The Hills Run Red (1966)

The Hills Run Red (1966)

aka Un Fiume di dollari

Directed by Carlo Lizzani (using the pseudonym Lee W. Beaver for U.S. release) this Euro-Western revenge story stars Thomas Hunter as the lead with established American actors Henry Silva and Dan Duryea featured in prominent roles.

the trailer

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USA/Mexico Laredo (2017)

Released at the end of June, USA/Mexico's debut Laredo is without question my favorite album of 2017. Noisy, fuzzy, rumblings that will hypnotize and cauterize your mind + ears.

This comes from their Bandcamp bio: "The long-awaited/rumored/feared debut recordings from Austin, TX trio USA/MEXICO are finally upon us. Guitarist Craig Clouse (Shit & Shine, Todd), drummer King Coffey (Butthole Surfers, Rubble, Hugh Beaumont Experience) and bassist Nate Cross (Marriage, When Dinosaurs Ruled The Earth, Expensive Shit) have somehow created a musical landscape that exceeds present day reality for absurdity and nightmarishness. There's faint (oh ok, try "loud") echoes of their past works but their combined forces have resulted in an album as bludgeoning and all-encompassing as any that's occupied shelf space in my home or yours."

Elves (1989)

Wow!

"A department-store Santa Claus (Dan Haggerty) discovers a neo-Nazi plot to mate a nice girl (Julie Austin) with an elf in Colorado." 

Happy Holidays 

and 

Happy New Year!

the trailer

the feature

Kenny & Company (1976)

As a Halloween treat, presented here is a favorite coming-of-age movie of mine from 1976, Kenny and Company. Produced, scripted, and directed by Don Coscarelli; this film features several folks who would also go on to work with the director again in his career making horror classic from 1979 Phantasm. Perfect for this time of year and universal in appeal, this movie will especially resonate with those of us whose childhood included the 1970s.

Kenny and Company highlights a chunk of time in the life of Kenny (Dan McCann) leading up to Halloween. Along the way this comedy/drama finds Kenny interacting with his family, neighborhood bullies, first crushes, nerdy tagalong neighbor kid Sherman, his sympathetic teacher (Reggie Bannister), a foreign transfer student, an ailing beloved pet, and his mischievous best pal Doug (A. Michael Baldwin) plus his fun loving Dad Big Doug. The boys get into all sorts of other escapades culminating with an exciting Halloween night in which they get revenge on their tormenting bully by involuntarily involving the neighborhood scary/cranky old man played by Phantasm's big bad Angus Scrimm.

 the trailer

the feature

MST3K – Squirm (1976) - Re-post

Director Jeff Lieberman's worm revenge tale Squirm (1976) is one of those movies that I could watch a zillion times (and probably already have) and still dig it, so adding the ongoing commentary from our MST3K pals adds to the entertainment factor. Enjoy!

The Evil (1978)

Directed by Gus Trikonis (who was married to Goldie Hawn from 1969 to 1976), The Evil was produced and distributed in 1978 by Roger Corman's New World Pictires. Trikonis directed several exploitation films for Corman, including The Swinging Barmaids (1975), Nashville Girl (1976), and Moonshine County Express (1977). After working on the feature film Take This Job and Shove It (1981) he moved on to prolific directing work for television on series such as Baywatch, Hunter, Wiseguy, and Quantum Leap.

In The Evil, a psychiatrist and his wife (Richard Crenna and Joanna Pettet) ignore old stories and bad vibes when they purchase a long empty mansion with the intention of refurbishing it for use as a rehab center. Once the pair and their crew are inside the house the bad feelings increase until they stumble upon a trap door in the basement. Of course they open it which causes the house to seal them inside as the conflict with unknown forces increases with frightening and deadly results. Victor Buono hams it up (as does an increasingly unhinged Crenna) as the personification of the evil.

the trailer

the feature