Today's entry is not meant for all audiences, if you're thinking on going vegan, today's review will not please you because today's movie is all about flesh, in fact it's originally titled Fleisch, the german word for flesh, and I might say a very special sort of flesh, not pork, nor bacon, nor chicken but human flesh! Although no Hannibal Lecter persona has been a part of this story, many will find it inspiring or yummy enough as to turn yourself into a cannibal connoisseur.
Ages before Hostel, we find ourselves trapped into this 1979 flick which was specially made for TV in Germany. In the starring role we have Jutta Speidel as the leading blonde, and I gotta say she plays her part quite well.
The film was dubbed and of course retitled according to the distribution countries' language so we know it in English as Flesh, Spare Parts and in Spanish as Carne Humana (very accurate I might add)
Newly wed horny blonde.
Honeymoon Inn, how convenient!
Friendly landlady.
Town's folks.
Opening titles.
Someone asked where was this film available for rent or purchase, and the only available i'm aware of, is the DVD edition which is to be found on the 50 Movies Drive-In Cult Classics released by nostalgia lovers pleasers Millcreek Entertainment.
This movie is really good, so good that it had recently become a part of the now neverending list of movies which have received the unfair re-make treatment, probably that's why we say those were days more often.
Now, let's get down to business. Going by the title, you would be forgiven for thinking this film would be some sort of grisly slasher; but actually it's a subdued made-for-TV thriller that would slightly remind you of Michael Crichton's 1978 film, Coma. The film is directed by Rainer Erler and as I stated some lines before it is a German made film; although it takes place in Texas, USA. Being a TV film, you've got to expect it not to be heavy on the gore and special effects; and this is the case. Fleisch relies on the plot and its characters to remain thrilling. The plot focuses on a newlywed couple having their honeymoon in Texas. They stop at a motel and meet the friendly landlady; shortly before an ambulance swings by and for no apparent reason, abducts the husband. The girl goes back to the motel for help; but the landlady insists she's never seen her before. The woman ends up getting a lift with a trucker, who helps her get to the bottom of the mystery.
Sweet blondie!
We need your body organs yo!
Evil city ambulance.
Nice photography don't you think?
Less clothes please.
It's a cold morning haha.
First Aid.
hi nurse!
Care for a ride landlady?
This plot has been done several times; not only in the aforementioned Coma, but also in later efforts, though you should not let yourself be dissapointed by this statement because on films like Fleisch we can find a very amusing time for those in love with B-type thrillers.
Sign here miss.
What are you looking at?
Your ears are dirty old man.
We're going to have your pecker cut mr.
Sometimes truckers are good people.
Gifted actress.
See me performing mama!
I'm cumming baby!
A great movie scene.
This is a pretty good film which kept me on edge throughout, as the characters were really likable. Good cinematography and a moody score help it along, and the story here is intriguing... certainly a hell of a lot moreso than the somewhat similar 1980 piece of crap, Cardiac Arrest. If you find a copy, give it a look, probably you won't find an award winning film, but I assure you, you will find a great B movie with bits of exploitation, thriller and more.
Here is a movie excerpt dubbed in Spanish:
Here's the remake movie trailer:
See you some time soon, and remember these aren't movies for kids!
The Florida Everglades in the 1920's. Starred by John Ashley and his sweet, flighty steady gal pal Laura (a charming performance by the ever-radiant Karen Black) are the leaders of an outlaw gang. The wild'n'rowdy bunch achieve considerable notoriety by robbing banks, running booze, breaking out of jail, and eluding the cops while embarking on a jolly crime spree in the southeast. Directed with a reasonable amount of flair and style by Luke Moberly and Bob Woodburn, this picture sizes up an an immensely enjoyable little "Bonnie and Clyde" cash-in copy. Fabian and Black make for a rather unlikely, but genuinely appealing and attractive criminal couple. Nice supporting contributions by Ken Miller as lecherous gang member Hanford, Paul Gleason as a hard-nosed sheriff, and Ivy Thayer as Laura's forlorn, regretful mother. Cliff Frates and Evie Karafotias are extremely cute and endearing as John and Laura as little kids in touching flashback sequences. Edmund Gibson's pretty, picturesque cinematography, Bill Walker's jaunty swing band score, the flavorsome period atmosphere, and several rousing shoot-outs all likewise hit the spot. My sole criticism: the frequent groovy modern rock songs and music are painfully inappropriate and anachronistic. That minor quibble aside, this film overall rates as a tremendously fun and spirited romp.
Original movie poster.
Opening titles.
Burnout
Formula story about a man who wants to make it on his own without his dad's help. Productions values are one step above home movie. Considering it's a movie about drag racing, there is very little racing in the movie, although there is a never ending string of blue grass music to keep you from falling asleep. The promo posters made for this film were obviously a la exploitation style because the three babes we see show up very few times during the movie. Anyways the film itself is of course meant for those who have a thing for cars, specially for drag racing 70's nostalgia. The transfer to DVD is near to pristine quality the audio mix is also quite good and the film can be found in the 12 Savage Movie Pack, released by Millcreek Entertainment, experts on re-releasing vintage stuff, in fact they have released this year Girls, Guns & G-Strings, a 12 movie pack collection of films made by Andy Sidaris, a guy known for his late 80's & early 90's action packed flicks with dozens of playmate centerfolds paying homage to the exploitation genre ASAP I'll make myself with a copy of it, and of course reviews will land right here as usual.
Sadly, there were no trailers nor movie excerpts for both Big John & Little Laura and Burnout movies , I even had difficulties finding screen caps.
Original movie poster!
Linda Vaughn Spokes model for the former Gratiot Auto Supply chain.
Today's entry will be about a 1973 film made in Spain as a part of the Horror films hype in Spain back in the day: VUDÚ SANGRIENTO also known as VOODOO BLACK EXORCIST is easily one of the most hilariously inept Spanish Exploitation wannabe films of the 70s; and anyone familiar with films of the kind will agree that this is quite something. Directed by the unknown Manuel Caño, the Italian spaghetti western cult-actor Aldo Sambrell, who passed away last year.
Sambrell first appear playing an African man who gets executed in a voodoo ritual for sleeping with the wife of another man and then killing her husband some 3000 years ago. 3000 years later his mummified body (now strangely white/Hispanic looking, probably he went to MJ´s surgeon LOL) awakens on a cruise ship, where he sees the spitting image of his mistress (Tanyeka Stadler), only that now she is a redhead instead of a black woman. He carries on to murderously terrorize the ship's crew and passengers (all of whom look like his executioners 3000 years ago, only white), in order to reunite with his significant other...
Black Lovers must die.
Where they designing action figures?
I'm the mummy and I'm back!
Necro lovers.
The only decent part of the story.
Pinhead's grandpa.
No good if you aren't in for exploitation babe.
Wonderfully inept from start to finish and not making a lick of sense, VOODOO BLACK EXORCIST must not be missed by anyone who can enjoy entertaining awfulness. All others beware. Apart from Sambrell, the cast also includes Fernando Sancho (LA RESA DEI CONTI, EL ATAQUE DE LOS MUERTOS SIN OJOS). There is cheesy gore and lots of (rather mild) female nudity. The greatest entertainment value of this film lies in the unintentional fun factor of its ineptness.
Overall Spanish have tried so hard to make interesting films in the 70's but never really made it, they just wanted to get a gigantic piece of cake from the exploitation genre, known in Spain as the Cine de Destape. No decent storylines, no plot, no exploitation nude scenes, just a mix of amateur imagery and special effects plus terrible actors made their movies a disaster. To date I haven't watched a single spanish 60's/70's decent film, I'm sorry but these spanish guys were just amateurs playing a game of experts. The exploitation genre has lots of timeless gems and no one can disagree with it.
In case you don't believe my words here are some movie excerpts, which of course are way better than the entire film.
Keetje Tippel is one of Verhoeven's lesser known movies but it really deserves to be seen and better known, all over the world. Reason why it isn't known better is I think because of "Turks fruit" from 1973. After that movie people expected this movie to be a sort of "Turks fruit 2", also because it was once again directed by Verhoeven and had Monique van de Ven and Rutger Hauer as the two main leads. Turks fruit and Keetje Tippel show some similarities in the way the story is told but it are in fact of course two totally different movies. The movie is also known as Katie's Passion or Katie Tippel and in Spanish countries was known as Una Novia Llamada Katy Tippel.
Rutger Hauer before Blade Runner.
Making her way into high society.
The movie provides a pretty good and insightful view of life in late 19th century Amsterdam. The atmosphere of the old Amsterdam is perfectly captured by Jan de Bont's cinematography and by the costume design and art direction.
What makes "Keetje Tippel" better than the average period drama is the directness of the story telling. This is of course thanks to Verhoeven's typical style of directing that always is very direct and straight to the point. Once more the movie features quite some nudity and confronting scene's. But it all works well because it serves a purpose in the movie and it's obviously not only put in it to simply shock the viewer in a cheap way. The movie however is quite short and it didn't feel that the movie covered the entire story and the ending is abrupt and not entirely satisfying because it still leaves a bunch of questions unanswered.
The acting isn't always top-class but this is more because of the simple dialog, rather than its the actors their fault. Rutger Hauer however deserves credit for his role and he plays his character in a very believable way. Monique van de Ven is good for about 70% of the time but her acting really pushes it at times and her character at times goes a bit too much over-the-top. The movie further more features a good supporting cast.
Some freaks edit videos with only nude/sex scenes here's Keetje Tippel treatment.
Care for some fun?
18th century exploitation.
The story is always interesting and you never know what is going to happen next, thanks to the unpredictable and realistic characters that are being portrayed in this movie. The movie is based on the real life of Neel Doff, which gives the movie an even more realistic and confronting feeling.
Monique Van der Ven.
Better than your average period drama's. See this movie if you get the chance. To become more interested on this early Paul Verhoven's work the trailer would be a fine suggestion to look for this movie, ages before Verhoven made his way into Hollywood and legendary stardom thanks to Robocop. If you want to make your way through this movie you can find it on the 50 Drive-In Cult Classics Milkcreek Entertainment released last year, and for less than $15 you can find this film and plenty more on a nice DVD set. Find them on E-Bay, BestBuy or Amazon.
See you some time soon with some more cool B movies reviews.
