Reviews

The demented genius behind A VISIT FROM THE INCUBUS strikes again. Seriously, though, what is VIVA? Caught this about seven months ago and am still trying to take it all in. I loved this film because I never knew what was going to happen next, despite it following the model of '60's/'70's sexploitation films pretty closely. The first few minutes are simply exhilarating. A young housewife leafs through a skin mag in her bathtub, gets herself ready for the outside world, and blasts off in some bad-ass muscle car, just as the wonderful piece of vintage loungecore music on the soundtrack reaches a crescendo. (At least that's how I remember it.) Sublime; I'm at a loss to think of a better opening scene. (TOUCH OF EVIL, studio cut, perhaps? It's too close to call.) Then we settle in for the long haul. The housewife is hanging out with her friends, a married couple. Things get inappropriate. How far will it go? Exactly what kind of a movie is this? That's really the question that VIVA dares the viewer to answer. I'm still not sure. Satire or pornography? Happily, the answer is yes.

The film is two hours. That would be hard to justify if it were just a slavish imitation of vintage softcore porn. Or just a spoof of same. Instead, it's almost a suspense film. How long has it been since an American film had me wondering who among the cast was going to disrobe? Who was going to disrobe NEXT? Who will have sex next? Will it even be consensual?! All those people constantly cruising each other. Predatory. With the color-soaked visual panache of Radley Metzger in Eastmancolor, but with a storyline from a Joe Sarno film where everyone thinks and talks about sex all the time, has weird, anonymous, masked sex all the time, and never enjoys it. Almost exactly like the adult world seemed to me in 1972. Plus deadly serious feminist self-reflexivity for the unwashed masses and nude dancers with their wieners bobbing hilariously for intellectuals like myself, courtesy of a nudist camp scene that is exactly like Blake Edwards WOULD have done it in A SHOT IN THE DARK, if Hollywood censorship had already relaxed, and he was on angel dust. And all the while, the deliciously arch Jared Sanford does his best to act dozens of naked people off the screen. Two hours was barely enough. Bring on the 70mm IMAX release, the three-disc DVD special edition with the signed and numbered lithographs, and the "Vote for Viva" t-shirts in every trendy mall novelty store.

I seem to recall renting this film from Music+ about 17 years ago. I suspect I began fast-forwarding at about the ten-minute mark. A few weeks ago I caught a theatrical screening where I was forced to give it my full attention. I remembered little of it from my previous viewing. It is a strange film, full of odd, seemingly miscalculated moments. I really enjoyed it.

Surely the film's title, in the grand exploitation tradition, was tacked on to try to sell a product on the basis of something it doesn't really deliver. There is, technically, a "jailbait babysitter" in the film, but anyone expecting some underage thrills should look elsewhere. There's a bit of nudity to keep the audience from throwing things at the screen, but the story is actually an earnest drama with very little sex. It all plays out rather flatly, as our heroine gets in some trouble and runs away from home, and begins cohabitating with an absurdly benevolent prostitute. What keeps it watchable is not so much interest in the characters as the feeling of having absolutely no idea where, if indeed anywhere, the film is going. Amazing moments like the protagonist stepping in a huge pile of dog excrement, and her later tirade about same, make for unique viewing.

This ambitious anthology strives to capture a variety of tones and settings. The first segment, in French, captures the ennui of the ruling class. The second is like an elementary school play written by a lunatic; it's about a queen bee and her servants' attempts to find the perfect new digs. The third starts out as a swinging '60's go-go party with attempted gang rape and mutates into a fairy tale with a surprisingly non-traditional ending. If you are not endeared (or are even turned off) by this collection's rough edges, you may at least be grateful for it's playful humor. Anna Biller's kaleidoscopic knowledge of Hollywood genres and clichés is put to use (as it has been with increasing confidence and precision since) to create mind-jarring and whimsically enjoyable juxtapositions.

This film concerns two adults in India who were joined in marriage by their parents at an early age. The woman has been raised Westernized and the man (Randhir Kapoor) was sent off to study religion. When he returns expecting his wife to be waiting for him, he realizes that they have little in common. With outside aid he develops an alter ego "Prem" who becomes a pop star and is highly sought after by groupies. It would be a love triangle with only two participants if not for the presence of another pop singer, Rocky (Danny Denzongpa) who has been spurned but still covets the woman's dowry.

PONGA PANDIT is a broad comedy made enjoyable primarily by the great performance by Randhir Kapoor. Seeing him transition from simple student to sophisticated ladies' man reminded me of Don Knotts being groomed as a Hugh Hefner clone in THE LOVE GOD? (Meanwhile, Prem's tailor/dance instructor seems patterned after James Brown.) Seeing this chubby Lothario breaking his female fans' hearts and shaking his groove thing on a hideously decorated stage is priceless. I doubt that anything else in Kapoor's body of work equals this role, but I'm going to keep looking.

After a long fallow period exacerbated by health problems, it looked as if Jean Rollin would never get back on track. The sublime surrealism of his early masterworks was increasingly being overshadowed by long periods of inactivity and the occasional disappointing dud. Even the highly-touted TWO ORPHAN VAMPIRES seemed like a far cry from his glory days. Well, it may be impossible to bring back the early '70's, but I suspect that FIANCEE OF DRACULA is the best Rollin film we are likely to get from the second half of his career. It certainly makes me wish he'd crank out a few more. Whereas TWO ORPHAN VAMPIRES struck me as a somewhat tired parade of setpieces, FIANCEE actually feels like a fully-realized story where the characters interact and drive the narrative. The music is much better than the synthesizer droning that's been contaminating Rollin's later pictures, with the composer actually using several different instruments. In fact, the one thing that struck me about this film is that for the first time in ages there is a Rollin movie that doesn't seem hamstrung by budgetary constraints from start to finish. Instead there is great imagery, an interesting story and a refreshing lack of predictability.

Dare I confess to admiring this misogynist wallow in depravity? Say what you will about its politics, THE PSYCHO LOVER is way above average of its type in terms of cinematography, editing and entertainment value. The plot concerns a psychiatrist who is treating a patient who police suspect of being a serial rape murderer. The film is punctuated by several almost psychedelic attack scenes, which bristle with an energy rarely seen in films of this budget. Ultimately the doctor tries to use the killer as a tool to release him from his miserable marriage, attempting to hypnotize his patient to do his bidding. This sequence must be seen to be believed: as the diminutive woman-hater sleeps he is plagued by visions of his victims. Acid rock cranks on the soundtrack, a woman with Gene Simmons makeup whispers "Kill...kill," another go-go dances. It doesn't get any better than this, folks. And hardly anyone lives happily ever after. The director also made the equally mean-spirited BLOOD MANIA which is worth a look, but PSYCHO LOVER deserves a cult following.

This movie is Bollywood to the n-th degree. Those not acclimated to Indian films, with their 2 1/2 hour-plus running times and obligatory musical numbers need not fear. NAGIN is all about keeping the audience entertained at any cost! For a '70's film, the color is deeply saturated, the story is action-packed and involving, and the cheesy special effects are somehow funny AND scary. The plot involves a snake woman who sets out to kill the group responsible for the death of her lover. She can change appearance at will and assumes the guise of various Hindustani hotties to lure the men to their assorted dooms. You'd have to be pretty uptight to not enjoy this film and find yourself, perhaps to your surprise, getting caught up in the meandering story.

Bathos rules the day in this apparently sincere combination of mild sexploitation and message picture. The narrative is so insubstantial that I am loathe to reveal its few turns here--rather, I urge you to marvel at it for yourself! You may find yourself surprised to be caught up in this story of a woman-girl-man love triangle despite the turgid soap opera histrionics. I have seen two different splicey, pink-faded prints of this film, leading me to make the following plea: Restore THAT TENDER TOUCH now! I hope it's not already too late.

This film is long overdue for rediscovery! Apparently titled ANYBODY ANYWAY until Harry Novak got his hands on it, by any name it smells as sweet. The barn sequence at the beginning with its twenty minutes of grade "A" film library/go-go music (some of it recognizable from H.G.Lewis movies) is worth the price of admission alone. This is one politically incorrect film. From the adenoidal Mr. Bradley and his "love experiments" to the jaw-dropping "happy" ending, trash fans can not go wrong with this one. The tone is perfect--not too self-parodic, but definitely impossible to take seriously as it catalogs the various clichés of male fantasies that invariably appear in softcore films.

Oddly, the first time I saw this movie I was not that impressed. Shortly thereafter, though, I found myself drawn to watch it over and over. This is a really unique vision filled with blood, nudity, tons of screaming and totally quotable dialogue--a class act all the way. Too bad Tina Romero didn't go on to do more English-speaking roles. J.L.Moctezuma's DR. TARR'S TORTURE DUNGEON is also a surreal delight but is not as outrageous as this almost indescribable film.

While there's really no defending this movie to fans of great cinema, this late-night TV favorite obviously has a few staunch fans--and deservedly so. At worst an amusing time capsule, at best a deliriously exuberant celebration of all that's wrong with low budget horror films, HORROR HIGH is a love it or hate it proposition. Why I love it: 1) Rosie (DON'T LOOK IN THE BASEMENT) Holotik as the nerd/identification figure's love interest, 2) the deliciously unsubtle acid rock score, 3) pathos galore. Plus more '70's pro football stars than you can shake a stick at, should you be inclined to do so. Edited for an "R" rating, then a "PG," then for TV broadcast (with filler scenes added to pad it back out,) this film is in need of some TLC. Having seen the director's cut at a screening in San Francisco, I can attest to the superiority of the original, rarely seen version. The audience's sympathy for the beleaguered hero remains intact despite the even more vivid violence he perpetrates in the murder scenes.

While the filmmakers may have been trying for a Hitchcock-like blend of suspense, humor and romance, the eye-popping pastels of the film's Eastmancolor cinematography and outlandish, energetic musical numbers blend to create a delightful Bollywood concoction. Lead actor Shammi Kapoor is wonderfully fruity in what is probably his best performance, and dancing queen Helen is in classic bad girl mode. Not to be missed by anyone interested in 1960's Indian pop cinema.