The Long Dark Marathon of the Soul '26: Avenging Force (1986), directed by Sam Firstenberg

 

The Trailer

and

The Appropriate Tune - "Mardi Gras In New Orleans", by Olympia Brass Band 

Chuck Norris kicked the bucket too, didn’t he? The man who launched a thousand jokes in the early 00’s, despite the fact that none of them were funny after maybe the 5th one. Walker Texas Ranger, if you had a grandpa with cable TV, or are a grandpa with cable TV. Not to mention that he was a Zionist who campaigned for Netanyahu and peddler of conspiracy series, just in case you were feeling bad about him not being around anymore. In fact this was going to be a preamble to a Norris review, but you know what? Fuck him. Let’s do a movie I actually like instead.

In Avenging Force, Michael Dudikoff stars as Captain Matt Hunter, a former CIA operative who is moving to New Orleans with his grandfather and little sister. Partly to escape his traumatic past and partly to support his friend Larry Richard’s (Steve James) political career. Unfortunately things are going so well in the Big Easyl There’s been some proverbial shots fired at Larry from a group calling itself Pentangle, and it’s not long before the shots become all verb. Well Matt Hunter ain’t having that shit, and this Pentangle are about to know what an Avenging Force feels like.

If you see the name Troma on a movie, you know there was going to be lots of gore and generally little taste. It was a similar thing with the late Cannon Films, except instead of trashy exploitation films you were getting some action-packed exploitation films. So it is with Avenging Force, which goes above and beyond what you’d think a movie would go that earned less than 5 million at the box office. You don’t just get shot, you get shot and fall backwards off of a moving motorcycle, cars are smashing into each other, dudes falling off high places, and so on. Shit’s catching on fire, kids are getting shot up. It’s crazy to watch play out and gets crazier as it goes on, in a way that I think might have been lost in a bigger, more expensive production that didn’t have to try as hard to be memorable.

Beautiful in its simplicity, you might say. Avenging Force is not reinventing the wheel, Michael Dudikoff is not putting on an Oscar-worthy performance, but he doesn’t really need to. Sometimes all you need in a movie is a tough guy who murders the shit out of a bunch of rich neo-nazis, ‘Most Dangerous Game’ style. Pure catharsis on screen, same as John Woo’s Hard Target. Which also took place in Louisiana, I think. Who knew there were so many racist white people in the Deep South?

Avenging Force gets a big thumbs-up from me. It’s the kind of movie that folks think all action movies are like, or used to be. I’ve enjoyed it every time I’ve seen it, maybe you will too.

STATUS: RECOMMENDED

The Long Dark Marathon of the Soul '26: Evil Dad (2013), directed by Fede Alvarez

The Trailer

and

The Appropriate Tune - "Shotgun", by Jr. Walker & The All Stars 
 

 

I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that Evil Dead is in the top tier of the 80’s horror world. A film birthed from the deepest, darkest parts of Michigan, which not only got the full franchise treatment but kickstarted the careers of director Sam Raimi and star Bruce Campbell, which in turn lead to some popular Spider-Man movies in the 00’s and that one TV show where Bruce Campbell had his head up a corpse’s ass and Lucy Lawless was in it or something. And it wasn’t even the good one! Evil Dead 2 is the one that has the funny quotes and violent slapstick and stuff, Evil Dead 1 is mainly gore and and an extremely uncomfortable scene with a tree. But hey, you’ve got to start somewhere.

Given it’s status in the halls of horror then, when the idea of a remake came floating down the tubes the feelings going in were less than favorable, especially as there seemed to be a distinct lack of Bruce Campbell’s with shotguns involved. That folks were wary is understandable; Recent years had seen the remake of A Nightmare on Elm Street and the two Halloween films by Rob Zombie, so the fear of something that was fun being turned to shit in front of their eyes was still a fresh cut on their souls. But they’re still making Evil Dead movies now, so something must have worked out. Time to find out for myself.

In Evil Dead (2013), Jane Levy stars as Mia Allen, a drug addict who has decided to hole up in the family’s old abandoned cabin in the middle of nowhere in order to quit the stuff cold turkey. Luckily for her she has a group of friends around to support her through this harrowing time. Unluckily for her they also discover an abattoir in a secret basement that contains a book of black magic which unleashes terrible demons upon them that wish to torture and kill them. First Kid Rock and now this? Michiganders really can’t catch a break.

So the premise is the same obviously, but the new Evil Dead is trying out new stuff with the material. I’d say the most obvious is the greater focus on our group of victims in the cabin. In the original Evil Dead none of the cast were all that memorable, even Ash was mostly just a scared guy before later films developed his character. Here all the characters are defined, their relationships are defined, and so when demons are murdering them you’re far more invested.

And trust me, they do get murdered. The first Evil Dead’s popularity was in part due to the gruesome violence and crazy special, and I’m sure one of the worries for fans going into the remake was whether that would continue. It does, for the most part. People are getting showered with blood, cutting off limbs, sliced open, all that good stuff. How much of it practical effect and how much is CG I can’t say, if feels like a mix, but either way it looks very well done.

To rain on the parade a tad, folks who enjoyed the ‘madhouse’ feeling that the original Evil Dead had might be disappointed with the remake. Crazy stuff happens to be sure, but perhaps because of the greater focus on the ensemble it doesn’t feel like we ever quite get to that 1:1 cabin fever paranoia that Ash went through in the original Evil Dead. It’s also got some of those modern things horror movies love to go through these days, you know the exact type of jumpscare with the music sting, the scene where someone gets dragged backward by something, whatever. It doesn’t bother me as much because most of the movies I watch are 40 years old, but there are things that mark this Evil Dead of its time as much as the first.

To rain on that rain though, while it might start off a bit rote in that regard, by the third act I was quite pleasantly surprised and just how much things had descended into total bloody chaos. Truly a level of carnage that Raimi would be proud of, and maybe was, I didn’t check. It’s not the Evil Dead fans knew, but it’s an Evil Dead worthy of the name. Thumbs up.

STATUS: RECOMMENDED

The Long Dark Marathon of the Soul '26: Highlander (1986), directed by Russell Mulcahy

 

The Trailer

and 

The Appropriate Tune - "Princes Of The Universe", by Queen

 

 

Originally I was thinking of doing Highlander II for today's film, but then I checked the blog and realized that I didn’t have a post for the original film yet. Not that I need to do every film in a franchise I guess, I just did the fifth Friday the 13th earlier this month, but there’s also a part of my poor, poor brain that gets a sprinkle of dopamine when I manage to do it. Plus it’s been years since I watched Highlander, so let’s go ahead and get it out of the way.

In Highlander,the very-not-Scottish Christopher Lambert plays the very Scottish Connor Macleod, of the Clan Macleod. Several hundred years ago Connor fell in battle with a rival clan, but did not die. Indeed he could not die, could not age, in spite of his wounds. A miracle? Not quite, as Connor seems to be but one of a whole group of similarly gifted people, compelled by forces unknown to them to battle each other in mortal combat, the victor cutting off the loser’s head and ending their unnatural life. Now, centuries after Connor Macleod pulled himself out of the grave in Scotland, the war of the Immortals is coming to an end. The Gathering approaches, and there can be only one.

It’s a very strong foundation for a film. Fantasy, mystery, romance, action, all that good stuff all in one. Yet it’s also a very budget-friendly film at the same time, which is good because it didn’t make its budget back. No dragons or wizards like other fantasy films, just some swords, some lightning effects and mild explosions used to great effect. Although that premise only really works for one movie, you can see why it was able to spawn several sequels, a TV spinoff, a spinoff of the spinoff, and an animated series. Guys fighting with swords is cheap and easy.

Highlander does its best to get in its own way though, it must be said. I’m not going to say that Christopher Lambert is a bad actor, I think he’s fine physically for the role, but his voice is just bad. It’s one thing for him to not sound Scottish, not many folks would recognize a Gaelic accent anyway, but he sounds like the guy who taught Tommy Wiseau English. I guess the filmmakers didn’t really give a shit since they got Sean Connery to play a guy named Ramirez who at one point is said to be Egyptian, and Clancy Brown plays an ancient Russian warrior who just sounds like Clancy Brown. Weird choices, man.

Much like fellow 80s B-movie Flash Gordon, Highlander features a soundtrack done by the band Queen. It’s cool. Nothing against Queen, they made plenty of good songs, they were famous for a reason, but there’s something about these songs that irks me. Maybe how they’re inserted into the film is awkward and that dissonance transfers to the song itself, I don’t know. Just a touch too maudlin, too overwrought to take. The Flash Gordon theme slaps though, check that out if you haven’t already.

Highlander is okay. Dumb, but it has a charm to it that these kinds of B-movies need to have staying power. If nothing else, watch it for Clancy Brown as Kurgan. The man is a treasure.

 

STATUS: RECOMMENDED

The Long Dark Marathon of the Soul '26: Black Sabbath (1963), directed by Mario Bava

 

The Trailer

and

The Appropriate Tune - "Black Sabbath" by Black Sabbath 

Fun fact: Originally I was considering doing Pumpkinhead II for today’s film, but it was so bad that I had to turn it off after a few minutes. Just an immediate, intense disinterest. So instead let’s do one from one of the old masters of Italy’s horror film scene.

In Black Sabbath, horror icon and Grinch narrator Boris Karloff (Frankenstein) is here to entertain us this evening with some scary stories. Tales of treasure hungry graverobbers getting their just desserts from the restless dead, terror by telephone, and vampires drawn to steal the blood of those they love. Tales of death and terror, all those things which get you in the mood for the Halloween season.

When it comes to that incredibly Italian style of horror known as giallo, Mario Bava was a predecessor of frequent blog subject Dario Argento, and we can see things in Black Sabbath that would later be taken to greater heights by later filmmakers. The gothic set design, the saturation of color, the emphasis on sexuality and extreme dramatics, and so on and on. Black Sabbath is certainly not as graphic as we would see in Argento’s film like Tenebrae or Suspiria, but it’s more that this film came out in 1963, rather than a difference in what constitutes giallo.

Of the three stories, the third and final one is given the most time. Makes sense, as it’s not only a period piece but is the one that features Boris Karloff, who is the most recognizable name of the cast. Karloff is suitably creepy as the disheveled, vampiric patriarch of a Russian family, and the audience has the time to let the dread sink in. I guess you’d call it best story, but that’s not to discount the other two segments, which manage to get in some quick and dirty frights.

I’ll give Black Sabbath the nod. Perhaps it’s not as frightening by modern standards, but it looks good beyond just the charm of older horror films. Pair it with another horror anthology film like Creepshow, or from another Italian director like Lucio Fulci or Joe D’Amato, get a double dose of Mediterranean flavor.

 

STATUS: RECOMMENDED 

The Long Dark Marathon of the Soul '26: Ready To Rumble (2000), directed by Brian Robbins

 

The Trailer

and

The Appropriate Tune - "..Baby One More Time", by Ahmet & Dweezil Zappa 

Pro wrestling has always had something of a popularity problem, and I’m not talking about it being staged. In spite of the fact that that it has been quite lucrative in the past, selling out arenas, millions of people watching matches, as the years have gone by and the options for entertainment have expanded and improved, wrestlers and promoters have seen their cultural cache dwindle. Thus there was a perceived need to expand pro wrestling beyond pro wrestling, to make pro wrestlers into proper stars, which would presumably cause people to go see more wrestling shows. Or at least make the promoters more money.

This was best understood by wrestling promoter and alleged sex trafficker Vince McMahon Jr., who was able to capture a large chunk of pop culture attention with the help of his top star, noted racist and compulsive liar Hulk Hogan. Cartoons, movies, comic books, video games, the WWF were able to craft a level of brand recognition that never really went away, even during times when the wrestling side of the wrestling business wasn’t doing so well. It was no doubt that desire for a fame beyond their field that led major WWF competitor World Championship Wrestling to try their own hand at the silver screen. 

In Ready To Rumble, David Arquette and Scott Caan star as Gordie Boggs and Sean Dawkins, two wastoids who spend their days cleaning port-a-pottys and watching professional wrestling. That life of mediocrity is threatened one night when they see their hero, undefeated champion Jimmy King (Oliver Platt), lose a title match that by all rights he should have won. Desperate for answers, they decide to seek out Jimmy King and find out the truth of the matter. Things snowball from there, as they are wont to do.

So there are a lot of problems here. First, there’s the question: if this is a movie about pro wrestling, for pro wrestling fans to enjoy, why does this movie depict wrestling fans as total dipshits? Not that they needed to be Ferris Bueller, they are still wrestling fans after all, but Gordie and Sean are not lovable slackers like Bill & Ted. They’re just losers, creepy, obnoxious, and stupid enough to believe pro wrestling is real despite being told to their face that it’s not (although the film itself seems confused on that point). Unlike Bill & Ted, you would not want to hang out with these guys, especially if you were ever hoping to get the attention of a woman. These are the kind of 30 year olds who hang out with 10 year olds.

Secondly, given that this film was made in collaboration with WCW, why do the WCW wrestlers feel like an afterthought? I like Oliver Platt, he was a great part of Lake Placid, but why is he playing a world class wrestler, over the guys who are actually championship wrestlers? You might answer that wrestlers are not known for being great movie actors, which is true, but I don’t think the wrestlers who do get larger speaking roles like Diamond Dallas Page or Bill Goldberg don’t do all that badly. Another answer might be that none of the actual wrestlers would want to be depicted as a fat drunken slob who lives in a mobile home, which is fair, but then don’t have the movie be about that then? You still have that same fat drunken slob as the undefeated WCW champion that clowns all the other wrestlers, so whether it’s an actual wrestler in the role or not seems like a lateral move.

Thirdly, and this is my opinion, but the movie isn’t funny. This movie came out in 2000, a decade that would see a proliferation of frat boy comedies. You know the type, Waiting…, most things with National Lampoon in the title, the sex & toilet stuff that feels dated compared to stuff that came out before and after. If nothing else though, at least you could say those other movies pushed the envelope of things you could put on screen. Ready To Rumble is neither explicit or daring in its comedy, it’s just juvenile shit that even a pre-teen would struggle to find edgy, especially since you got get raunchier stuff on an average episode of South Park or WWF RAW. This movie begins with David Arquette sticking his finger up his ass, and it never gets any better from there.

Is there anything, ANYTHING, that was worthwhile in this movie? I guess the one scene where the traveling nuns sing Van Halen’s “Running With The Devil” was a bit funny. That’s it.

For wrestling fans, the year 2000 was known to be a particularly bad one for WCW. A period of poor booking and business decisions that foreshadowed the company’s eventual dissolution and assimilation by Vince McMahon and the WWF the following year. In that regard Ready To Rumble was perfect film to represent the company. As something you are meant to watch and enjoy, god damn is it lame as hell. I’d say don’t watch it, but even if you did I doubt you’d be watching it for long. I know I wasn’t.

STATUS: NOT RECOMMENDED

The Long Dark Marathon of the Soul '26: Waxwork (1988), directed by Anthony Hickox

 

The Trailer

and

 The Appropriate Tune - "Right Between The Eyes", by Wax 

Wax museums were invented for horror movies, right? Like I’ve heard of wax museums in real life, Madame Tussaud wherever that place is, but I feel like I’ve heard about them, and wax figures in general, far more in the context of scary stories than anywhere else in my life. It’s weird, right? That somehow someone could think of cold lifeless figures that look almost exactly like humans and have a tendency to melt and call that scary, but that’s the world we live in. Shameful.

In Waxwork, Zach Galligan stars as Mark Loftmore, a well-to-do college student who just can’t seem to get out of his own way, whether it’s school or women. On a whim, he and a group of friends decide to attend a private showing at a newly-opened waxworks at midnight, as you do. Of course they don’t know the unwritten rule of waxworks, which is is you go to a waxworks you must expect to be tormented by the wax figures within, and possibly turned into a wax figure yourself and become a part of the gallery for the rest of time. Not many folks do really, even though it’s the number 1 cause of wax-related deaths in the United States and Canada, which is a real shame.

How Waxwork decides to do the tormenting is quite novel. Rather than simply being attacked by wax figures, the characters step into the world of the scene the wax figures are in, becoming the victim that the scene depicts. So it’s got a bit of an anthology film thing going with characters being menaced by werewolves and the like, couched within the greater story of Waxwork. It’s a fun idea, calling back to the classic age of monster movies, and the effects team pull it off. Nothing extreme, in terms of effects or gore, but you see a werewolf or a mummy on screen and it looks good.

I’ll go ahead and give it a nod. Fun little horror movie with a touch of adventure, fun concept, David Warner is in it, Dana Ashbrooke from Twin Peaks is in it, it’s cool. Maybe not something you’d want to watch with your parents or your kids, given the BDSM subplot that runs through the thing, but if you’re of legal age then go ahead and watch it.

 

STATUS: RECOMMENDED 

The Long Dark Marathon of the Soul '26: Arachnophobia (1990), directed by Frank Marshall

 

The Trailer

and

The Appropriate Tune - "Boris The Spider", by The Who 

 

 

I’ll tell ya, I was not a brave kid when I was a kid. Didn’t like the dark, didn’t like water, didn’t like heights, it all got a thumbs down from. I especially wasn’t a fan of the creepy crawlies, bugs, spiders, crabs, republicans, all those slimy things with too many eyes and nasty mouths. So naturally I’ve spent much of my film watching ‘career’ avoiding movies that might feature these things in abundance, because my goal is actually to enjoy what time I have on this planet. But not today. Today we’re getting uncomfortable.

In Arachnophobia, Jeff Daniels (Dumb & Dumber, The Purple Rose of Cairo), stars as Ross Jennings, a doctor who has recently moved to the small town of Canaima California. Unfortunately there are a couple of problems. For one, the doctor who was supposed to retire has decided he’s not going to do that, leaving Jennings in a bit of a financial bind. For two, the basement in his new house is totally fucked, so there goes his wine cellar. And for three, he’s a terrible arachnophobe just as the town is getting infested with a highly venomous, extremely invasive and incredibly murderous breed of spiders from the mountains of Venezuela. When it rains it pours, right?

So this isn’t a ‘giant spider’ movie as I was expecting (probably thinking of the David Arquette vehicle Eight Legged Freaks) but a ‘lots of spiders’ movie (like the Willia Shatner vehicle Kingdom of Spiders). Except unlike Kingdom of Spiders, which had a lot of unmoving arachnids, these things are everywhere and they’re crawling and jumping all over people, and they make sure to get plenty of closeups. So even if you’re more tolerant of the normal size spiders, they make sure you are going to be experiencing a world of hell every which way you can.

This is actually the debut film of Frank Marshall by the way, a co-owner of Amblin Entertainment at the time, and I think you can feel the influence even before you see Spielberg’s name in the executive producer spot. It’s very classically cinematic in that Spielberg way, especially in the opening with that surging, brass-heavy orchestration and the sweeping shots of Venezuela, but even in the ‘small town authorities ignore obvious warning signs until threat becomes impossible to ignore’ setup is reminiscent of Jaws. By the way, one of the other movies that Marshall directed was Congo, which was also Spielbergian, except that instead of dinosaurs and sharks it was gorillas and Tim Curry.

Which I don’t say to write Arachnophobia off, because obviously to be compared to one of the most successful directors ever isn’t an insult, but also because Marshall isn’t just playing copycat. There’s a bite of gallows humour here that I don’t feel comes up often in Spielberg’s own projects, that helps balance the movie on that line between horror and comedy. I mentioned that the film had the influence of Spielberg, but you could also see the film as one calling back to those classic horror movies of the past that were popular at the time. Not a specific, serious remake like The Blob or The Fly, but a madcap tribute to that era like Killer Klowns from Outer Space. Except without the cotton candy cocoons filled with blood, and more John Goodman being John Goodman.

Obviously if you have severe arachnophobia then you don’t need me to tell you to avoid this movie, you’re already doing it. For other folks, I’d say this would actually be a solid pick for a family movie night. It’s got the frights but nothing graphic, it’s got comedy, it moves at a brisk pace, it’s got Mimi from the Drew Carey Show in a minor role, it’s an easily digestible, easily enjoyable movie. And when I say digestible, don’t think about that one statistic that says you swallow around 12 spiders while you’re asleep every night.

STATUS: RECOMMENDED