Forgotten TV: The Hitchhiker- 'Cabin Fever'

Another Episode.  Another big Guest Star.

While it is never quite Sci-Fi or Horror consistently, the Show delivers something.  In this case, it is a Law & Order Star in...

This is a Gigolo.  He targets wealthy ladies and takes their money.

Say what you will, but Buff Bagwell charges you up front.

He targets another lady, only her Husband shows up.  It's...Jerry Orbach!

They hire him to work for them at their Cabin, which he accepts as his entry.  He quickly finds the Husband suspicious and sarcastic.

Jerry Orbach making quips- say it ain't so!

As the Weekend progresses, the man gets more daring and the Husband gets more suspicious.

To be fair, he has right to be!

She talks to him about how Orbach is abusive and the latter makes a scene.  It all ends in a threat with an unloaded gun...or does it still have one left?

You tell me.

Actually, it was empty.  The pair faked the whole thing to play him, leaving him locked in the basement.

Unfortunately, as part of his own scheming, the key is hidden in a bottle...outside of the basement.

Did the wife move it by accident or on purpose?  You decide!

So that place is sure going to smell bad when they come back!  Ha ha ha- rotting.  So yeah, this was a bit of a dark Episode.  A bad man inevitably meets someone worse than him.  Never trust married people, folks.  I kid, I kid.  Although, Hitler was married and Mother Theresa wasn't so, draw your own conclusions.  Regardless of whatever that meant, the Episode is a delight to watch due to Orbach.  He makes the most of his role, being hammy when he needs to be and darkly-serious too.  He was just great in everything really.  The rest of the Cast is good, but he definitely overshadows them.  If you are going to watch one Episode of the Show, this one is the easiest so far to recommend.  The bar has now been raised and I'll have to see if the other 8 Episodes I own- thanks to a $1 purchase- can live up to it.  Keep sort-of being in these, Title Character.

Next time, another Guest Star and something more Horror-themed.  Will you believe in Satan after this?  See you then...

Impossibly-Cool Cover Art: Horror of the Blood Monsters

Are you scared of Monsters?  Are you scared of blood?

Well, if you manage to check both boxes, this Movie is for you!

Check out this Poster...

Wow!

This Film has it all!

By 'it all,' of course, I mean some random Monsters.

Since most of you have never seen this Film, you know that this Poster is a lot of hype for nothing.

Here's the original now...

More color.  More contrast.  All quality.

Netflix and Thrill: GLOW- Season 2

After waiting too long to review the 1st Season (long after I finished it), I might as well play catch up...

Following the 1st Season setting up the Show getting on the air, they can now focus on the goings on at GLOW.

The first big story is the Welfare Queen (actual Wrestler Awesome Kong) and Liberty Belle.

Tensions run high among the group as they fight for air time, new characters and other such issues.

When one of them- Belle- becomes a Producer, will the power go to her head?

Will the fact that she was the only one nominated for an Emmy do the same in real life?

Can the crew work together when their time slot is challenged and a possible end comes near?

To find out, stream it now.

The Rematch manages to be as good as the original.  Season 1 proved to be a good mix of Drama, Comedy and Wrestling.  They could make you laugh, make you cry and make you cringe.  Besides, it is nice to see Christopher Daniels in something other than a terrible Comedy!  That Season was mostly-driven by what Plotline- the fractured friendship of its two Leads.  This Season is more balanced, even as that Plotline does still persist to some degree.  We get Episodes that highlight the other Characters more strongly, like one that splits the focus between Belle and the Queen's private lives building up to their match.  The Show also finally delivers on the promise of a GLOW Episode, by giving you a 'real' Episode that would air.  It is a tough balance to make the product look as silly as it should and the Wrestling kind of cheesy, but still able to be enjoyed.  The original GLOW is pretty crap- let's not pretend otherwise.  The Show is fun to watch, but never sacrifices the drama.  It manages to not drop in quality in Season 2, a rare occasion for a Netflix Show (according to most).  Check it out already and we'll be seeing you...

A strong sophomore Season for the Show.  Will the change in locale next Season break the streak?  

Live-Action Anime: Crying Freeman

A Film brought to you by Canada, France, China and Japan!  This is Crying Freeman, the 1995 Live-Action Version that is.  It is the tale of an assassin who falls in love and battles against his Masters.  He's forced to do the job, you see, and his body shows his regret in a simple way- crying.  Just don't act like he doesn't fit your macho ideal of what a man is or else he's chop your head off!  The Production aspects of the Film are almost more interesting than the core concept here- sorry, core concept.  It is based on an Anime and Manga from Japan.  The Production was split between Japan and Canada.  It has Chinese Producers.  It has Brian Yuzna as a Producer.  It is Directed by Christophe Gans, who is decidedly not Chinese or Japanese.  It's Lead- Mark Dacascos- has a mix of Chinese, Spanish, Filipino and Japanese blood.  It features Japanese Actors, Chinese Actors, French Actors and American Actors.  It's an interesting gumbo of a production.  Is the actual Film still interesting?  To see how good this Film that we in America were never given (for some reason), read on...

The Film begins properly with some pretentious narration (re-dubbed, since the Actress wasn't deemed 'sensual enough' apparently) about how our Female Lead met an Assassin.

She does so in Canada (although they say it is San Francisco), seeing him as he kills some Japanese men in the Woods- as you do.

He doesn't kill her, choosing to leave instead.

The father of the main person killed (Mako!) works with the Canadian Government to find the woman, since she's a witness and a 'target.'

So yeah, he's obviously evil.

The Freeman- Dacascos- shows up and kills him, but our Lead recognizes him during his escape, drawing attention to her.

The Lead Detective (Tcheky Karyo) is working with the bad guys, but that's not his biggest crime...

For some reason, all of his dialog was re-dubbed in Post-Production by Ron Perlman!  Why cast the French guy if you don't want him to sound French?!?

The Assassin and the woman fall in love & he eventually reveals his backstory.  He was a Potter who was kidnapped, tattooed and forced to become an assassin for a Chinese Triad group.

For the Third Act, everything moves over to Japan and behind closed doors scheming goes on.

The mission goes on for Freeman as he takes out more villains, losing his Handler in the process.

It all leads to a big sword fight in the Woods.  Freeman and his lady cover their tracks until their further adventures in...oh right, this didn't become a Trilogy.  Never mind.  The End.

Some bloody action and style, but not a whole lot of substance.  The Story is simple and effective.  The Action is quite good.  Before Tom Cruise got all the attention for it, people like Dacascos were doing all of their own Stunts too.  The Film has a very good look to it.  If you've seen a Christophe Gans Film- like Brotherhood of the Wolf-, you'll know that he can shoot Action well.   If you want to see a Film with great Action, this is one for you.  The Story, unfortunately, doesn't play out nearly as well as the Action Scenes do.  Dacascos is not *that* charismatic in this Role and his minimal dialog doesn't help him that much.  The whole thing is all sorts of weird- the Triad kidnaps and creates Assassins rather than just training them- and is right out of Anime (which it is).  It's not the most engaging Story, simply getting the people from Point A to Point B.  The Film is rare for Americans to see- for no clear reason- so it does have that going for it.  All in all, Crying Freeman is a good Action Film, but will not be mistaken for a great Drama.  Here's one last international quirk for you: the Film features a handful of bits with the Chinese Actors speaking in their native tongue...and only gives you French subtitles!

Next time, more craziness from the random set of Films I need to watch.  You'll know when I know.  Stay tuned...

Impossibly-Cool Cover Art: Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man

I love the classic Universal Horror Films.

That said, they are bigger on atmosphere than action.  That make this Italian Poster a bit...interesting!

The Room, The Room, The Room is on fire!

Seriously, you *may* have overdone it here, guys.

That said, it is bad-ass!

Here's the original...

More color and more contrast.  Now it's less of a big, orange blob up top.

Old-School TV: Boris Karloff's Thriller- 'The Grim Reaper'

Not to be confused with the Music Video, this Show ran for two Seasons right at the start of the 1960s.

I have a handful of these and I picked the one with the most interesting Title.  

It ended up being more notable than I intended (and also pretty good).  This is...

In The Grim Reaper, the Story revolves around a cursed painting, the last work by a mad Painter who killed himself after he finished it.

I really like to picture that Karloff kept that painting and greeted people at the door like this too.  Don't you?!?

An older Mystery Writer buys the painting, which leads her Nephew to come and warn her of the dangers.

Every Owner has died violent deaths- all 17 of them!

Shatner (here a spry 29 years old!) explains that the painting bleeds before each death and...it's bleeding right now!

Complicating matters is the Aunt's young Husband, Shatner's girlfriend and the fact that former is constantly trying to force himself on the latter.

That morning, the Aunt is discovered dead at the bottom of the staircase!  

The Police suspect no foul play, but should they?

As it turns out, yes!

Shatner plays his big move shortly thereafter, poisoning the husband (and sole heir) and making it look like he killed himself out of guilt.  Damn, Shatner!

At this point, we get the Shatner we all know and love.  

He spills the beans to his lady and taunts the painting!

Bad idea as the lady locks him in the room with it to call the Police and... uh oh.

In some great POV, the Reaper seems to kill Shatner as his body is found the next day (but not shown due to the '60s TV Standards) and the painting is bloody again!  

The End.

A solid, creepy tale.  

It makes sense when you realize that this was done by Robert Bloch, the man behind Psycho.  He could write good B&W Horror- clearly!  

The Episode does a great job of giving you little hints and things that become important later.  For example, Shatner asks for the Husband's autograph (as he is an Actor) and then uses that as the 'signature' for his 'confession.'  

There are also lines like the girlfriend mentioning how Shatner's character drove her to drink that night.  She obviously didn't realize how intentional that was!  

The whole thing pays off nicely as everyone has a bit of an Arc.  The climax only suffers in that implies something that you would love to see.  

That said, they couldn't possibly do this effect *that* well in 1960 (and on a TV Budget), so I get it.  Not seeing it is better- I just also realize that some people will be bothered by this.  

All in all, this is a great introduction to the Show and I can only hope that subsequent episodes will match up.  

All I need now is Shatner in an Anthology Show from the '70s and '90s to complete the set.  Can someone hook me up?  In the meantime, enjoy this reminder of NBC's old, confusing logo...

Next time, will I have more Guest Stars and murder.  All signs point to yes.  See you then...

Forgotten TV: Ray Bradbury Theater- 'The Playground'

I found a set of Episodes from the Show for super-cheap on the 2nd hand market.  I eventually figured out that I actually had *ALL* of the Episodes.  Yea for me.

The Show features a slew of famous Guest Stars.  I decided to boldly go with Shatner.  This is...

...and the Episode is...

Shatner plays a widowed Father who is close with his son, but there's a catch.

He refuses to let his son play in a Public Park for reasons that he won't explain.

The reason: he sees visions of scary children and freaky faces.

This Show did come out after Demons, so I'm calling 'inspiration' on this look.

He finally confesses his fears to his Sister, explaining that bullies picked on him during what looked to be the 1930s.  He really is dressed like he's in Newsies!

Young Shatner had really curly hair.  Why doesn't adult Shatner?

Oh, right.

It all leads to a climax that I will explain as best I can.

He gives a pep talk to the son, which leads to the son to keep saying 'I'm the daddy.  I'm the daddy.'

Shatner makes a rush for the 'kid' that he sees (his bully) and is pushed down the slide...

While going down, there are weird light flashes and they somehow reverse order (with the kid coming down first).

When Shatner comes down, he acts...different.

So did the kid's soul/spirit switch with his Dad's?  Are the spirits real or in Shatner's head?

To get the answers, you can...not get them.  No such luck.  The End.

What a weird start.  The Story is interesting, but the fact that there is no clear resolution is a bummer.  Stories that make you think are good.  Stories that make you scratch your head in confusion are not.  Am I just too dumb to understand this clearly?  Maybe.  Should I need to read multiple Reviews of the Episode to figure out as much as I did?  No.  With that negativity out of the way, the Episode is shot well, has good Acting and great Atmosphere.  They managed to make a public playground seem ominous.  Kudos to all of the kid Actors for doing their parts too.  It's a neat Episode and I'm sure that the rest of the Series is more clear, but the Ending does still hurt it.  I've got 64 more of these to watch and possibly review, so the odds are in my favor.  I do get a kick out of reading Credits sometimes, especially when you realize that it was someone's job to 'corral' all of those kids...

Next time, another Star and Bradbury tale.  Will it be one you know?  See you then...