150 Movies You Should Die Before You See - Miller Steve [85]
Thumbs Down Rating:
The Crappies
The Mysogonistic Sex Pervert Award goes to … Jess Franco for making a film where the zombies tend to fondle a female's genitals while attacking her.
And the Worst Picture Award goes to … Jess Franco and Marius Lesoeur for not even being able to pull off the idiot-proof concept of a horror film wth Nazi zombies.
They Really Said It!
Col. Meitzell: Did you find what you were looking for?
Robert: Mainly I found myself.
Betcha Didn't Know
The World War II battle scenes in the film were lifted from Heroes Without Glory (1971).
Two nearly identical vesions of this film were made, one intended for the French market and the other for international release.
Trivia Quiz
What classic horror novel formed the basis for one of Jess Franco's best films?
A: Frankenstein
B: Herbert West: Re-Animator
C: The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
D: Dracula
Answer: D. With a cast that included Christopher Lee, Herbert Lom, and Klaus Kinski, in 1970 Franco managed to make one of his best movies
RING OF TERROR
Playstar, 1962
PRODUCER Alfeo Bocchicchio
WRITERS Lewis Simeon and G. J. Zinnerman
DIRECTOR Clark L. Paylow
STARS George E. Mather (Lewis Moffitt), Jospeh Conway (R. J. Dobson), Esther Furst (Betty Crawford), Norman Ollstead (Lewis's roommate), Lomax Study (Professor Rayburn), Pamela Raymond (Alice Lund), and Ollie O'Toole (Dr. Walsh)
A dippy graveyard caretaker (Conway) relates a deadly, dull tale of a medical student (Mather) who experiences the ultimate terror … and tries to bore the viewers to death.
Why It Sucks
From its cast of “college students” (played by actors in their late thirties or early forties) to the goofy plot, there's not much to recommend here. It's as if a group of actors whose starring roles had been in health education films wrote a script outline on a napkin from the strip-club they were working at, rented a camera, and ad-libbed the whole thing. No exaggeration.
Thumbs Down Rating:
The Crappies
The Worst Director Award goes to … Clark L. Paylow. Maybe he liked this film, but I can't find anybody else who did.
And the Special Achievement in Discouraging Teenage Sexual Activity Award goes to … The lover's lane make-out scene between the actors who are all twenty years' older than they're playing. It is so awkward and painful and embarrassing to watch that it will cool all but the hottest of jets.
They Really Said It!
Dobson: All monuments, from the simplest to the most elaborate, stand erect on the closed books of the lives of our dearly departed.
Betcha Didn't Know
Clark Paylow's career in film spanned forty years. Among his many credits is producer on Steven Spielberg's sci-fi hit Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977).
George Mather worked as a production supervisor on the original Star Wars (1977), overseeing the miniature effects.
Trivia Quiz
What other project did scripters LewisS imeon and G. J.
Zinnerman contribute to?
A: Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
B: Battle Star Galactica (1978 pilot)
C: Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (1979 pilot)
D: None of the above.
Answer: D. Ring of Terror was the only script credit for either writer
ROCKABILLY VAMPIRE (AKA “BURNIN' LOVE”)
Garage Rock Pictures, 1996
PRODUCER Stacy Haber Hofberg
WRITERS Lee Bennett Sobel and Paul Gambino
DIRECTOR Lee Bennett Sobel
STARS Stephen Blackehart (Wrecks Vincent), Margaret Lancaster (Iris Dougherty), Paul Stevenson (Eddie Vincent), Wendy Walker (Emma Cross), and Dennis Davies (Benny Lawalski) An Elvis-obsessed writer (Lancaster) falls in love with a vampire who bears a passing resemblance to the King when he was young (Stevenson).
Why It Sucks
Some people just shouldn't try to make comedies. Rockabilly Vampire is unfunny and badly executed with pathetically weak horror overtones, with attempts to make the characters endearing through stereotypically dorky