Must See Streaming TV Movie of the Week: The Classic Edition!

Holie Molie! Two incredible early seventies Movie of the Weeks are currently streaming over at Shout Factory TV! You can check out Gargoyles and Born Innocent for free! Of course, I don't have to go into why you should see or revisit these incredible movies, so I'll just throw out a couple of links along with a few words:

Gargoyles (1972): This ABC Movie of the Week is a spooky monster classic, featuring Bernie Casey as a terrifyingly suave gargoyle who thinks mankind places second in the chain of command! Click on title for my review, and click here to watch Gargoyles!

Born Innocent (1974): This brutal classic made its debut under the NBC World Premiere Movie moniker, and was the most popular made for television movie to air in 1974. However, it was followed by controversy and subsequently became the subject of a court case involving the rape of a nine year old girl. Yet, despite the negative attention, Born Innocent remains part of the canon of the small screen thanks to its relatively unflinching look at innocence lost and a corrupt juvenile rehabilitation system. Click here to watch Born Innocent.

And thanks to Kindertrauma for mentioning Shout Factory's streaming site yesterday. They also have some great non-TVM choices, but seriously, who wants that?!? Regardless of what you end up watching, please support legitimate streaming websites and enjoy!

The USA World Premiere Movie Project: Red Wind (1991)

 This review has been posted in conjunction with the Daily Grindhouse's year long tribute to the USA World Premiere Movie.  


Although he didn’t really care for the neo-noir eroticism of the early 1990s, John Carmen of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote a short but interesting piece on how the small screen made for cable movies were taking more of a nod from the classic black and white genre than from their network counterparts. Coining this new breed of small screen films blue television, Carmen writes, “Blue television movies gravitate toward the unsavory side of the tracks, a characteristic of the 1940s film noir genre. It meant crime, deception, paranoia, corruption, cynicism, claustrophobia… [and] suppressed eroticism…. None was exactly calculated to win critical applause. The violence-against-women theme is inherently loathsome, the productions are Spartan, the acting is erratic and the scripts are weak… Still, you wonder. Much of the film noir was on the B-movie level originally, and only later gained an appreciative following.”

While Carmen would go on to call this movement a decline in standards, he aptly describes the scornful, melancholic nature of these films. He also wondered if these TVMs would become the thing of classics at a later point television history. Unfortunately, that has yet to be fully determined, but nostalgia certainly plays a large part in these relatively restrained sexual thrillers that, looking back, have captured a far more innocent time, before Cinemax was humorously dubbed Skinemax. The USA network practically ran away with these sexy sex flicks, and what stands out to me most about these telefilms is that despite some pretty obvious twists (I think there is only one USA Original thriller that I haven’t been able to ascertain the whodunit), there is also a charming earnestness that lifts the sleaze into a more inviting space. Red Wind is just such a film.

Lisa Hartman is Kris Morrow, a successful therapist who specializes in sexual problems. It’s made quite clear at the beginning that some of Kris’ understanding of her work comes from her own dark sexual past. And that past comes back to haunt her in the shape of a shrouded woman named Lila, an abused housewife who fantasizes about running her husband through a woodchipper (yikes!). Something about Lila disturbs Kris (for obvious reasons, which you will instantly recognize during their first session), but when Kris tries to cut off their professional relationship, Lila takes it as more of a breakup than a parting of the doctor/patient ways. Lila makes good on her murderous threats, putting someone through her beloved woodchipper, and then she tries to tie Kris into the crime as an accomplice. A sleazy private eye named Charlie (played with an extra dose of menace by Philip Casnoff), knows Kris is the key to finding Lila, and he also knows that Kris is wound up enough that she’s ready to return to her violent and harmful past, and the two begin an uneasy relationship as abuser and abused.

Red Wind is a stylish movie that, with modern eyes, has a lot of issues. Kris constantly blames herself for the abuse she receives from both Lila and Charlie, and she makes a lot of bad moves throughout the film. One quick call to the police on a few different occasions would probably wrap up most of the story. But the film also has some undeniably engrossing moments, clever dialog (the “breakup” scene between Lila and Kris is hilariously peppered with “It’s not you, it’s me” type lines), and Lisa Hartman is also so damn sincere in the role as the confused therapist that it’s hard not to root for her despite some non-PhD-smart choices. It is also a curious effort, walking with a completely straight face into some truly sleazeball territory while keeping the whole affair TV-PG.

Shot in Miami, Florida, and originally airing on May 15th, 1991, character actor Tom Noonan (Manhunter!) wrote this flawed but watchable thriller, his first produced full-length script. He captured many of the same elements seen in the early nineties direct-to-video market movies, such as Night Eyes 2-4, and probably any other Shannon Tweed movie you saw back then. And indeed, director Alan Metzger worked through the decade on tele-thrillers that were mostly in the same vein. Together, these filmmakers created a TVM that has all of the quirks of those DTV movies I love, but it also has a strong does of that cynicism that Carmen wrote about. Definitely worth a viewing, but not as good as the more whimsical and smarter USA flick Rubdown.

 VHS trailer for Red Wind: 

The USA World Premiere Movie Project: Cabin by the Lake (2000)

This review has been posted in conjunction with the Daily Grindhouse's year long tribute to the USA World Premiere Movie.  


Having just read Switch by William Bayer (the novel was turned into the 1985 CBS miniseries Doubletake), along with a completely unrelated but recent viewing of the USA Original Cabin By the Lake, I’m somewhat fascinated by the horror-filmmaker-turned-serial-killer angle that is so prominent in both works. In some ways it’s a little offensive, insisting that people who make horror films create similar terror in real life. But, let’s face it, it makes for good reading and cinema! While Switch was a bit of a letdown (the main murder mystery is downplayed in favor of the protagonist’s love story and his desire to take down a corrupted boy in blue), Cabin by the Lake revels in Stanley’s (the terrific Judd Nelson) research for an upcoming genre film, and wonders why it has to be so damn gruesome!

Stanley Caldwell is one odd duck. He sends a blank manuscript to his pleasantly maddening agent, Regan (Susan Gibney), and is, in general, a straight-faced sort, who “jokes” about drowning a girl for material, and then really drowns a girl. With a weight on her foot, she plunges to the bottom of the lake, and joins an almost beautiful array of dead bodies, clothed in (literally) flowing frocks with hair swaying along with the current. It evokes the same kind of horrifyingly poignant imagery as Dario Argento’s underwater city/tomb in Inferno, and it sets the tone for this gorgeous and oddball thriller.

This watery graveyard serves as Stanley’s muse for his newest script, Garden of Flesh. (Every writer should research their material, right?) Well, he’s coming to the end of the story and needs to find a victim who is unlike the earlier, easier targets. That’s when he meets Mallory (Hedy Burress). She’s cute but different, and quietly strong. In short, she'd be perfect Final Girl material... if Stanley had wanted any of the victims to live! In the sort of small talk you sometimes make with a stranger, Mallory mentions to Stanley that she doesn’t like the water, making her an interesting subject for studying! Whoops. 

Later in a car “accident,” Stanley abducts Mallory and throws her in the back of a van that has the words, “I’m the Guy Your Mother Warned You About” written on police tape. But Mallory is defiant, all the way up to the trip that was supposed to lead to her underwater death. Luckily, and quite by coincidence, she is saved by cutie pie cop Boone (Michael Weatherly), proving she is more of a foe than Stanley had counted on (well, and luckier, definitely luckier). And now the hunted becomes the hunter as she helps the cops close in on the murderous screenwriter.

Cabin by the Lake is self-aware horror (this film has its tongue planted firmly in its cheek thanks to David Stephens witty and intriguing script) combined with old-school Italian giallo aesthetics. The end result is gorgeous and gripping. Composer Frankie Blue, whose tunes remind me just a bit of Portishead, stands in for Goblin, and adds to the already moody proceedings.

Ever since Judd Nelson went killer in the 1989 film Relentless, I’ve always been a little afraid of him. He does bad just too good. He’s equally menacing here, but more sedate, and perhaps even scarier because Stanley thinks very little of what he actually does, and his only emotions seem to arise from his fascination with Mallory. In the empty room Stanley holds Mallory hostage in, she writes on the wall, “You don't scare me,” and when he’s able to kidnap her again she adds the addendum, “Do I scare you?” Stanley only understands the written word, and it terrifies him that she can plainly state her defiance as well as he can compose a screenplay about murder. She is at his core but he can’t seem to get to hers.

Their relationship provides an interesting match of wills, and helps Cabin by the Lake maintain an edge. This is my first viewing of the telefilm since it originally aired on February 1st, 2000 and I have to say, it has stood the test of time. It’s still morbid but funny, engaging and suspenseful. And to get back to the original conundrum about filmmakers as the epoch of evil, there are other film industry types shown throughout Cabin by the Lake and they run the gamut of greedy, artistic and just plain fun. Stanley somehow missed the part that horror films are about making fiction seem real instead of just making fiction real. Good going, Stanley!

This great little telefilm was followed by a sequel in 2001, which I have not seen but am hoping to review for my next USA World Premiere Movie post!

USA World Premiere Movie Project: Into the Badlands (1991)

  
This review has been posted in conjunction with the Daily Grindhouse's year long tribute to the USA World Premiere Movie.  


As established in the previous entries of the USA World Premiere Movie Project, the cable network often looked back at the different small screen genre fare of the 1970s, and sometimes produced supernatural tales and thrillers that harkened back to the TV movie’s golden age. One sub-genre that never seemed to get proper attention was the Western, which littered the networks in the early days of the TVM. The rural purge of the early 70s basically eliminated cowboys and prairie tales although they’d raise their browbeaten heads every so often (I’m looking at you Gambler and The Last Days of Frank and Jesse James). It makes sense, in some sort of TV concept way, to consider mixing the high desert with the more popular horror subgenre. I mean, just for giggles.

The year before Badlands was released the home video market tested this hybrid with Grim Prairie Tales, which was an OK movie, but also one that I remember coming in and out of the video store I worked at. I’m sure that’s not the only fusion of the Western and Horror genres, but it was the one that instantly came to mind while watching the atmospheric, but somewhat empty Into the Badlands.

Bruce Dern is essentially Rod Serling, if Serling wore a cowboy hat and spoke with a slight Southern drawl. He is our narrator and also the protagonist of the final story in a trilogy of tales. Dern is T.L. Barston, a bounty hunter who is searching for Red Roundtree (Michael J. Metzger), a “half-breed” that has a $5,000 price on his head. A dream for any bounty hunter in the 1870s for sure, Barston sets off to find Roundtree and collect his fortune so he can leave the barren flatlands for greener pastures.

He first encounters a man named McComas (Dylan McDermott looking super foxy in his Western gear), a man with his own price on his head. He’s on the run and hoping to get to nice little town off of the frontier and near a beach when he meets Blossom the barmaid (Helen Hunt). She’s dying of consumption, but the two fall in love and decide to make a break for freedom together. Of course, you can’t fall in love in one of these kinds of anthologies and expect to get away with it. And I’ll leave it at that.

Barston then shows up at the Huesser’s place, and gives Alma (Muriel Hemingway looking very 1870s) the heebie-jeebies before he heads off into his own story. After he rides off into the sunset, Alma decides to visit an isolated neighbor named Sarah (Lisa Pelikan looking more hauntingly beautiful than ever), just as a storm arrives. Sarah is one of those hoity-toity East Coast people, who like to recite poetry and take themselves too seriously. But she’s also stricken with a fever, perhaps brought on by her lonliness and seething jealousy of Alma, whom she believes is having an affair with her husband. Sarah is sure there are wolves at the door, and it’s up to Alma to protect them both, but from what?

Finally, Barston meets up with Roundtree, and kills him. Arriving in town to have the body identified, he realizes that in exchange for the dead body, Barston may have to give up his own life.

Or something like that…

Into the Badlands makes absolutely no sense. Metaphors only go half way and stories end just when they should be beginning. But dammit, this film has atmosphere for days. Gorgeously shot by Johnny E. Jensen and directed with a strong sense of tension by Sam Pillsbury, I could not take my eyes off this little tele-film, which originally aired on July 24th, 1991. It is exquisitely surreal and manages to captivate despite the lack of a coherent story.

And maybe... just maybe... it’s not the story that’s important, because each tale is threaded together through the theme of isolation, and how it affects the characters. The protagonists are desperately trying to get away from the frontier (screw you, Manifest Destiny!), whether it be to a beach, the city or somewhere else, and these characters are driven mad by their solitude. The setting is authentically barren, both ugly and beautiful, and works as its own character. A dust devil waiting for your soul, if you will. So, despite the fact that I longed for more… more story, more explanation… I could not tear myself away from these Badlands. Recommended. And it's on DVD!

TV Spot Tuesday: Then Came Bronson (1969)

Like the character Jim Bronson, Then Came Bronson's creator, Denne Bart Petitclerc was a newspaperman, and someone who enjoyed observing people. And also like the enigmatic Bronson, Petitclerc was a bit of nomad (although he had a full family in tow), and dropped journalism to work in film. Bronson became Petitclerc’s way of expressing how youthful late 60s America was in a desperate search for itself, and for many the character spoke to young people in ways no other series had (one commenter on IMDb said that the show symbolized what it was like to be free).

NBC, along with the other two networks, were quickly becoming aware of a new demographic. The audience to attract came between the ages of 10 – 31, and the networks were trying out a variety of shows, including The Mod Squad and The New People in the hopes they could create hip programming that spoke to a generation in the middle of a war, the hippie movement and other late 60s issues that were particularly youth orientated.

And, not only was this type of with-it prime time scheduling something new, the TV movie pilot was also a fairly novel phenomena (1966’s Fame is the Name of the Game was the first pilot TVM, spawning The Name of the Game in 1968) and, indeed, tele-films in general were still a fairly revolutionary device. Bronson, which originally aired on March 24th, 1969, was unique in other ways too - it was quiet and almost plot-less, featuring a handsome Michael Parks as Bronson, a man ripped apart by his friend's suicide (Martin Sheen in an early role). Bronson realizes that living in a 9-to-5-monkey-suit-world is not for him, and he hits the road with the mysterious young woman who refuses to give her name (Bonnie Bedelia in an intriguing early role). Starting in San Francisco, there are lots of overhead shots of winding roads and roaring oceans. The couple was at home sleeping in the wild and although Bronson had a general destination (New Orleans), the trip seemed to be about getting lost in nowhere and enjoying the ride. At points the TVM even takes on a documentary vibe.

Then Came Bronson was hard to categorize in a pithy synopsis, but critics and audiences loved it, as it marked a departure from the regular programming. To give it a bite-sized promotion, some called it Route 66 for a new generation. Parks, who was already a well-established character actor, also provided some music for the series as well (he was a recording artist, and also did a bit of singing in the 1977 TVM Escape from Bogen County).

Because the pilot TVM was so well received, NBC dug deep into their pockets with high hopes for the series. They ran an encore performance of the pilot on August 2nd, to remind audiences what they fell in love with earlier that year. Producer Robert Justman (who had previously worked on the more overtly symbol-ridden Star Trek) said that despite the gorgeous camera work, the goal of the series did not have much to do with technical prowess, and commented that it didn’t matter if the sound was off or something didn’t work out. Bronson was about life, and that’s what they were trying to capture. Unfortunately, Bronson could not sustain its audience and was cancelled after one season. Ironically, part of the problem was that the audience they wanted to attract were actually living outdoors, some much like Bronson, and not watching much television. It was considered a disaster for NBC because of the expense of the gorgeous cinematography and on-location shoots. But many still recall the series fondly, and the pilot movie has aged amazingly well (I have yet to see the series). It's definitely worth a watch or re-watch.

NBC put together this stunning promo for the TVM:

Ironside: Raise the Devil (1974)

Network: NBC
Original Air Dates: September 12th and 19th, 1974

Following on the coattails of the occult and possession films of the early 1970s, the popular series Ironside mixed their somewhat formulaic procedural drama with pagan witches, exorcisms (well, kinda) and of course, murder. Raise the Devil is a two part episode that features a top notch cast in an eerie and fairly effective wanna-be supernatural story that might have made for a better fit with the scary small screen offerings of the October/Halloween season.

After Lydia Todd (Ruby from General Hospital!) is brutally murdered in her cellar, her gentle young daughter Susan (Sian Barbara Allen) starts giving off some seriously suspicious vibes, refusing to even look at the police, much less Ironside and his band of trusty co-workers. But it’s not like there’s a shortage of suspects. An unseen but recently fired gardener, Susan’s boyfriend Jeff (Michael Anderson Jr.), Lydia’s drunkard husband (Dane Clark) and an overly serious psychiatrist, Dr. Gallin (Bill Bixby looking pretty hot in glasses) fill the roster of maybe-murderers. All of this mystery proves to be too much for Susan and she quickly winds up on the ledge of her mother’s palatial estate, threatening suicide. Ironside doesn’t believe she’s the killer and, while searching for answers he seeks help from a parapsychologist named Justine Cross (Carolyn Jones looking rather fetching with her intense bangs and to-die-for cheekbones). Justine throws another monkey wrench into the fire by suggesting that the spirit of Susan's dead brother may have possessed his sibling. Yikes!

Raise the Devil is half amazing, and half missed potential. Ironside, which was in its eighth and final season, is crisp and gorgeous. The plush modern 70s interiors are simply exquisite. If this episode had just been shots of the set decorations, I still would have been pleased. And, like earlier episodes, the lead cast is thoroughly engaging, even if we only get work-speak and crime busting.

Unfortunately, the story of a maybe-possessed young woman is mostly unfulfilled, bowing down to a safe formula and a few head shaking moments. This is par for the course for 70s TV, so it’s only a mild complaint. I remember the Charlie’s Angels episode The Séance was marginally similar, if a lot more jiggly, and the Kojak episode I Want to Report a Dream also features a psychic connection to a murderer. Personally, I love small screen supernatural mumbo jumbo, but for whatever reason, this one didn’t completely satisfy. It does have Ironside leading a pseudo-exorcism (!), so, it’s not like all is lost (OK, it was more like deprogramming, but work with me). Also, Ironside courts the lovely Justine, and I’ll be honest, I was digging it!

Sian Barbara Allen stepped away from acting in 1990, and has recently surfaced as an author. Sian was always a lovely presence on film, and I found myself hoping that she’d get together with Ed Brown (the gorgeous Don Galloway), but perhaps that was just too much of a fan-fiction-fantasy moment.

Last Bride of Salem (1974)

Network: ABC
Original Air Date: May 8th, 1974

This Toronto lensed shot on video thriller originally aired under the ABC Afternoon Playbreak moniker all the way back in 1974. The Playbreak series, which ran from October 31st, 1973 – February 13th, 1975, was a cycle of 90 minute stand alone episodes that would air once a month, preempting the daytime soap programming, and there were about 4 to 5 episodes per season. The afternoon movie format proved to be popular and many of the Playbreaks won Emmys, including The Last Bride of Salem which garnered an award for TV stalwart Bradford Dillman.

It’s a little sad and strange that Playbreak hasn’t been documented better, it wasn’t until I attempted to research this film that I discovered the series. Luckily, Bride has a bit of cult following and after watching it I can certainly see why. It’s eerie, claustrophobic and well paced. I should also add the score would make any giallo fan's mouth water. There are some decent Goblin-like grooves to be found lurking inside this story of modern witchery!

Bradford Dillman is Matt Clifton, an up and coming artist and doting family man who is offered a chance to stay at a worn-down but large and serene farmhouse so he can create… ahrt! Matt packs up his wife, Jennifer (Lois Nettleton) and daughter Kelly (Joni Bick) and they head out to the serene countryside; only things aren’t quite as tranquil as they had hoped. Jennifer is sure something nefarious is happening to her husband and child, but could it really be an aged old curse taking over their bodies, and preparing Jennifer to become a child bride to Satan? Yikes!

  
Bride harkens back to the exceptional SOV British series Thriller, which also featured stand alone horror tales. Like Bride, Thriller relied heavily on the less is more tactic of terror. Fairly traditional to the medium during this era, the SOV style really work as far as I’m concerned. Maybe it’s because I’ve been heavily influenced by the look and approach of soaps, but there’s something creepy and effective about straight faced video horror (at least from that period). It works here, because of that particular video polish and because of the strong acting, and just because it’s an eerie story played out just right. In fact, director Tom Donovan and writer Rita Lakin were no strangers to serial world – he directed such shows as Ryan’s Hope and General Hospital and she wrote for the nighttime shows Flamingo Road and Dynasty! Lakin also adapted Death Takes a Holiday into the made for television format and it still remains one of the most haunting and beautiful romance films of that medium. So often this format is considered subpar and certainly the use of video doesn’t help it earn any respect, and that’s a miserable fate for a subgenre so needlessly pushed aside.

And, here’s an oddball piece of trivia: You will spot John Candy as a background character. He appears in a couple of scenes, but the one I remember him in is the ritual scene. I jokingly said, “Hey, it’s John Candy,” and it was!

Goliath Awaits (1981)

Network: Syndicated 
Original Air Dates: November 16th & 17th, 1981

In a land far, far away, someone asked me to check out Goliath Awaits. I wish I could remember who that kind soul was, because I want to thank them from the bottom of my heart. My copy (taped off Encore Mystery) was sheepishly looking at me while the poor thing gathered dust. Although that certainly sent pangs of guilt to my very core (well, not really, but I did feel bad… I swear), I let it sit on the shelf because I am always hesitant to watch mini-series. Truth be told, I’ve always been like that because I feel like I’m making some huge investment and I won’t be able to carry my mission through. Failure sucks, and I avoid it! What’s crazy is that I tend to love all the mini-series I sit down with, yet I still find that aching hesitation persists. Yes, I’m a mystery to myself sometimes.

I am apparently a mystery to John Carradine too!

Filmed on the Queen Mary, and featuring an incredible cast, Operation Prime Time went overboard (pun intended) with their epic lost ship thriller Goliath Awaits. Starting in 1939, a large British luxury liner is sunk by several Nazi torpedoes. Jump 40 years ahead and a crew in search of oceanic minerals picks up the shell of the great liner Goliath on their radar. Eager to salvage the wreck for treasures, they are surprised when they get a small submarine vessel near it and hear an S.O.S. signal! The military quickly puts together an operation to investigate the sunken ship and soon the world finds out that many of the passengers survived, and now live in their own world, made sustainable through an air bubble. While most of the top crewman died, one man who had a knack for inventions helped the survivors build a garden, create electricity, and, in short, live. Rising to leader, this man is not so hip to be rescued and he intends to thwart any and all plans to bring the survivors back to the real world.

Underwater gardening Goliath style!

Goliath Awaits is an epic mini-series that ran over two nights and is brimming with several almost-a-star appearances. The mini-series caught Mark Harmon between the short-lived series 240-Robert (1978 – 79) and the nighttime soap Flamingo Road (1980 – 82), and he had a few years to go before he hit superstardom fame as Dr. Robert Caldwell on St. Elsewhere. His charm and magnetism already apparent, he makes a likable hero for the passengers of the Goliath. His love interest is the plucky Emma Samms who was just a couple of years away from becoming a soap opera star on General Hospital. Other up and coming faces include Duncan Regehr (V) and Robert Forster, an actor who already had a stellar resume, but was years away from Oscar nominated and household name glory in Jackie Brown (note: Regehr and Forster would appear together again in the trashy sex thriller The Banker, which is great fun if you love the erotic thrillers of the 90s… and you know you do). Lori Lethin (Bloody Birthday) also appears as Samms tragic best friend. These relative newcomers mix with handsome Alex Cord and three of the greats: John Carradine, Frank Gorshin, and Christopher Lee. This fusion of fresh and classic faces works beautifully to make for a good night(s) of entertainment!

Being scary is a full time job

Christopher Lee’s chilling and heartrending portrayal of Captain McKenzie is perfection. He manages to walk that fine line of dictator jerk and reluctant hero, sustaining some level of compassion for his character. The same cannot be said of his right hand man Dan Wesker (Frank Gorshin) who is utterly terrifying in his devotion to McKenzie. The dynamic between these two could constitute its own movie, and while it’s not given a huge amount of attention through the film, there is enough background to make each character compelling. While the entire cast gives superb performances, the film really belongs to McKenzie and Wesker’s bizarre bromance.

Swoon x 2

Buyer Beware: Goliath Awaits did get a release on VHS, but in an edited form that cuts out some of the most intriguing stories. I’m not sure when I taped my copy off of Encore Mystery (I haven’t had pay channels in, like, forever), but perhaps the TV gods will abide. It’s a film that is definitely worth seeing. 

And the band plays on