Hardly Working (1980)

To commemorate the recent passing of 

Jerry Lewis, presented here is Hardly Working. 

 

Filmed in 1979, it was released to Europe 

and South America in 1980 

and then throughout the U.S. in 1981.

the trailer

the feature

Black Flag - Target Video

Black Flag

Target Video

Footage from 1979, 1980, and 1981

The Children (1980) - Repost

Repost with updated, working movie + trailer links. 

I'm dating myself here, but once upon a time before cable television there were pay tv channels that broadcast movies, specials and "adult" fare over uhf signals. In the metro Chicago area, one such service was named ONTV. You had to have a decoder box to sort out the signal, but that never stopped my pals and I from attempting to catch a glimpse of the nudity and forbidden films on display with out the decoder. I was lucky enough to have a buddy whose parents subscribed to ONTV and were cool with him and his pals watching the R-rated flicks, usually with them watching as well. Several of the movies I first caught in this pre-cable set up have always brought back memories of that channel and time with 1980's low budget horror flick The Children being one such film.

The plot concerns a bus load of little ones who pass through a cloud of toxic gas released from the neighborhood nuclear plant. This turns them into black-finger nailed killers driven to decimate the adult population with killer hugs. You might recognize actor Martin Shakar from his earlier role as the conflicted priest/older brother of John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever.

trailers

the feature 

Carny (1980)

Starring Gary Busey, Jodie Foster, and Robbie Robertson; 1980s Carny is another film I have repeat showings on cable television during the 80s to thank for my initial viewings.

The movie follows Busey and Robertson as carnival folk who survive by working/hustling all the angles both on and off the midway. Things get tricky for the pair when an 18 year old (played by Foster) runs away from home, joins the carnival first as a dancer before moving to the midway, and subsequently becomes entangled in a charged triangle with the men.

While I can't claim to have any specialized insight into the carny existence, Carny illuminates the peculiar (and often illegal) deals the carnival owners have to contend with as they hammer out the specifics with each town's leaders and/or underworld types. In his July 22, 1980 review in the Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert wrote, "Carny is bursting with more information about American carnivals than it can contain, surrounding a plot too thin to support it. ...Inside this movie is a documentary struggling to get out."

the trailer

the feature

Terror Train (1980)

The slasher movie Terror Train is notable for taking place almost entirely on a moving train as well as for the cast members and director.

This was Roger Spottiswoode's first movie as a director and it came immediately after his editing the two Sam Peckinpah films Straw Dogs and Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid. Spottiswoode's next film as a director was The Pursuit of D. B. Cooper.

Jamie Lee Curtis helped cement her scream status with this role. Former rodeo champ and stuntman turned actor Ben Johnson brought a steel eyed gravitas to his role as the doomed trains conductor. Also, the films Canadian producers inserted magician David Copperfield into the film as a magician who both performs and becomes a suspect.

the trailer

the feature

Death Ship (1980) - Repost

Repost with working trailer and feature.

I've always dug this 1980 floating haunted house movie Death Ship, directed by Alvin Rakoff as one of the many Canadian tax shelter cinematic ventures. Worthy of note is that favorite Jack Hill participated in writing the screenplay.

After their cruise ship has been rammed and sunk, a lifeboat full of survivors comes into contact with the rusting hulk of an aged freighter. Far from a rescue vessel, it's not long after everyone is on board that the ship's dark past creates terror and trouble for all.

the trailer 




the feature

Blood Beach (1980)

"Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water - you can't get to it." 

John Saxon and Burt Young chew the scenery as frustrated detectives while beach goers increasingly get chewed up by Blood Beach. It's an enjoyable horror romp which might have benefited from a little humor/camp and continues the Jaws inspired terror at the beach theme found in other films such as Tintorera: Killer Shark (1977) or Piranha (1978). A U.S. co-production with Sir Run Run Shaw, Blood Beach was distributed by The Jerry Gross Organization and also features a score from Gil Melle (The Andromeda Strain, Night Gallery, Columbo, Killdozer). 

Director and co-writer Jeffrey Bloom was originally a professional magician but went on to extensive television work including episodes of The Dark Room series as well as other films such as Nightmares (1983) and Flowers in the Attic (1987).

the trailer

the feature

The Unseen (1980)

Directing this 1980 horror film The Unseen, is Danny Steinmann using the pseudonym Peter Foleg. Steinmann passed away in 2012, but along with The Unseen he is remembered in the movie world for writing and directing the 1973 porno High Rise, the 1984 Linda Blair revenge-ploitation vehicle Savage Streets, as well as 1985s Friday the 13th: A New Beginning.

The Unseen follows a freelance reporter and her two gal pals who find themselves having to spend the night in an creepy old house which of course also comes equipped with a menacing and murderous resident. Along with Mrs. Ringo Starr aka Barbara Bach as the reporter, other notable faces in the cast include Animal House's Stephen Furst and veteran character actor Sydney Lassick.

the trailer

the feature

Don't Answer the Phone! (1980)

The 1980 horror film Don't Answer the Phone! is a grim, sleazy, and violent entry into the slasher horror genre. Filmed on a low budget in Los Angeles, most of the outdoor, public scenes were captured guerilla style without permits. This fact, along with the fashions and hairstyles, portrays a curious time capsule view into the city as it once was.







Lead actor Nicholas Worth, who bears a resemblance to a completely unhinged George Constanza, holds nothing back in his portrayal of Kirk Smith, a deeply troubled Vietnam veteran who earns a living selling photos of naked women to a cigar chomping, bottom feeder publisher played by Kirk Smith, known to many as the title character from the Porky's film franchise. Increasingly unhinged, Kirk Smith begins a path of psycho-sexual violence and murder brought down on female strangers and potential models as the dim witted police detectives attempt to apprehend the serial murderer.

the trailer

the feature

When Time Ran Out... (1980)

Producer Irwin Allen made this film towards the end of the disaster movie heyday. In this case, a volcano provides the destructive mayhem when it erupts near a newly constructed Pacific island resort, also threatening a local village. 

As is usually the case with his disaster films, Allen had a multitude of name actors under contract and this feature was loaded with stars, including: Paul Newman, Jacqueline Bisset, William Holden, Edward Albert, Barbara Carrera, Burgess Meredith, Ernest Borgnine, James Franciscus, and even Pat Morita. Legend has it that Paul Newman refused to appear in The Towering Inferno 2 and instead took this role to finish off a contractual obligation to Allen plus use his salary as seed money for his salad dressing company.

 

Motörhead - 1980 - Nottingham

Motörhead

Rockstage live at Nottingham Theatre Royal
Show recorded 20th August 1980

Broadcast 4th April 1981

Overkill
Too Late Too Late
Shoot You In The Back
Step Down
Jailbait
Leavin' Here
Metropolis
Train Kept a Rollin'
Bomber
Motörhead

Altered States (1980)

Ken Russell's 1980 film Altered States was adapted from the only novel written by Paddy Chayefsky. Both the film and source novel reference/"borrow" John C. Lilly's research into sensory deprivation and the influence of psychoactive drugs on those involved while inside isolation tanks. Even though the film's special effects have not aged well and it tends to get bogged down in pretentiousness at times, some of the visuals are suitably hallucinatory. This was William Hurt's screen debut.

the trailer

the feature

Super Fuzz (1980)

It's been years since I last viewed Sergio Corbucci's 1980 Super Fuzz (aka Super Snooper) on vhs. Terence Hill stars as Officer Dave Speed, a character who gains super powers after being exposed to a nuclear explosion. The late Ernest Borgnine plays his put upon sergeant. And you can't forget about the infectious theme song from The Oceans. Good stuff.


the trailer


the movie


the theme song

D.O.A. - A Rite Of Passage (1980)

Director Lech Kowalski's first film was 1980's D.O.A. - A Rite Of Passage, which gives a glimpse into the Sex Pistols 1978 tour of the Southern United States. The film also includes The Dead Boys, Generation X (with Billy Idol), The Rich Kids, the X-Ray Spex, and Sham 69 among others.

The Cure - 1980 - Boston

The Cure made one of their first U.S. appearances on 20 April 1980 at the Underground in Boston (specifically located in the massively student populated neighborhood of Allston) with Mission of Burma opening the show. Had to re-visit this early footage.

The Underground was a tiny subterranean club without any proper stage that didn't exist for very long before Boston University bought the building for dorm rooms, closed it down and turned the basement space into laundry facilities for their eager scholars. I've heard from folks who were making the scene back then that it was a happening little spot that featured shows from bands like The Jam and was scheduled to be one of Joy Division's stops on what would have been their first U.S. tour.

The footage was captured by some M.I.T. folks with access to then cutting edge video cameras and equipment who had initially planned on filming only the Mission of Burma portion of the evening festivities.

Grinding Halt


In Your House


Subwaysong - Accuracy


Killing an Arab


Secrets

A Forest (Album Version)


Mainset:
Seventeen Seconds
Play for Today
Three Imaginary Boys
Fire in Cairo
Grinding Halt
In Your House
Subway Song
M
10:15 Saturday Night
Accuracy
At Night
Boys Don't Cry
Jumping Someone Else's Train
Another Journey by Train
A Forest

Encore 1:
Plastic Passion
Killing an Arab

Encore 2:
Secrets
Seventeen Seconds

Cheap Trick - 1980 - Providence, RI

A life long musical favorite of mine,
Cheap Trick
can be seen in the clips below bringing their
Midwest created pop rocking and rolling to
Providence, Rhode Island - 1980.




Hello There / Clock Strikes Ten


I'll Be With You Tonight


Southern Girls


California Man


Speak Now Or Forever Hold Your Peace


He's A Whore


Oh Candy


Top Of The World


Can't Hold On


Downed


Auf Wiedersehen

The Cure – 18 July 1980 – Berg en Bos Festival, Apeldoorn, Netherlands

As an adjunct to my recent posting of live clips from The Cure in Boston - April 1980 via MySpace blog, I'm posting the footage below from several months later as the band plays at a festival in the Netherlands.


Part 1 of 4 – In Your House & M



Part 2 of 4 – Jumping Someone Else's Train & Another Journey By Train



Part 3 of 4 – A Forest



Part 4 of 4 – A Reflection & Play For Today