Tubi Thursday: 10 to Midnight (1983)

 After watching an '80s Film last week (with Rifftrax), let me stay in that Decade.

It's a completely different feel, however, as it is a Cannon Film...

The late '70s to mid '80s were all about vigilantes...who are also Cops.  This is no exception.

A man acts like a complete jerk to some ladies in a Movie Theater...    

...but sneaks out to kill a lady.

He does so while nude- save for rubber gloves- to leave no clues.

Yep, nothing could come off of a body at a crime scene.  Certainly not hair or nails.

A Cop- Charles Bronson- has a new partner- Andrew Stevens, from The Terror Within Films- know that this murder is related to a previous one.

Mind you, we are just told this, so between this and abruptly following the killer, I feel like I missed a Film.

Is there a 9 to Midnight that I have to see first?

The killer went to the Funeral and knows to look for the Diary, which has his name in it.

Of course, we saw the Cops go to look at the victim's stuff.  Is it then a surprise when they have it?

Well, it is to the killer...and the roommate, who decided to cook eggs in her '80s lingerie.  

Wait, what?

The Theater alibi holds- since they don't check into it- and the Cops won't do more, angering Bronson.

He plants the 2nd victims' blood on the guy's clothes and they arrest him.

Shockingly, his deceit is revealed and...

Bronson confesses, ending the Trial before it starts and losing his job.

Now the killer really wants Bronson's Daughter dead, so things come to a head.

The Ending is kind of forced and abrupt.

This is the big, scary Film that my Mother was freaked out by.  Weird.  And yes, that was why I added it to my Queue months ago.

It is a Cannon Film, so you know what to expect.  It thankfully has more depth than you might think.  Bronson isn't just the cliche of him that many people have based on Films he made around this time.  He doesn't deliver any monologues or anything, but he plays a real-feeling person.

The killer, likewise, gets alot of attention.  We don't really know why he kills, which is a shame.  There's a really despicable part that focuses on him getting advice to 'act crazy to escape punishment.'  His Lawyer- Character Actor Geoffrey Lewis- tells him to act like he is both Schizophrenic AND has Dissociative Identity Disorder.

In a Film with about a dozen murders in it, this is the part that bugs me the most!

The Soundtrack is great, so I can ignore the dated aspects mostly.  

Honestly, the fact that Bronson does something bad and faces consequences for it helps this one a bit for me.  

That ending though...I mean, did you have to do it?
He was naked and covered in blood, screaming about how he was going to lie and then come back for revenge.  Would that have held up in Court?

Regardless, I was expecting worse here...although now I need to check my closet for Yuppies.

Bronson was in far worse Cannon Films- by the same Director no less- after this.  If you can put on your blinders a bit, this is actually pretty good.

'90s Trash: The Terror Within II (1991)

 Now with the Star in charge of everything- oh boy.  

This is The Terror Within II, the 1991 Sequel that also comes from Roger Corman's Production Company.  Weirdly, it is Concorde Films on this Film, as opposed to NEW Concorde for the previous Film.  Times change quickly!  

Speaking of change, let's talk about the obvious one.  Andrew Stevens has escalated from being just the Star to being the Star, the Writer AND the Director!  Holy Ed Wood, Batman!  He's since gone on to Direct a dozen or so projects, ranging from Episodes of Swamp Thing to Virtual Combat with Don 'The Dragon' Wilson.  Let's see how it all began, shall we?  

The Plot mostly follows the first one and introduces the Bunker we'd only heard about/from briefly in the previous one.  I'm not clear how much time has passed exactly, which would have been nice to know.  In addition, they no longer call them Gargoyles, which is odd.  

Instead, they use the Latin to make it sound scarier- worked for Night of the Lepus, no?  This time, we got some other Stars to 'slum it' here like R. Lee Ermey and Stella Stevens.  

Hidden amongst the Cast is a two-time Oscar Winner though- it's Cinematographer.  Janusz Kaminski would go on to work Oscars for Schlinder's List and Saving Private Ryan, but he started out on stuff like this, Cool as Ice and Little Giants.  Can the previous Star make a Film that tops the original?  To find out, read on...

In the vague time since the last Film, Stevens wanders the Desert collecting resources.  He does so alone, but the Film won't address his missing Co-Star for at least 30 minutes.

Also...that beard.  He's like 40% of you as the Shutdown ended, isn't he?

He saves a pair of people from a POV attacking Gargoyle...or just one.  The guy dies and leaves his sister in Stevens' care.

He's now the Writer, so, of course, they hook up and she is immediately pregnant.  Subtle!

At the other Bunker, we see that apparently there is no some issue with a virus *inside* and not just the creatures to deal with.  Is that a retcon or did I just glaze out when it was mentioned in the last Film?

Regardless, their Bunker has the aforementioned Stevens, Ermey AND Burton Gilliam- most well-known for being in Blazing Saddles alongside Slim Pickens!

While they work on securing plants for a vaccine that is suddenly super-important, Stevens and his lady meet up with a random Cult to get some Peyote- for the vaccine, not personal use.

This distraction accomplishes three things-

1) Padding the runtime to 90 minutes (with Credits)

2) Padding the body count

3) Leading to the woman being raped by one of the creatures, setting up the Third Act.

Speaking of setting up the Third Act, a Gargoyle loses a finger to a closing hatch and one of them takes it inside to study...or just forget about it.

Seriously, they just leave it in a container and forget about it until it kills someone in a larger, goopier form.

So even though Stevens KNOWS what happens when a Gargoyle is birthed, he hides the fact that one will be born soon from the Bunker's inhabitants.  

That lasts for all of 5 minutes of on-screen time though.

Naturally, it is born, but it doesn't kill the Mother this time because reasons.

On top of that, it is a hybrid creature, since she was knocked up by Stevens like a day earlier.  Sure, whatever you say, Movie!

Ultimately, the Bunker now has TWO menaces to deal with (since it is a Sequel).

Can they stop the hybrid Gargoyle and this mutated Blob one too?

The latter proves to be quite dangerous as the Film needs to start offing the Supporting Players before the end.  It is ultimately stopped by Stevens and the 'Mother' working together.

As for the Blob one, it...kind of just dies easily right afterwards.  The survivors group back up and... oh, that's the End?!?

A less-than-overwhelming retread.  To be honest, I wasn't *expecting* much more, but was hoping for it.  First-time Director Stevens does okay here.  I do miss the random forced perspective shots though.  

The Film is shot well, but you should hope for that given the man behind the shot layouts.  Seriously, he worked on Watchers II and Saving Private Ryan!  There's one big, obvious problem- the Special Effects.  With Jaws 2, its Director spoke of how you can never replicate that first moment when the Shark appears for the Audience, so you have to show it more and more.  Someone didn't get that lesson…or couldn't afford to follow it.  

Despite having one for the last Film, we don't get to ever see the original Gargoyle Suit(s?) in this Film outside of shadowy, far-away shots.  Did they lose it?  Did it get worn down from disrepair?  I don't know.  Regardless, the Film using POV Shots for the Monsters in THE SEQUEL feels like a real slap in the face.  When we finally get a new creature- the Hybrid-, they make it covered in blood/goop and there's far less detail here.  The addition of the semi-human face is nice, but isn't nearly enough.  

Where did the money go?  Oh right, you got Ermey and put lots of lights in the new Bunker.  It is hard to ignore the seeming ego on display as Stevens is the only competent fighter, seen as the potential savior for the Bunker, gets the girl and saves the day...even if he also caused 80% of the deaths.  

Seriously, he faces ZERO repercussions for bringing the fetus in there and making most of the Cast die.  Dick.  

With hindsight, they should have started with him and the woman together, showing their meeting in flashbacks.  That would make it more understandable for him to possibly-doom everyone for her...instead of for a woman he met like 2 days ago and already hooked up with.  

Regardless, Within II is a bit of a retread that has a couple of new ideas that don't really mix things up.  You've gotta love this Rambo-style Poster highlighting ONLY its Star/Writer/Director too.

Next up, a recent $1 purchase that will hopefully pay off.  Let's see if the Killer Cut is worth it.  Stay tuned... 

'80s Trash?: The Terror Within (1989)

 1989 was a pretty weird year for Horror based on this small sample size.  This is The Terror Within, a Sci-Fi Horror Film produced by Roger Corman's Studio.  I often wonder how much input he had on the individual Films.  Was he just signing the checks for most of them or was he an 'on-set visit' kind of guy.  With that out of the way, let's ask the obvious question- So this is just Alien right?  Kind of, yeah.  This has less of the usual aspects that the Alien-wannabes have though, to be fair.  It is not in Space.  It is not *technically* an Alien Invader.  It also not the far future either.  So why is this an Alien-wannabe?  Let's go through the list, shall we?  People are trapped in a space with a creature.  Said creature's birth is *slightly* familiar.  There's also the whole impregnation thing, but I'll get into the issues involved with that later.  Like many Films from this time, they talked George Kennedy into an easy pay-day.  Aw.  In the near future (or an alternate present), a virus has wiped out humanity and made 'Gargoyles' that kill people.  Can the people in the Bunker find safety after all of this time?  What happens when they get company?  To find out, read on...

Deep in the Desert, people hide out in Bunkers trying to survive until a cure for the issues with the outside World are dealt with.

They keep in contact with other Bunkers, but also look for Survivors.  Are they the key to a return to normalcy?

Two of them go out and die off-camera.  We have to save the monster reveal for later.

They find one survivor- a woman- and she runs away.  Why does she not want to go with them?

As it turns out, she's pregnant.  She's not happy.  Why?

Well, the Gargoyle did it...at some point before the gang went outside, I guess.

She gives birth and...it's Alien.

To double-down on the unoriginality, it runs off in a manner more like It's Alive (which Alien copied a bit, to be fair).

They try to find a way to catch and/or contain the creature, but much of their stuff is smashed/torn up.

They are stuck there.

To make things worse, the creature grows to full-size very quickly and...it's freaky.

All of the money they didn't spend on locations went to this, so kudos.

Did The Suckling rip this design off or is skull-faced, flesh fiend generic?

The Film also has this weird obsession with odd perspective shots as they do dialog.  They aren't bad, but they are...odd, no?

Anyhow, they make up some weapons to stop the creature.

As you can see, it does not go well.

RIP Not Dave Coulier.

Things get worse when the first of only two Female Members of the Crew is *ahem* violated by the creature.  She gets pregnant, but there's a question of whether or not it is the Monster's or our Lead's.

It was the Monster's.  She kills herself.

Fun!

Time to play with those dials and work up an elaborate Third Act battle with the creature now.

Said finale involves a flamethrower, some hiding, man-sized air vents and a fan that slap-chops the creature away.

In the aftermath, the Survivors blow up the Bunker- good-bye years of research!- and leave...for the Sequel.

It's a fun, if unoriginal adventure.  The obvious Alien stuff aside, they make good use of what they have here.  They have a good-to-decent looking Bunker Set(s) to run around in.  They have a good-looking Monster Suit.  They have some good-to-decent Actors here to lend weight to everything.  It has just the right amount of self-seriousness to be good fun to laugh at.  It has enough good stuff that you might enjoy it on its own.  The Terror Within is not the kind of Film that was made to win Awards or be shown in Arthouse Theaters.  Like most of the New Concorde stuff, it was designed to play strongly, linger for a few weeks in Theaters and then never matter again.  Those aren't even my words- Corman himself has said it!  My big issue is one that comes up alot with Corman Films from this Era- the misogyny.  I don't mean to keep bringing that up so often, but you can't ignore it here.  The 'shocking terror' of Alien was that the Creature would put its eggs inside of MEN and it would, by all definitions of the word, impregnate them.  That ties into a deep-seated fear that *I think* most of us have.  So to reverse it like they do here takes away the 'shocking terror' of it and just makes the Monster a normal, well, rapist.  This is a common thing in Corman-funded/Produced Films of this Era such as Humanoids from the Deep (made first before this one and then remade later) and also Galaxy of Terror.  At this point, I'm not judging- I'm just also not acting like I don't see it.  Regardless, Within is a fun bit of Sci-Fi Horror that at least some people had fun on...

Next time, I might as well cover the Sequel.  As a bonus, the Lead is now the Director- yea?  Stay tuned...

My Crazy Youth: The Time That Swamp Thing Fought Two WCW Wrestlers

Another Swamp Thing Episode, you ask?  Well, DC is planning to make a brand new Series, so why not?  

The Show ran for four years, so it gave us plenty of material to cover here on the Internet.

Shall I just get right to it?  Alright...

An unscrupulous Researcher kills a man for his notes and then kidnaps our non-green Hero to take him into the Swamp.

Why?

Well, a Mayan Temple is hidden somewhere in the Louisiana (by way of Orlando)Swamp.  It is guarded by...Kevin Nash and El Gigante/Giant Gonzales.  

Yeah, they're totally both Mayans (and Ghosts).

The Ghosts exit the Temple to start punishing the people coming to steal the treasure.  Why they don't just stay is...a good question.

As for Swamp Thing, he confronts the pair...and is instantly-knocked out.  I may have lied with the Title.

Out in the Swamp, the trio must do battle with the blatant Stock Footage, perils of nature (created by the Ghost Warriors) and the treachery between the two Villains.

They eventually find the Temple and the blood of the Ghost Warriors, which will somehow unlock the secret to immortality...

… only for the Warriors to appear once again.  Swamp Thing/Alec tells Will to give back the blood, which makes the pair leave him alone as the Temple Door reseals and the other men's souls are taken!  The End.

Endearingly-silly stuff.  If you don't know, Swamp Thing was shot all around the Universal Studios Lot.  For example, the other Researcher is killed on what is clearly the same Main Street Backlot used for such Films as Carnosaur.   In fact, they shot Legends of the Hidden Temple at Universal too, so it makes me wonder.  In spite of this, they somehow try to have multiple Outdoor Sets, a Main Street and a Mayan Temple.  They try to cover the small Budget on the Show.  They do a decent-enough job, even if they repeat footage and locations a few times.  They did what they could with pretty little, so minor kudos.  The big draw is, of course, the Casting of Kevin Nash (at the time Vinnie Vegas) and Jorge Gonzales (currently El Gigante) as the Warriors.  They just wanted big guys to fake roar and pose dramatically.  You have to ignore the fact only one of them is actually Hispanic, of course.  It's all just plain silly fun.  On the plus side, it is better than the second time that Kevin Nash played an evil Ghost.  I do wish that Swamp Thing had actually gotten a chance to battle them, especially since they cast Wrestlers as the 'Villains.'  Kind of a missed opportunity- even though Gigante always sucked in the ring.  Maybe I will just see if they do better with Terry Funk.  In the meantime, enjoy this double whammy of a censored Magazine Ad and a person looking at Softcore Porn in a Show marketed to kids...

Another fun and silly Episode.  It has it all- a silly Plot, magic and Pro-Wrestlers!