The Long Dark Marathon of the Soul '26: Battle Creek Brawl (1980), directed by Robert Clouse

 

The Trailer

and

The Appropriate Tune - "Battle Creek Brawl (Apocalypse Bass)", by GUNSHOT 

Another day, another film. This time I’m feeling like some martial arts action, maybe by one of the most famous martial artists in film history. Let’s see if there’s anything like that around here…

In Battle Creek Brawl (or The Big Brawl as it’s also known), Jackie Chan stars as Jerry Kwan, a young man living with his restaurant owner father in Chicago in the not-quite-roaring 30’s. Jerry is just trying to make in this crazy world, but the local mob ain’t making it easy on him or anyone. Looks like he’s going to have to use his masterful skill with the martial arts to figure something out, which may come in handy considering there’s a big fight coming up in Battle Creek.

This is famously Chan’s first attempt at breaking into the American market after achieving success in Hong Kong’s film, emphasizing the incredible acrobatics and knack for physical comedy which were his main strengths at the time. I have to wonder what audiences at the time made of Jackie Chan; The last kung fu star to make it big in the States would have been the late Bruce Lee, right? A more serious, simple performer compared to the light-hearted Chan and his more elaborate, less realistic choreography. I guess audiences weren’t ready for it, since it took another five years for him to headline another American film, but I don’t think the film failed to showcase Chan’s talents. I think Americans might just have a lower tolerance for period pieces.

And you know what? It can also be fairly funny to boot, even outside of Chan’s spots. Plus where else are you going to seethe voice of Uncle Iroh from Avatar get it on with a lady twice his size? That’s a thumbs up from me folks.

STATUS: RECOMMENDED

The Long Dark Marathon of the Soul '26: Village of the Damned (1960), directed by Wolf Rilla

 

The Trailer

and

The Appropriate Tune - "Bette Davis Eyes", by Kim Carnes 

 

 

Way back in the year of 2018 I actually covered the remake of this film, directed by genre film maester John Carpenter. It was…okay, as far as I remember. Cool to see Christopher Reeve in a non-Superman role, and even though Carpenter wasn’t considered at the top of his game by ‘94, he still had some gas in the tank. Thing is, I had never watched the original film before then, I had watched it simply because of Carpenter’s name. So I probably rectify that, especially I had no other films set up for today.

Based on the novel ‘The Midwich Cuckoos’ by John Wyndham (who was the pen behind The Day of the Triffids as well), Village of the Damned stars George Sanders as Gordon Zellaby, a citizen of the town of Midwich in the United Kingdom. One day, everything in the town suddenly falls unconscious. Man, woman, animal, everything which steps foot into the territory of the town. The military cordons off the area, runs tests, but they can find out nothing. Then, as suddenly as it happened, everyone wakes up. Just like that, no worse for wear.

Several months later, Midwich sees an influx of childbirths, all beginning from that strange day. What happened that day? And what, if anything, is up with these strange, strange children. Probably nothing, right?

It’s a classic kind of science fiction. Strange thing happens, and humans have to deal with it. Except there’s no monster to stop, as we see in The Blob or similar creature features. No agency on the part of human to explain or affect these children or their goals. They just have to wait and let things play out, and maybe learn something about themselves in the process.

You ever watch any of the classic sci-fi anthology shows? Twilight Zone, Night Gallery, Outer Limits? If you’re familiar with those shows, then this is going to be right up your alley. Thumbs up.

STATUS: RECOMMENDED 

The Long Dark Marathon of the Soul '26: The Human Factor (1975), directed by Edward Dmytryk

 

The Trailer

and 

The Appropriate Tune - "Terroristi!", by Ennio Morricone

 

 

In this world of corporations trying to erode the very fabric of art and expression through gallons of A.I. slop, what’s the important thing to keep in mind? That’s right, humanity. The human factor, and during a mad scroll through my streaming services I found one that’s all about that. It’s even in the title!

In The Human Factor, George Kennedy (The Naked Gun) stars as John Kinsdale, a computer engineer working for an electronic company in Naples.Things are going great, birthdays are coming up, patios coming in, until Kinsdale returns homes to find his family has been murdered. Wife, children, all of them dead. Why? For what reason was this horrific crime committed? Well John is going to find out, and he’s going to have his vengeance.

It’s a bit of a surprise to see George Kennedy as the lead in a thriller film. Much like his friend and Naked Gun costar Leslie Nielsen I’ve always seen Kennedy as a comedic actor, but of course their comic acting was informed by their past as in dramatic acting. Either way I like him here as John Kinsdale, he falls into the role very naturally, personable but perfectly able to be serious when needed.

It’s also nice to see movies back when computer stuff was fun. Nowadays computers and the internet are ubiquitous, almost as common as air, but back in the 70s when this movie came out there was still a novel charm about it all, a sense of wonder and mystery. It reminds me of the Coppola film The Conversation actually, starring Gene Hackman, that centered around recording devices, writes, bugs and the like. Technology which is extremely dated, even obsolete by the standards of today, but which comes across as science-fiction in films of this time.

I’ll give The Human Factor the thumbs up. It’s an okay thriller, and a good chance for George Kennedy to show off his craft. Give it a shot, if you want.

STATUS: RECOMMENDED

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