Cult-Film Reviews

[Reef Badlaw]

Watch Out, We're Mad

1974, starring Terence Hill and Bud Spencer in a rollicking testosterone-fest of sun, fun, and witty one-liners. I saw it under the subtitled tag of 'Dune Buggy', so I think it has several titles. When Spencer pounds on the door of a private club and is refused admittance, the bouncer says-to-him: " I suppose that makes you mad... "

Spencer replies: " We're already mad. " ... a 'title'-line which probably didn't transfer over to the marquee with suitable impact. Unlike the next scene when Spencer-and-Hill's car 'impacts' the door, and they drive up a staircase onto an elegant balcony, which collapses.

They play rogue-ish roustabouts in Madrid, who share ownership of a dune-buggy, won at a roadrace. Next to their garage is an amusement-park, which a local mobster is squeezing for cash. Gangsters destroy the park's offices and bistro... as well as the buggy. The film morphs into a masterwork of stunt-sequences and more self-depreciating chase-vignettes than you can shake a carrot-'n-stick at. Absolutely superb. One of Hill and Spencer's best.

[Reef Badlaw]

When Eight Bells Toll

1971, 'modern'-day pirates and ship hijackers are going Somalia off the Scottish Northeast-coast, and Naval Intelligence Officer: Tony Hopkins' character is 'sent in' to quaff the affair; which gets a little more complicated when he discovers that coastal villages have been bought-off. Then a ship-carrying-gold vanishes, and the spectrum of Hopkins' character changes... to reveal he's more than just a recalcitrant, womanizing Sir Francis Drake with a spear and a speedboat. He's a resourceful strategist at-the-core, cleverly reworking various plots against 'im, this way 'n that.

Alistair MacLean adapted the screenplay from his own novel. -Staying true to it.

The sea-surface cinematography is transcendentally flawless... On a wide-screen, it has that I feel like I'm in the movie appeal. I re-watch it about every 4 years, which is damn good. It's a self-contained atmospheric thriller. Salt-spray and seagulls...

[Reef Badlaw]

Sappho: Venus Of Lesbos, 1960...

Tina Louise, Kerwin Mathews... The script doesn't elaborate, but some local lord controls a large area of the Greek seacoast via a sizable army. His realm includes the isle of Lesbos, where virgins go to become priestesses of Aphrodite. Mathews is a rebel leader who's ambushed and injured... escaping to the island temple. It's predictable, but enjoyable. The set-decorations are great. The women are believable, which is important. Pietro Francisci directed it without lingering titillation, keeping the emphasis on romantic-intrigue and blade-play. He even throws-in an all-woman 4-horse chariot race, a siren (mermaid) sequence, and authentic-looking longboat action. The final battle is fabulous, with some amazing siege-engines-- including 'armored' catapults.