'70s Class: Ganja & Hess (1973)

 A lost Classic or a creaky mess?  This is Ganja & Hess, a 1973 Vampire Film with some historical significance.  Back in 1968, a Classic was released- Night of the Living Dead.  As you probably all know, George A. Romero cast Duan Jones as the Lead, not caring whether or not he was Black.  The part was rewritten from a 'hick' Truck Driver when Jones showed his erudite manner of speaking.  Why all of this talk about Duan Jones?  He's the Star of the Movie, of course!  This is only the second time (and arguably the last time) he'd be the Lead in a Film.  Given that the other is a Film that inspired Generations of Horror Writers/Directors/Actors, I'd say that is notable.  So why isn't this Film so well known?  For starters, it is not Public Domain like NotLD became accidentally.  It's also...well, arty AF.  Random music, long-ass shots of people doing very little and people deep in thought- you get tons of that here.  Weirdly, the Plot is just thrown in your face at the beginning and...then still happens.  It's not like Dark City's forced Exposition Dump to skip over an explanation.  I know that there's a recut of this Film- in even less demand than a Snyder Cut- so maybe this is from that version.  Mine has the original Title though, so...who the hell knows?!?  Basically, a man is turned into a Vampire and has to live with it.  Will this be more interesting than Romero's own Vampire Film (Martin)?  Is it weird that Romero made an introspective, psychological Vampire Film AND his first Star did the same?  Kind of.  To find out why you may or may not care about this one, read on...

A man- Dr. Hess Green- is living the high life.  He's got a Mansion, a Butler and a Limo.

It sure beats being accidentally killed by Hunters!

After some text explaining the Plot to come, we then get Narration from...the Limo Driver.  Random, but it pays off.

Less paid off is a long, meandering monologue about Music accompanied by shots of people in traditional African garb.

If this means something to you, fine.

He takes in his Assistant (Ganja Maeda), but he's clearly unstable.

That night, the man is stopped from committing suicide and later attacks Green with a dagger from the Tribe he's been studying.

Said Tribe apparently drank blood, so that may be important.

Green isn't killed, but Maeda's next attempt to kill himself does work.

'Thankfully' they included a long shot of Maeda just sitting naked in the bathtub before this.  Maeda is also the Film's Director BTW.

Green finds the body and...drinks the blood!

He finds that he now needs it to live, but otherwise seems to experience no penalties from being a Vampire.

At this point, Vampire Rules being broken means nothing to me.

A new one for this Film- he must drink fresh blood, not one he can steal from a lab.

The Film is nearly 2 hours long, so I'm going to skip past 2 Scenes of Green killing random people for blood.  They mean nothing.

Ganja's Wife comes to Town and he can't exactly say what happened.

Time to keep her in the House, while you keep him in the Freezer!

While he's away, she finds the body and...doesn't freak out.

Nope, instead they get married!

You thought Sid & Nancy made a weird couple!

He makes her a Vampire, which she adjusts too pretty well.  He even helps her kill a guy (after a '70s Sex Scene) and hide the body.

However, the guilt eventually weighs Hess down and he commits suicide by...standing in front of a cross for too long.

Oh and he's inspired to do this by attending the Driver's Church.  See- it did pay off!

In the aftermath, she can't bring herself to die and gets a surprise...

The guy she drained suddenly jumps out of the nearby Lake and runs towards the House...and that's it.

The End....apparently.

A long, drawn out Film that surely means alot...to someone.  I get that the Film is artistic.  I get that the Film is full of metaphors and symbolism.  Vampirism is a stand-in for addiction.  I get it.  The Film is just...so slow...and so ponderous.  Art isn't for everyone- it's subjective.  If you like Ganja & Hess, I'm not here to tell you otherwise.  The Acting is good.  It was shot well.  It looks nice.  There's nothing wrong with it.  It's just, well, the kind of Film I give Bob to watch instead of me every year.  There are many good moments here.  Jones really gives us the anxiety and guilt that his character has.  There's a real primal moment when he goes in to drink the blood of the dead Ganja.  In another Scene, we see him sadly-realizing his fate after killing one of his victims.  He's really good in this.  I take nothing away from him or the people behind the Film.  I wanted to like it- oh well.  If you're into the more arty and complex Horror Films (this is described as an Experimental Horror Film), you might like it.  With the languid pace and random male nudity, it just won't be for everyone.  Just like the print, things may get a bit hairy...

Next up, the Spike Lee Remake.  We'll see if he just recreated it verbatim or did something other than making a fancier Title.  Stay tuned...

Forgotten TV: The Adventures of Fu Manchu (1956)

Before there was Hannibal or Dracula getting TV Shows, one man beat them to the punch...

Yes, this popular Pulp, Film, Comics and TV fixture once headlined his own Show!

As a quick refresher/info dump, Dr. Fu Manchu is an evil Asian Man.
He's a Scientist, Doctor, Madman and all around would-be Dictator.

He faced off with many Heroes, including Sherlock Holmes (in a special), The Avengers (as copycat version Yellow Claw) and Shang-Chi, which was eventually retconned away in time for that Character's MCU Debut.

He's evil and Asian- that's all you need to know.

After a failed Pilot in 1952 (Starring John Carradine!), this Show came about.
I only have four of the 13 Episodes (the same cut together into a Film, as well), but I can cover this well enough.

So this is Fu Manchu...

No, an Asian Actor never seems to have played the character.  On one hand, do you blame them?

Glen Gordon plays him well-enough (he has natural presence), but his squinting and accent (He ah always ah pauses to ah sound foreign) are very dated!

He's always hounded by two Federal Agents that try to stop his various schemes.

Said schemes include stealing gold, ruining peace talks, killing various figures and, oh yeah, WORKING WITH HITLER!

Naturally, his attempts always fail...but he's also never caught.  His henchmen, like this guy, aren't so lucky.

By the way, falling from a fourth story window makes no blood come out of you- naturally!

Every Episode seems to end with him in his lair watching whatever just happened on a TV.  How and why he can do that are never explained.

Oh well, he'll get it right next time.  He doesn't.

 A weird TV experiment.  As I've mentioned in other Articles, TV was a new thing in the '50s and nobody was quite sure how it should work.  It's why early TV Shows feel like Plays...just filmed on Cameras.  This one was an early attempt to make a strong narrative centered on a villain.  It was one thing to make a Film about Fu Manchu (which had been done as early as 1929), since it was a one-off.  Likewise, reading Rohmer's Short Stories about him was a more natural thing, even if Books didn't tend to use repeated villains as the focal points.  Doing a Show around this guy was too controversial in 1952, but I guess it was fine four years later.  The actual Stories have *some* variety, but they only have so many ideas.  Two out of the four Episodes feature him using plastic surgery to make duplicates for various means.  The other two feature him using lackeys forced to work with him, but inevitably losing the will to do evil.  I'm guessing we got that a few more times, given the pattern so far.  I'd look more into the other Episodes, but IMDB is pretty sparse.  Only these four Episodes (below) are semi-full Pages, since, again, they were released as a Film too.  Fun Fact: Glen Gordon's last Roles were all on The Waltons- a far cry from being a yellow menace!  As for Fu Manchu, he'd return to Films...played by Christopher Lee and Peter Sellers (in his last Film).  His cultural impact- while not positive- is notable.  After all, who else has a kind of mustache named after him?  If nothing else, the Disc I have does come with a Cartoon, so all is right with the world!

I can't recommend this for the right reasons, but there are many wrong ones that will suffice.

'50s Trash: Monster from Green Hell

An obscure little gem or something that you should leave in the brush?  This is 1957's Monster from Green Hell, a Sci-Fi Horror Film.  

I like the Title.  I saw the Film.  

I like the Title still.  

The Plot involves a Region of Africa, which means we're going to get lots of old-timey Racism.  I won't linger on it- much- but know that it is there.  The Plot involves giant bug, presumably the ones that come before the tiny ones who will one day rule the Earth.  

On the plus side, the Dung Beetle will be perfect for working retail!  The Director of this only has 4 Credits, one of which is The Manster- joy.  One of the Writers worked on many TV Shows, and I Married A Monster From Outer Space.  

The other Writer has multiple TV Credits as well and wrote a Film called Desert Hell- he has a type!  

Let's not waste any more time (since the Film does enough of that) and read on...

Deep in Africa, a certain region (don't bother with a name- it's fake) is dealing with new people coming in and one other little thing...

Giant Wasps!

These hilariously-fake creatures have the ability to scare away Stock Footage and somehow not be noticed by people outside of the area.

While the Film focuses mostly on some guys studying Radiation causing growth in Animals, the 'meat' of the Film is really the bug attacks.  They're gloriously-silly!

Seriously, you have to feel for the Actors here...

Some guy is holding up a foam rubber bug head, while another has a claw puppet (or two).  The poor Actors have to 'die' at the 'hands' of this thing.

For all the fun that the silly bug stuff is, we get way too much of the boring people.  

They narrate CONSTANTLY too, as this is one of those Films which thinks that the Audience is made up of morons.

No, you're thinking of the people that enjoy Transformers Films!

To get the Film to 70 minutes, they get attacked on the way by a bad Tribe of people.  There's the old-timey Racism again.

Oh and the reason for the Title is that the Wasps are in 'Green Hell,' a Valley.  How they are ONLY there is anyone's guess.

To make a long story short, they throw grenades at giant wasps and accidentally jump-start a Volcano to kill the beasts.

It's less interesting than I make it sound.  The End.

Not all B-Movies are made the same.  Think about the premise- Giant Wasps are on the loose!  It sounds dumb, but fun.  To be fair, it can be...in small doses.  

The problem is that everything around the silly F/X Shots is pretty dull.  It is FULL of Narration that does little for anyone.  In the Story, it takes them ages to get to the titular Green Hell.  On that subject, why would 'Natives' with no concept of Judaea-Christian Religion name a place 'Hell' in the first place?  

It's like how the U.S. said that an Iraqi Soldier was known as 'The Wolf of Baghdad,' despite said area not having Wolves!  There's so much padding here, since they can clearly only do so much with the model bugs.  It's kind of a shame really- it shows so much potential for hilarity.  

If you're looking for more obscure '50s Films to watch, this one qualifies.  As far 'So Bad its Good' Films, it's not as 'good' as Plan 9, but it's also not as bad as Orgy of the Dead either.  I hope that helps.  

Speaking of helping, I love how this actual Promo Art for the Film couldn't make it look less silly!

Next time, I go back the 1980s for some shlocky fun.  No more giant insects though (probably).  Stay tuned...

Rare Flix: The World, The Flesh & The Devil (1959)

An important Film that didn't gets its due nearly 60 years ago.  This is The World, The Flesh and the Devil, a 1959 Film that tackled both Race, Society and Culture.  The Film was not a hit at the time.  Can I give it a break now?  

The Plot involves 3 survivors of a vague apocalypse (something about nuclear waste-style gas).  They must deal with their past.  They must deal with each other.  They must decide whether to try to live anew in a broken world.  

The Film was a clear passion project for its Star- Harry Belafonte- and he even took a cut from the back end as his pay to get it made.  

If this Plot sounds familiar, then you might be thinking of Z for Zachariah.  Strangely, that Film claims to be based on the Book/Play (and BBC Film).  That Story, however, is clearly based on this Film.  

To further muddy things up, this Film is based in part on TWO different Stories!  It's rare that I cover Films that are meant to be Social Commentary, so enjoy this break from awful Monster Movies and the like.  

To find out if this is worth digging up, read on...

A man- Belafonte- survives in a Mine Shaft when something seems to destroy the surface.

To note: this is how Pine's Character supposedly survived in Zachariah.

He makes his way out and tries to find more people, crossing the Country to get to New York.

A famous Black Actor surviving an Apocalypse alone in NYC- unheard of!

Once there, he stumbles across a GIANT 1950's Computer to finally learn what happened- we basically gassed ourselves out of existence.  

Oops.

Apparently, he's not quite alone in this City though...

Meanwhile, he tries to cope with the loneliness of this new World by talking to mannequins.

So does Will Smith owe someone money now?

The two finally unite and the woman- Inger Stevens- is interested in taking things farther.

In a nice turn, she has no issue with his Race- he just reflexively-assumes otherwise.

So now here's the extra weird thing- after her tragic death in 1970, an African-American Actor came forward to say that they had been married in secret. 
It was kept hidden- he said- to help her career.  

So, possibly, art is imitating life here!

While they try to work through their issues, conflict arises in the form of Mel Ferrer, another survivor.  He has no qualms about making a play for her.

I mean, can you blame him (or her)?

It all comes to a head as Belafonte and Ferrer agree that they can't co-exist.  

One will live and one will die!

Belafonte is driven to peace by a not-so-subtle sign (see the Stinger) and both make peace.  The trio join hands and walk together.  It's not The End- it's the Beginning.

Nice and deep stuff.  The Film is pretty simple in its execution.  It only has 3 people in it.  It has big, sparse sets.  

They filmed it in NYC in the early, early hours of the day.  Back in 1959, you could do that.  Now you'd have random stoners walking through the shot, people vaping around every corner and pizza rats aplenty.  

Decades ahead of 28 Days Later showing you a barren London, this Film makes New York City look like a ghost town!  

Aside from just the setting, the Film is well-written, well-acted and well-shot.  It's not even remotely the most subtle Film you'll see.  It maybe has an air of self-importance about it that may bother some people.  

In spite of that, The World, The Flesh and the Devil is a good, mostly forgotten Drama that needs to be seen.  I mean, the writing is on the wall for you if you don't...

Next up, something probably a lot trashier and dumber.  Don't think that I'm the 'serious' Site now.  Stay tuned...

Quick Reviews: Z For Zachariah (2015)

Around a Year ago, I thought about this Movie.  When February passed, I put it off.  Well, February came again this Year and I saw it...

In the wake of some sort of Plague (never elaborated on), Mankind is all but wiped out.  Thankfully, Margot Robbie survived.

Unfortunately, she's playing a Character who's 16 in the original Book, so quell those fantasies.

She is the love survivor in a Valley...until she finds another person...

That man- Chiwetel Ejiofor- is a Scientist and the pair try to make a life together.  The man actually doesn't want to take the next step- physicality- just yet.

That proves to be bad timing when the one guy you don't want as a rival for a woman shows up.

Pine seems to be making a play for Robbie, trying in subtle ways to 'show' that he's more 'right' for her than Ejiofor.

Can the trio work together to make a new life for all of them in this broken world or will tensions be the end for one of them- if only one?

To find out, watch the Film.

A good, if vague Film.  On the plus side, the Film leaves some things up in the air and lets you decide.  On the negative side, it leaves some things unstated and makes you decide.  What you do get to know outright is good.  The Film is certainly not going to be for everyone and actually doesn't quite cover everything you would expect it to.  This is officially an Adaptation of a Book (of the same name), but changes so much (like adding a third person) that it is more of a Remake of something else.  If you actually know the Book, this may bother you.  If you don't know the Book, you have to Google it to find out.  On its own merits, the Film is well-shot, well-acted and feels very real.  It's also an interesting mix of cultural backgrounds and locations.  A Nigerian Actor, an Australian Actress, an American Actor, an Icelandic Director, an American Setting and an Eastern Europe Filming Location.  If you're more into Drama than what I normally cover, check this one out.  It's not a clear Adaptation of the Book, but that already exists...

A nice, understated Film that flew under the radar.  Given her recent Oscar buzz, maybe that will change.

Draw-It Ralph: Coonskin (1975)

Oh boy, I'm going to end up on some interesting List after Song of the South and now this!  Today's Film is Coonskin, a 1975 Animated Film from Ralph Bakshi that is a response to stuff like South.  In addition, it tells a very loose Adaptation of the Brer Rabbit Story.  It is also built around a guy telling the Stories, only the importance of them is inverted.  The Film is has about 20 minutes of Live-Action mixed in and the rest is Animation, as opposed to South's ratio.  The Story is ostensibly about these guys breaking a man out of Prison.  It ends up, however, being about the Brer Rabbit, Fox and Bear going to Harlem to do battle with 'the man.'  Naturally!  The Cast is interesting for including famous Singers as Actors- Scatman Crothers and Barry White- and a future TV Star- Phillip Michael Thomas.  So, here is the obvious question- why is Ralph Bakshi covering this Topic?  Good question.  To find out how the actual Film turned out, read on...

As White and 'Preacherman' rush to save their friend- Thomas- from Jail, he waits.  The time is passed by another Escapee- Crothers- telling him a Story.

Three Character- the Rabbit (Thomas), the Bear (White) and the Fox (Preacherman) are would-be Criminals who go to Harlem when the heat gets too much.

Can you tell which Cartoon Studio they are parodying here?  Remember Tex Avery did make this.

Bakshi is not exactly subtle with his Commentary.  This is Miss America beating up 'the black man.'

For all of the 'well, it looks bad, but he has a point' Commentary, there is...um, this.  1970s!

They have to take out two big Criminals to conquer Harlem.  They take out one by...drugging him, painting his face black and throwing a gay guy at him.  He freaks out and wakes up from his haze having killed his men...and dies at the hands of Police.

Moving on...

The Mob Boss- clearly inspired by The Godfather- strikes back at them with a killer disguised as Uncle Tom.  Why not, at this point?

A random shot of real people in front of the Animated background?  Why not?!?

To be honest, the Plot gets very convoluted near the end.  Bear randomly becomes a Boxer and somehow this leads to our Heroes taking over...or something.

Back in Reality, the two show up and take the chatty Crothers and the morose Thomas away.  Of course, he'll just end up working at a Zoo and later as a Cop.  The End.

Wow.  What do I say about this?  Bakshi made an interesting Film.  Can I just end there?

No, I can't.  Coonskin is a strange, strange Film for a number of reasons.  It was clearly done as Satire, but one Black Group wanted to boycott it- another didn't.  It faced some issues being released at all, having to change Distributors.  In later years, it was re-released as Street Fight- I have no idea why.  The message of the Film is somewhat buried in all sorts of imagery that will surely offend some and 'trigger' others.  It sure was fun to watch the beginning of this as my roommate tries to figure out what the hell I'm watching.  As usual, Bakshi's Animation is a sight to behold.  His mix of Live-Action, standard Animation and Rotoscoping works here.  The Story is just a little hard to follow as the Film keeps changing Scenes so quickly.  One Scene appears to end with Bear dying...only for him to act like he wasn't shot 10 times in a later one.  As noted, he randomly becomes a Boxer near the End as they mix in real footage of Boxing with the Cartoons.  The overall message is certainly condemning the Racial Stereotypes made popular in the past.  It is just a shame that the Film had to be done in such a way to draw so much attention to its own content in the process.  A Sequel was supposedly discussed back in 2005 with The Wu Tang Clan involved- that ain't nothing to f#%k with!  To my knowledge, it didn't happen at all.  We do get this nice bit of nightmare fuel though...

Next up, an infamous Horror Film that I've already covered the Sequels of.  Robert Englund strikes again!  Stay tuned...