Category Archives: Bad and weird movies

SNARKY JAY: TERRIFIC MOVIE REVIEW CHANNEL

snarky jayHere at Balladeer’s Blog people who can make me laugh are my favorite kind of people! YT reviewer Snarky Jay, as she calls herself, is entertaining, engaging and hilarious with her reviews.

She not only delivers concise positive or negative takes on films and streaming shows, but she also punctures the pomposity of the privileged one percenters of Hollywood.

You can subscribe to Snarky Jay’s channel HERE. For an eight-and-a-half-minute example of this woman’s approach click below. Continue reading

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BAD MOVIE: THE BIONIC BOY (1977)

bionic boyTHE BIONIC BOY (1977) – This joint production of the Philippines and Hong Kong starred child martial arts champion Johnson Yap from Singapore. It was also released under alternate titles like Superboy, Trionic Warrior and others.

We viewers first meet 10-year-old Sonny Lee (Johnson Yap) on a televised game show hosted by a man who looks like Liberace. I didn’t say he DRESSES like Liberace, just that his face very closely resembles the Candelabra Man.

superboySonny wins the Jackpot on the game show because he’s as intelligent as he is skilled at martial arts. When Not Liberace brings on Sonny’s parents, some gangsters watching the show see that his father is really a former Interpol agent who brought down several of their colleagues and has been living in a Witness Protection Program ever since. (Pretty stupid to let your face get televised to millions then.)

The gangsters add killing the ex-Interpol man to their To-Do List since they are in the middle of muscling in on all export businesses in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and ultimately Australia. Sonny Lee and his parents get even more publicity when Ramirez, a Manila auto magnate, announces he will give the family a new car fresh off his assembly line.  Continue reading

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FIST OF FEAR, TOUCH OF DEATH (1980) – BAD MOVIE REVIEW

fist of fear touch of deathFIST OF FEAR, TOUCH OF DEATH (1980) – It’s the review FOURTEEN YEARS in the making! Yep, Fist of Fear, Touch of Death is yet another one of those classically bad films that I had planned on reviewing here on Balladeer’s Blog back in 2010 but it always fell by the wayside. At long last this review can stand alongside my examinations of other Bruceploitation flicks like The Clones of Bruce Lee and The Dragon Lives Again.

A fictional Karate Tournament being held in Madison Square Garden is hyped as a battle to be the successor to Bruce Lee. That’s just an excuse to feature a conspiracy theory about Bruce having been murdered and mix it in with stock footage from the Master’s interviews, movies, and tv appearances.

another poster for fist of fear touch of deathAlso stretching out this jumbled mess to feature length are scenes from several 1970s and 1960s Chop Socky movies which are supposed to be footage chronicling Bruce’s ancestor, who is called a samurai even though samurai are Japanese, not Chinese. Other forced connections with Lee pollute this sewage.    

Where to start with this Psychotronic gem? Well, for starters, it’s obvious that the late Bruce Lee couldn’t do anything about the footage of himself in this low-class bomb, but Fred Williamson and, of all people – ADOLPH CAESAR – chose to participate in this dreck PLAYING THEMSELVES!

Okay, blaxploitation legend Williamson has his fair share of schlock among his screen credits, but Adolph Caesar was one of the greatest stage actors of all time and his performance in A Soldier’s Story (1984) helped make it the powerful movie that it still is.

If you need a Psychotronic connection to justify Caesar’s presence in this travesty, his very memorable voice narrated film trailers for several grindhouse flicks and horror films over the years. Mr. Caesar is a total boss in this movie, making it clear that he knows it’s sheer garbage and smirking sardonically throughout his screen time.

adolph caesarHe’s being himself, Adolph Caesar, as if he is doing sports commentary for the Madison Square Garden tournament for network television. The bizarre tone of this film is set within the first five minutes, as Caesar’s play by play of a karate tussle we’re seeing in the ring includes the words “suddenly, he grabs for the eyes and twists violently, ripping them out from the sockets and in a dazzling piece of showmanship tossing them to the crowd.”

A dazzling piece of showmanship. To toss your opponent’s torn-out eyes into the crowd. All said in the legendary voice of Adolph Caesar. It’s a true “I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore, Toto” moment for viewers who are used to more conventional fare. Continue reading

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KEITH RICHARDS AS JESSE JAMES, JUDAS, VICTOR HUGO AND CRAZY HORSE

keith richardsOkay, not THAT Keith Richards.

Anyone who’s as immersed as I am in obscure, forgotten, Psychotronic movies and television shows can’t help but repeatedly come across American actor Keith Richards. Long before the walking corpse from the Rolling Stones became famous, this other Keith Richards was turning up in some very unlikely roles.

james brothers of missouriTHE JAMES BROTHERS OF MISSOURI (1949) – In this 12-chapter Republic serial the Keithmeister General starred as Jesse James with Robert Bice as his brother Frank. Future Lois Lane Noel Neill played Peg Royer, while B-movie staple Gene Roth was along for the ride in a supporting role.

History went out the window in this story featuring the James Brothers helping a former member of their gang who had turned straight but was now being harassed by sinister criminals with a secret agenda. Keith Richards is … okay in this.

living christTHE LIVING CHRIST SERIES (1951) – Keith was At His Satanic Majesty’s Request as Judas in this 12-episode television series about incidents in the life of Jesus Christ. Each episode filled a 30-minute time slot.

You might think it would be impossible to make Judas dull, but you’d be reckoning without the vast forces of entropy at work in any Keith Richards performance. The traitorous disciple practically fades into the woodwork in this television effort.    Continue reading

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TELEVISION SPY (1939) BAD MOVIE REVIEW

television spyTELEVISION SPY (1939) – I’ve been reminiscing recently, what with Balladeer’s Blog’s 14th Anniversary just having passed a few days ago. I was reflecting on my long-ago review of the hilariously bad 1935 movie Murder by Television, which starred Bela Lugosi in a dual role.

That flick presented the concept of television as if it would usher in miracles unrealistic enough to make the radar fetishism of the film Radar Secret Service seem low-key and logical. At any rate, I realized I had never gotten around to reviewing two other 1930s movies that looked at the still-developing television concept in melodramatic ways – Television Spy and Trapped by Television (1936).

That 1936 production starring Mary Astor and Lyle Talbot will need to wait, because today is about Television Spy. Part of this film’s charm comes from the inclusion of two up-and-coming players – Anthony F*cking Quinn, (who later dropped that troublesome middle name and became a major star) and Richard Denning himself! Continue reading

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BAD MOVIE REVIEW: THE MANCHU EAGLE MURDER CAPER MYSTERY (1973, 1975)

manchu eagle murder caper mysteryTHE MANCHU EAGLE MURDER CAPER MYSTERY (1973, 1975) – This film was made in 1973 but not released until 1975. Where to begin with this bizarre detective “comedy” that starred Gabriel Dell long after his days with the Dead-End Kids/ Bowery Boys/ Little Tough Guys. For starters, fans of that series of films that ran from the 1930s onward will enjoy the fact that Dell gets to share a few scenes with his fellow veteran of those movies – Huntz Hall.

Sadly for such fans, Leo Gorcey and the rest are nowhere to be found in this flick. Making up for their absence is a cornucopia of cult stars and fringe figures that will simplify all your future games of Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon.

The Manchu Eagle Murder Caper Mystery was directed and co-written (with Dell) by Dean Hargrove, producer and director of countless television detective shows like Columbo, Perry Mason, Matlock, Jane Doe, McBride, Real McCoy, and many, many others. In fact, Columbo’s basset hound is said to be the dog playing Winston in this flick! Continue reading

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BLAME CANADA: NEGLECTED MOVIES AND TELEVISION SHOWS FROM THE GREAT WHITE NORTH

This blog post combines my recurring Forgotten Television segments with my reviews of neglected movies. These items are all from Canada.

range ryder and the calgary kidRANGE RYDER AND THE CALGARY KID (1977) – (Also known as The Adventure of the Dinosaur Badlands.) A 14-year-old MIKE MYERS co-starred in this Canadian children’s program that was also aired in the early 1980s on Nickelodeon. (Hey, Nick even showed episodes of The Uncle Floyd Show in its early years.) Myers (in headband) played the Calgary Kid, sidekick to David Ferry’s Range Ryder.

This program was an odd mix of Land of the Lost and The Valley of Gwangi. Range Ryder and the Calgary Kid were cowboy heroes in Canada’s Old West who discovered a hidden valley in which dinosaurs still lived. Continue reading

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TEXAS 27 FILM VAULT: THE MAN WHO SAW TOMORROW (1981)

Randy (right) and Richard way down on Level 31 hosting The Texas 27 Film VaultBefore MST3K there was … The Texas 27 Film Vault (1985-1987)! Before Joel and Mike, lovers of bad movies had Randy and Richard (at right)! Before Pearl and Kinga there was Laurie Savino! Before Devil Dogs, Observers and Deep 13 there came Cellumites, giant rats and Level 31!

In the middle 1980s/ Way down on Level 31 Randy Clower and Richard Malmos, machine-gun toting Film Vault Technicians First Class hosted this often-neglected cult show. Balladeer’s Blog features plenty of posts about The Texas 27 Film Vault and even an exclusive interview with Randy Clower.

the man who saw tomorrow 1981THE MAN WHO SAW TOMORROW (1981) 

ORIGINAL BROADCAST DATE: Saturday November 9th, 1985 from 10:30pm to 1:00am.

SERIAL: None. This time around the pre-movie offering was the 1953 short titled Nostradamus Says So.

HOST SEGMENTS: At one point Randy and Richard read aloud some ridiculously bizarre predictions made in tabloids by “psychics” of the time period.

masc graveyard smallerTHE MOVIE: The Man Who Saw Tomorrow was a hilariously melodramatic and irrational documentary playing along with the silly notion that the 16th Century “seer” Nostradamus’ vague and noncommital quatrains predicted major future events. Orson Welles, in his “anything for money” phase, narrated the film.

This movie was up there with the campy UFO and Bigfoot documentaries of the 1970s and 1980s. Welles, who has to hurriedly pluck his cigar from his mouth at one point so that he can be understood, seems on the verge of laughter most of the time. As usual in anything about Nostradamus meanings are forced into his centuries-old poems that make them seem like he was a “prophet” who foresaw the rise of Napoleon, World War Two, the John F Kennedy assassination and just about anything else that true-believers want to read into the man’s vague scribblings. Continue reading

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NEIL BREEN: HIS FIRST FIVE BAD MOVIES

Neil Breen making a faceHere at Balladeer’s Blog my love of enjoyably bad movies has been well established. You can count me as one of the many “Human Breens” as fans of filmmaker Neil Breen are called.  

Neil Breen (PBUH) started out as an architect and realtor with minor show-biz dabblings as a dancer in Madonna’s Vogue video and as a cop in Scream. Years later Breen surfaced once again in the entertainment world, this time as an independent filmmaker.

Neil Breen realtorAs with the best of the bad auteurs Neil churns out productions that are uniquely his own. There is no mistaking a Neil Breen film with a film made by anyone else. Picture The Room’s Tommy Wiseau trying to make a David Lynch movie. But with a LOT more needless violence against laptop computers.

Read on for a look at the first five examples of Breen Cinema.

Double DownDOUBLE DOWN (2005) – Neil Breen starred, wrote and directed this movie – and quite obviously he or an associate even wrote the IMDb description of the plot. That description calls Double Down “an edgy action thriller,” which would certainly come as a surprise to anyone who has actually SEEN the film. 

Double Down set the pattern for all things Breen, which is to say it redefines Vanity Projects AND Mary Sue-ing. He casts himself as (insert some sort of human or superhuman paragon here) who (engages in some sort of activity) while looking down on everyone else with a judgmental air of disapproval and ennui. And needless to say, he’s the BEST at looking down on everyone else with a judgmental air of disapproval and ennui. (Sure, but can he climb anything?). Continue reading

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LOOK WHAT’S HAPPENED TO ROSEMARY’S BABY (1976) FORGOTTEN TELEVISION

look whats happened to rosemarys babyLOOK WHAT’S HAPPENED TO ROSEMARY’S BABY (1976) – With The First Omen currently in theaters, its creative team’s obvious desire to make their Omen prequel seem more like Rosemary’s Baby made me decide to review the often forgotten made-for-television sequel to that horror classic. 

Let’s be clear that this telefilm has nothing to do with Ira Levin or his later sequel novel Son of Rosemary. Levin’s genius was sorely missed in Look What’s Happened to Rosemary’s Baby, an aggressively “meh” little nothing. After all, in addition to his novel Rosemary’s Baby, Ira Levin wrote the books The Stepford Wives, A Kiss Before Dying, The Boys from Brazil and Sliver

Look What’s Happened to Rosemary’s Baby (henceforth LWHTRB) featured Ruth Gordon as the only returning cast member from the 1968 movie, reprising her role of Minnie Castevet. Ray Milland played her husband Roman Castevet and George Maharis portrayed Rosemary’s actor husband Guy Woodhouse.
Continue reading

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