was among them to!

Ty Thorn (Heston) a Police detective who works in 2022's New York City. The world has suffered an ecological disaster and with a population explosion. New York Alone has forty million inhabitants. Housing is almost unlivable and homeless sleep on the streets, staircases and fire escapes anyplace they can find. Food such as fresh meat, vegetable and fruit are so exorbitant in price only the wealthy can afford it. So most of the population live on rations known as Soylent Red and Soylent Yellow produced and provided by The Soylent Corporation. When The Corporation announces There newest product Soylent Green made of "high-energy plankton" and that it is more nutritious and palatable than the red and yellow varieties. People are ecstatic, but like most food it is in short supply, which often leads to food riots. Sounds like paradise!

Ty Thorn is assigned to investigate the murder of a wealthy man named William Morris Simonson (Joseph Cotten). He arrives at the crime scene, he finds Simonson lying in a pool of blood from being struck multiple times in the back of the head, but instead of looking for clues, Thorn helps himself to the wealthy man's food, liquor, shower complete with real hot water and soap and books. He questions Shirl (Leigh Taylor-Young), an attractive 24-year old "kept woman" who comes with the apartment, and Simonson's bodyguard, Tab Fielding (Chuck Connors), who claims that he was told to escort Shirl on a shopping trip when the attack took place, leading Ty to believe something deeper than the murder for food or money.

Ty lives in a dilapidated, cramped one-room apartment with his aged friend and roommate, Sol Roth a former professor played by the great Edward G. Robinson is his 101st and final film. He helps Ty in his investigations by searching through the now-disordered remnants of written records and books. Was the wealthy millionaire's death simply just a fortune killing, or was their a bigger plan a plan to hide something more notorious than anyone ever dreamed? You'll have to watch the film to find out!

The screenplay varies from Harry Harrision's 1966 novel of the name 'Make Room! Make Room!' In the novel the year was 1999 not 2022. While the film revolves around Soyent Red, Yellow and Green; the book refers only to "soylent steaks". The book's title 'Make Room! Make Room!' was not used for the movie since producers felt it might confuse audiences thinking it film was a big-screen version of Make Room for Daddy, Danny Thomas' TV Show.

While it never won an academy award Soylent Green did receive he Nebula Award for Best Dramatic Presentation and the Saturn Award for Best Science Fiction Film in 1973. It leaves an indelible mark on all who see it!

Until next month this is Jason S. Lockard reminding you if you want to see a good film, check out a classic!

Moral Rating: Adult Situations and Mild Language
Audience: Parental Guidance
Genre: Science Fiction
Length: 1 hr. 37 min.
Released: 1973
Our Rating: B-

After trying to conivince anyone that Scarlett Johnansen and Jessica Biel playing beach volleyball in an epic movie for 4 1/2 hours is the greatest idea since pizza delivery, I've decided to discuss some of the forgotten movies of the 1980s. As a kid, some movies played almost continuously and parents would let you watch them. Remember the days when a Roger Moore James Bond movie was on the Sunday night movie? Sylvester Stallone's Rocky IV gave the world the true movie montage with the power of Survivor's "Eye of the Tiger." If it wasn't, it would be one one of the movie channels on the satellite at least 3 times a week. The days are gone when BeastMaster was on everyday right before Flash Gordon and Howard the Duck.

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The Beastmaster

The touching story of Marc Singer being born of a cow and and gains the ability to talk to the animals. However, he uses the talent for far more than just the typical Dr. Doolittle conversations. The Beastmaster is the movie that made all kids want to own pet ferrets. It is better to want a ferret than wear a leather mask and have a neon green liquid shot into your head. If you listen closely enough when Rip Torn first appears, you can even hear him mourn the loss of his career...



CHUD

The words just roll off the tongue: Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dwellers. A group of bums get infected with toxic waste and become the aforementioned Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dwellers. Nobody seems to be concerned with the bums on the streets because they're totally unaware of the "Cannibalistic" part of the radioactive homeless dietary needs.



Flash Gordon

"Flash-AHHH AHHHHHHHHHHHH, Defender of the Universe." Decades ago, some kids didn't know who Queen was. However, they had heard the "Flash Gordon" song from this movie. If they were old enough, they'd be thinking "hey this band doing the Highlander theme songs sounds familiar from somewhere else."


Howard the Duck

The movie George Lucas wants the world to forget right after the Star Wars Holiday Special. I don't think it would be bragging to claim this is the greatest "midget wearing a duck suit being seduced by Leah Thompson" movie ever made. At the very least, no one could take Tim Robbins seriously after seeing him as a janitor who becomes a 1980s girl band manager until the Shawshank Redemption. Jeffrey Jones who gets possessed by the Dark Overlord of the Universe has just gotten creepier after his arrests which makes him chasing a midget in a duck suit even stranger.



Superman IV: A Quest for Peace

The early 80s showed Superman 2 and Superman 3 quite a bit. However, both movies combined or raised to any exponential power could be shown anywhere as much as the Cannon Films last hurrah or how to kill a superhero series for more than a decade without Joel Schumacher. Too be fair, the next DC superhero movie was the original Tim Burton's Batman (Never let a chance go by to not show my comic book geek cred...)

The major film studios encountered economic chaos in the 1960s and 1970s and produced fewer and fewer films allowing small independent studios to rise up to deliver movie product for the second half of double features for American theatres and drive ins. While unable to match production clout with the majors, these small independents were a lifeline for struggling actors and actresses looking for work. They were also a showcase for talented performers who, if they were lucky, could carve a niche for themselves in supporting roles in ‘B’ movies. Sometimes (as in the case of Pam Grier) these roles would turn into work for major film companies. More often, these performers would flash by quickly and burn out brightly. One of the best of these ‘shooting stars’ from these low budget productions was actress Linda Haynes.

Pretty, blonde and exhibiting a sweet down home quality, Linda Haynes had a brief 12-year career in TV and film. Her first film was a small part in the schlocky Japanese American sci-fi film Latitude Zero and she followed this up with roles in popular TV shows of the day like My Three Sons and Room 222. Her next role was in one of the classic exploitation films from the decade, Jack Hill’s Coffy (1973). Haynes plays Meg, a drugged out prostitute, who becomes insanely jealous of her pimp’s infatuation with new recruit Pam Grier. She makes the mistake of challenging Grier and ends up a bloody mess when she tries to pull Grier’s afro and cuts herself on the razor blades that Grier placed there earlier.

Perhaps Haynes best role is that of waitress and barmaid Linda Forchet in 1977’s Rolling Thunder. In the film, Haynes’s Forchet is a weary young woman who has grown up learning life’s tough lessons. She has worn Major Charles Raine’s (William Devane) POW bracelet throughout the Vietnam War and since his return has harbored a secret crush on him. Haynes becomes his lone lifeline after Devane’s wife and son are killed by a group of ruthless thugs. She even goes with him to Mexico unaware that he’s seeking brutal revenge with no thoughts as to the consequences. Throughout the film, Haynes tries desperately to connect (she is the film’s emotional center) with Devane who doesn’t respond and is not above using her as a lure to get information. Her best scene is when she wakes up in a fleabag motel knowing full well that Devane has left her without allowing her into his wounded world. Her realization that she has been left all alone again is achingly poignant.

Haynes stopped acting in 1980. Her last performance was in Stuart Rosenberg’s Brubaker (1980). Though her career was brief, she specialized in portraying women who grew up learning life’s lessons the hard way. She could be tough but she could also portray real vulnerability onscreen. She created memorable characters that still live on in classic celluloid.

Reference:

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0371495

By the middle of the 1960s, both sci-fi movies and the artists who defined them a decade earlier were in decline. The success of Hammer Horror and films like Alfred Hitchcock’s “Psycho” had managed to switch audience allegiances away from the genre, so film producers no longer cared to invest money in a type of movie that ensured limited box office returns.

Jack Arnold, who directed some of the great Universal sci-fi films of the 1950s, had moved to TV, while Gordon Douglas (“Them” 1954) began directing routine detective films for Frank Sinatra. The great George Pal found it more difficult to find financing for his projects and even Eugene Lourié, who directed some of the best giant monster movies a decade earlier, was frustrated by his lack of directing opportunities and moved back to art direction and special effects.

Though down, sci-fi movies weren’t out. Great Britain released a large number of sci-fi films during the decade. But it’s interesting to note that three of these UK releases had an unusual name attached as director; someone who is not associated with sci-fi, but rather the success of Hammer Horror. It seems ironic that Terence Fisher, the man who rose to fame with his brilliant re-interpretations of the classic Universal horror films, would also direct three low-budget sci-fi movies during the 1960s.

Early Life:

Fisher was born in London in 1904 and was raised by his grandparents. At 16 he was shipped off to the merchant marines, and after a while, was promoted to a junior officer. After six years, Fisher left the maritime service and worked at a department store as the assistant display manager. There he fell in love with movies, and by 1933 had entered the industry. He started as a “clapper boy” and worked his way up to editor. After World War II, Fisher entered a training program for directors and was on his way. He began working for Hammer films in the early 1950s and even directed two of their very early sci-fi films, “Spaceways” (1953) and “Four Sided Triangle” (1953). But his career as a horror maestro was established in 1957 with the release of the Hammer blockbuster “The Curse of Frankenstein.”

Fisher’s career thrived for the next few years, but after the failure of Hammer’s 1962 remake of “The Phantom of the Opera”, his star was tarnished at the studio and he didn’t make another film there for two years. When his Hammer follow-up, “The Gorgon” (1964) also died at the box office, Fisher took on other assignments for low budget producers to continue his career. These were films that had resources even more impoverished than his economical Hammer films. So let’s take a look at Fisher’s three sci-fi films from the 1960s. Though he always claimed he had no affinity for the genre, Fisher bought his distinctive style to some very familiar sci-fi themes.

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1. THE EARTH DIES SCREAMING (Lippert Pictures, UK – 20th Century Fox, US 1964)

Test pilot Jeff Nolan (Willard Parker) returns from a routine flight to find that the population in Great Britain has been destroyed by some unseen force. He drives throughout the countryside searching for some signs of life. Stopping at a small country inn, he retrieves a multiband radio to see if he can find any human signals. He is joined at the inn by other survivors including sinister Quinn Taggert (Dennis Price), his companion Peggy (Virginia Field), alcoholic Edgar (Hammer veteran Thorley Walters), his girlfriend Violet (Vanda Godsell) and young tough Mel (David Spenser) and his very pregnant wife Lorna (Anna Palk). The group is astonished to see small groups of robots walking around killing any remaining humans they encounter. They are also surprised to see that the robots are able to revive dead humans and turn them into eyeless zombie slaves. Jeff convinces the group to go to the nearest military base, look for supplies, and hunker down until they can plan an escape. But Taggert has his own greedy plans and they don’t include anyone but Peggy. Meanwhile, Jeff has noticed that the sound emanating from the robots and their zombie slaves are the same as those he has picked up on the radio. He has an idea that may stop the machines and allow the group to get away. But they find themselves trapped when Lorna needs to deliver her baby, and several robots attack.

“The Earth Dies Screaming” has a real eerie beginning with stock footage of a train wreck, a car accident, and a plane crash as humans are overcome by an alien gas attack (robot flatulence?). It’s also chilling watching Willard Parker drive around seeing nothing but dead corpses strewn about. The music score by Elisabeth Lutyens is also quite good and complements these unsettling scenes well. As in most of his films, Terence Fisher stresses the human response to a crisis as the rag tag group learns to work together. Fisher creates some very good suspense as the humans try to survive. Unfortunately, the film is almost sunk by the total ineptness of the special effects. The killer robots are amazingly bad and look nothing like machines, but rather like humanoid salt shakers. They are never terrifying and instead produce howls of laughter that threaten to undermine the film whenever they are onscreen. It’s also tough to believe that the world is under attack when you never see more than two robots at a time. What saves “The Earth Dies Screaming” is the humanistic vision Fisher brings to the project and the mature British cast who convey strength even though their roles are clichéd. Clocking in at a mere 62 minutes, “The Earth Dies Screaming” reminds you of the old 1954 Allied Artist’s movie “Target Earth” which also featured a robot attack from space. It improves on every aspect of that film with the exception of the alien threat. The shabbiness of that threat nearly ruins an otherwise solid “alien attack” movie.

Quotable Movie Line: “This must be some sort of shock attack. They paralyze all the bodily functions and then reactivate them; sightless and mindless slaves!”


2. ISLAND OF TERROR (Planet Films, UK – Universal Pictures, US 1966)

On a remote island off the coast of Ireland, cancer researcher Dr. Lawrence Phillips (Peter Forbes-Robertson) begins a new experiment to produce cancer-eating organisms. He succeeds, but the new life form (called “silicates”) turn out to devour more than cancer – they also devour human bones. As soon as a boneless dead body of a local resident turns up, Dr. Reginald Landers (Eddie Byrnes) takes the island’s only boat to the mainland for help. He arrives back via helicopter with bone specialists Dr. Brian Stanley (Peter Cushing), Dr. David West (Edward Judd) and Dr. West’s girlfriend of the moment Toni Merrill (Carole Gray). The copter is then forced to attend to another emergency, effectively stranding everyone on the island. The group then proceeds to Dr. Phillips house where they find the dead scientist and his crew. After reviewing the researcher’s notes at their hotel, they return to his house and discover two of the deadly silicates. Dr. Landers is killed and the others barely escape with their lives, when by chance, the creatures divide. It’s then a race against time as a means of destroying the monsters must be found before the island is overrun by the marrow munching menaces.

“Island of Terror” represents a real milestone because it’s probably one of the last true representatives of the1950s style of sci-fi filmmaking. And the great irony is that it was directed by Fisher, the man who began the genre’s demise by directing Hammer Horror. An even greater irony– Hammer head honcho James Carreras loaned both Fisher and star Peter Cushing to Planet Films for this production! Fisher really strives to create terror here. He treats the silicates like a classic movie monster. The climax of the film is unbearably tense as the remaining survivors barricade themselves in a small room against the final silicate onslaught. Here amidst all the action, Fisher focuses on the silent moral (and very human) dilemma between Cushing and Judd as they decide whether or not to give Gray a lethal dose of drug to spare her from the silicates. Fisher also has the benefit of working with the great Peter Cushing who positively crackles as Dr. Stanley. Edward Judd is fine as well, but Fisher’s efforts with the supporting cast (Eddie Byrne, Niall MacGuinnis and James Caffrey) really help elevate this production. While the special effects don’t bowl you over, they are decent for a 1960s film, and the silicates represent an unusual type of “science gone mad” monster. Overall, “Island of Terror” makes a great swansong for the 1950s style of sci-fi film.

Quotable Movie Line: “I’m not very keen on going down to that cellar again.”


3. ISLAND OF THE BURNING DAMMED AKA NIGHT OF THE BIG HEAT (Planet Films, UK 1967 – United Productions of America, US 1971)

A small island off the English coast has been subject to unusual high winter temperatures. The island’s pub is run by Jeff (Patrick Allen) and his wife Frankie (Sarah Lawson). Jeff is also a writer and has come to the center of town to pick up his new secretary. Jeff is shocked when the new assistant turns out to be Angela (sexy Jane Merrow) a woman with whom he had a torrid love affair some time ago. Jeff is determined to send her back to the mainland, but Angela coyly works her way back into his life. As the temperatures on the island continue to skyrocket, several locals are incinerated by a blinding flash of light. Dr. Stone (Peter Cushing), the local physician, cannot explain the deaths. But a scientist named Hanson (Christopher Lee), who is staying at Jeff’s pub, informs the locals that he believes the heat wave is due to an invasion by protoplasmic aliens who are changing earth’s climate for themselves. Cut off from the mainland, the residents struggle to survive the blazing heat caused by the alien menace, which is intent on destroying everyone on the tiny island.

“Island of the Burning Dammed” is closest in spirit to some of Terence Fisher’s early romantic potboilers that he made as a young director. Much of its running time is taken up with the relationship between Jeff, Frankie, and Angela, who is full of self-loathing and determined to destroy Jeff’s marriage for her own enjoyment. It’s only when genre vets Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee are onscreen does the sci-fi element of the film kick in. As with his previous sci-fi entries, Fisher uses the standard isolated location motif as a starting point and creates a genuine mood of apprehension. The terror the residents of the island feel is palpable as locals keep turning up burnt to a crisp without any explanation. He wisely keeps the alien creatures off-screen to concentrate on the human reactions to the threat. Fisher assembles a great cast for this low-budget production, including Hammer veterans Cushing, Lee, Allen, and Lawson. But it is Jane Merrow who steals the show as the coquettish Angela. Unfortunately, it’s anticlimactic when the alien blobs finally appear. To me, it seems like the effects department just used the silicates from “Island of Terror” without the tentacles, covered them with some muslin type of material, and then lit them from underneath. They really do look like “fried eggs,” which was star Christopher Lee’s main complaint. But while it compromises the film somewhat, these aliens are not nearly as disastrous as the robots in “The Earth Dies Screaming.” Not released in the US until 1971, “Island of the Burning Dammed” remains a gratifying low budget alien invasion flick.

Quotable Movie Line: “I wanted her. I wanted her body. Now you know. She was a slut and I wanted her.”

After “Island of the Burning Dammed” Terence Fisher successfully returned to Hammer to make three more horror movies including two of his best, 1968’s “The Devil Rides Out” and 1969’s “Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed.” But while many critics (and Fisher himself) dismiss his forays into sci-fi, I disagree with this assessment. He overcame severe budget compromises and still delivered three films that produced goose bumps and shocks for a lot of sci-fi fans. I first saw these as a youth, and all these years later, they still manage to bring a warm smile to my face.

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Selected References

Del Vecchio, Deborah and Johnson, Tom. Peter Cushing – The Gentle Man of Horror and His 91 Films. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland and Company Inc, 1992.
Jensen, Paul M. The Men Who Made the Monsters. New York, New York: Twayne Publishers, 1996.
Miller, Mark A. Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing and Horror Cinema. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland and Company Inc, 1995.
Smith, Gary A. Uneasy Dreams: The Golden Age of British Horror Films, 1956-1976. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland and Company Inc, 2000.
Weaver, Tom. A Sci-Fi Swarm and Horror Horde: Interviews with 62 Filmmakers. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland and Company Inc, 2010.

I should preface this by saying I don't go to the movies as much anymore. In the beginning it was because I was too busy making my own films to be able to watch 2-3 pictures a weekend as I used to do back in the day. But even when I've had time to go to my local cinema, I've found the moviegoing experience to be less enchanting than I remembered it being when I was first allowed to go to the movies alone as a kid. Between inflated ticket prices, the advent and subsequent proliferation of 3D, the alarming rise of morons talking, texting and tweeting as the film's unspooling on the screen and perhaps more importantly the conversion from 35mm to digital, I find myself spending less and less time in movie theaters. After all, if cinemas are ultimately just projecting "glorified Blu-Rays" on the big screen, why spend $15 on a movie ticket, when I can get the same experience at home where I can not only save money, but also control the environment as far as threatening to throw my cat, Munchkin at anyone who dares to talk during the movie.

I mention this because there were quite a number of key films I missed this year. Films like, "The Tree of Life," "Hugo," "The Artist," "The Ides of March," "J. Edgar," "Midnight in Paris," among others may have found spots in my top 10 or at the very least, my honorable mentions had I had a chance to check them out. That being said, I did manage to catch 26 films at the Fantasia Film Festival here in Montreal, so not surprisingly, a lot of the films on my list are from the highlights of North America's largest genre film festival.

There's also quite a number of films I wanted to include on my list, but unfortunately because they were technically first released in 2010, I couldn't really include them. That being said, I would like to mention them as I thought they were all sensational. First and foremost, Kent Lamm's indie feature, "Bad is Bad," which I reviewed here a couple months back is one of the finest and most polished DIY productions I've ever seen. Aharon Keshales directed what some are calling the first Israeli horror film entitled, "Rabies" and what a way to pop your Jewsploitation cherry! "Ip Man: The Legend is Born" proved that even Hong Kong isn't above rebooting successful franchises, though unlike Hollywood remakes, this was one that took elements of the first two films that worked and managed to improve upon them, even without the incomparable presence of Donnie Yen. Finally, James Wan's "Insidious" was a genuinely terrifying film, even if the villain was a Darth Maul knockoff.

But now onto the "Best and Worst of 2011."

Top 10 Movies of 2011:

1. Shame
2. The Muppets
3. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
4. Another Earth
5. Martha Marcy May Marlene
6. Drive
7. In Time
8. X-Men: First Class
9. The Whisperer in Darkness
10. The Woman

Next Best 10 Movies of 2011 / Honorable Mentions:

11. The Skin I Live In
12. Being Elmo
13. Red State
14. The Devil's Double
15. Don't Go Breaking My Heart
16. Midnight Son
17. Monster Brawl
18. Super 8
19. Rio
20. Rise of the Planet of the Apes

The Worst of the Worst. The Most Hated and Cursed:

1. Attack the Block
2. Hobo With A Shotgun
3. The Wicker Tree
4. Shark Night 3D
5. Stake Land

The last 25 years have been diluting action movies featuring cops from the glory days of true glorious "Die Hard" and "Lethal Weapon" movies of the 80s. Most of the buddy cop movie cliches almost always fall under the Lone Wolf cliches. With all these cliches, scriptwriters don't really need to use any creativity just string enough thread-bare cliches together to form the newest direct to video cop movie. However, Dolph Lungren, Steven Segal, or Jean Claude Van-Damme can only star in so many lone wolf cop movies before the genre runs out of any any fresh cliches to milk completely dry.

This isn't a complete list of cop cliches. Just watching a couple of low budget cop movies ought to have you see how many others that could be spotted. For instance, I excluded the mandatory ex love-interest who falls hopelessly back in love for the Lone Wolf cop despite all the bad blood between them. The martial arts prowess isn't mentioned either because old school Lone Wolf cops could take care of anyone with a few punches without relying on a Jet Li beatdown.

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Top 10 Checklist of the Lone Wolf Cop who Plays by his own Rules.

10. The precinct captain, who is motivated by the mayor's politics, always hates him for being a violent psychopath and has plenty of paperwork to contend with from suspects continually threatening to sue the city for abuse and or false arrest.

9. Lone Wolf Cop who plays by his own rules seems to be just a couple of minutes from a eating a bullet by the way he lovingly stares at his gun when first waking in the morning.

8. Lone Wolf Cop who plays by his own rules is haunted by deep, terrible pain such as the death of his partner, wife, or a beloved hamster. Normally, a flashback will have him running towards them screaming "NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!" in slow motion to indicate how his inner pain drives him.

7. Any Lone Wolf Cop who plays by his own rules besides being a highly effective killing machine is also a highly effective love machine, too. Nothing like the obligatory love scene to power up the cop before his final battle.

6. Every Lone Wolf Cop who plays by his own rules needs a good wisecrack. "Do you feel lucky, punk?" is definitely is a great line. Most Lone Wolf Cops who play by their own rules don't have a great one-liner.

5. The necessary "criminal scum have no rights" speech is preceded by how the Lone Wolf Cop has violated the civil rights of the murderer or drug lord.

4. I wouldn't say he's an alcoholic but before crawling out of bed, he needs 3 shots of whiskey. His apartment has more liquor bottles than a college campus does after a weekend.

3. The new partner will be totally different than our Lone Wolf Cop and also the odious comedic sidekick, too. The new partner will eventually learn that playing it safe and by-the-book isn't right.

2. The partner who is less than a week away from retiring to start a business preferably a fishing charter. His death will be the final motivation for the Lone Wolf Cop who plays by his own rules to take care of the crime boss.

1. At the end of the movie, the Lone Wolf Cop who plays by his own rules that has killed at least 30 goons and blown up 2 city blocks will finally his comeuppance on his bootlicking superiors.