The Sinful Dwarf (1973)

Directed by Vidal Raski.

Starring Torben Bille.

IMDB

This is a legendary movie that not many have seen until the recent DVD release by Severin Films which bills it as the "Mother Of All Dwarfsploitation Movies".

It was filmed in Denmark and stars one of that country's most famous dwarf actors, Torben Bille who was the host of a children's show at the time.

Long considered to be one of the sleaziest films ever made, it involves a deranged dwarf living with his mother who lures women to his house to do some awfully bad things to them.

I haven't had the opportunity to watch this one yet so I can't comment on the quality. But the reputation of this movie speaks for itself. The website DVD Resurrections calls it "exploitation so audacious it must be seen to be believed".

This is not really the type of movie I enjoy but the trailer is so demented that it has a welcome home here.

The Ninja Squad (1986)

Directed by Godfrey Ho and Robert Young.

Starring Richard Harrison and Dave Wheeler.

IMDB

No need to watch the real film. This trailer is good enough.

It's like every ninja movie (and there are nearly a hundred) produced in the 80's by Joseph Lai all take place in the exact same forest clearing. Just watch any ninja movie trailer from this time period and you will recognize the exact same spot in the forest where two rival ninjas must fight to the death on overexposed film stock.

The Joseph Lai films are becoming some of my favourite trailers.

Race with the Devil (1975)

Directed by Jack Starrett.

Starring Peter Fonda and Warren Oates.

IMDB

I love this film. It's a perfect blend of three genres - the Car Movie (such as Vanishing Point, Dirty Mary Crazy Larry), the Hillbilly Horror movie (Rituals, Deliverance) and the Satanic Cult movie (Rosemary's Baby, Horror Hotel).

The whole thing is so breezy and fun that you hardly notice how fast the reels spin out towards the memorable ending and the chemistry between Fonda and Oates is great to watch (in an interview on the DVD, Fonda claims he and Oates were already best friends since starring in the 1971 western "The Hired Hand").

The satanic stuff is more funny than scary but you really feel the tension as their little vacation goes to hell and all sorts of creepy events unfold. The car stunts are top notch and are unique in that they involve a speeding Winnebago versus pick-up trucks instead of the usual Dodge Chargers and Mustangs.

Just a great little movie to waste a Saturday afternoon with.

A Cat In The Brain (1990) aka Nightmare Concert

Directed by Lucio Fulci.

Starring Lucio Fulci.

IMDB

Technically not Fulci's last film, but A Cat in the Brain is his last real memorable one and it is a total blast of gore drenched insanity starring the auteur himself.

It was also remarkable in that it came after two total duds in the made for TV films "Sweet House Of Horrors" and "House Of Clocks". In a way, Cat In The Brain probably owes it's ferocity to the constraints of television Fulci had recently experienced but it is much more than that.

Fulci lashes out at his morally outraged critics and scolding psychiatrists who hounded the director all throughout his lengthy and outrageous career. Despite all the severed heads and hacked off limbs, this is a high concept, Fellini-type film where Fulci plays himself, making this a sort of hyper-violent "8 1/2".

To expect this film to be as good as something like "City Of The Living Dead" (still my favourite Fulci film) or "The Beyond" is not realistic, but for latter day Fulci, this is as good as it gets.

Grindhouse Releasing has just put out a double disc DVD of Cat In The Brain with all sorts of extra Fulci content such as interviews and convention footage.

Go get it while you can.

The Day of the Locust (1975)

Directed by John Schlesinger.

Starring Karen Black, Donald Sutherland, Burgess Meredith and William Atherton.

IMDB

A truly bizarre and somewhat disturbing film, surprisingly a product of mainstream Hollywood.

Some will find this movie (and the trailer) a tad slow but the payoff is worth it.

The ending is as unforgettable as it is brutal.

Northville Cemetery Massacre (1976)

Directed by William Dear and Thomas L. Dyke.

Starring David Hyry and Craig Collicut.

IMDB

If you're thinking that 1976 is a little late for a biker film, this was actually shot in 1972 (on 16mm film) and therefore is still steeped in that 60's counterculture vibe, much like Easy Rider, Vanishing Point etc.

Similar to those two aforementioned films, your sympathies are with the bikers which was a bit of a break from the usual motif in late 60's biker films. In fact, I would compare this more with something like Penelope Spheeris' 1984 film "Suburbia" which takes the viewpoint of punk rockers living in the barren wastelands of downtown L.A. during the peak of 80's hardcore. Just the very existence of the bikers (and in Suburbia, the punks) is enough to generate a small war from the cops and the rednecks looking to pin bogus crimes on them.

The trailer itself is decieving, basically reversing the sympathies and making it look like the town is defending itself against crazed bikers. But that's to be expected. It's easier to get butts in the seats for a classic vigilante style film.

But you don't have to be looking for political subtext to enjoy this film. At heart, it's still a fast moving and entertaining exploitation flick well worth tracking down. It's available from VCI on DVD in it's original full-frame (due to being filmed on 16mm) format.

Panther Squad (1984)

Directed by Pierre Chevalier.

Starring Sybil Danning.

IMDB

(Note: Since posting this the actual trailer has become unavailable. This short clip will have to do instead.) This trailer has it all - Sybil Danning dispensing clips like Arnie and kicking the living shit out of stuntmen, an all-girl combat squad armed with machine guns shooting at helicopters and a crazed South American dictator vowing to take over the world. Oh yah, there's lasers and a motorcycle chase.

It also sports one of the funniest lines I've ever heard in a film - "Surrender or I'll blow your Nike's off!"

If you don't know who Sybil Danning is, then I suggest you track down some of her easier to find movies (you'd be hard pressed to even find a VHS copy of Panther Squad though there are a few kicking around Ebay) like Chained Heat (1983), Reform School Girls (1986), The Howling II: Your Sister Is A Werewolf (1985), The Red Queen Kills 7 Times (1972) and Battle Beyond The Stars (1980).

Those are some pretty wild films and Danning was great in all of them (especially as the werewolf queen Stirba in the absolutely ridiculous Howling II which also starred a slumming Christopher Lee).

Danning also recently played a nurse in Rob Zombie's disappointing Halloween remake as well as the main part in Zombie's faux-trailer "Werewolf Women of the SS" in Tarantino and Rodriguez's "Grindhouse".