The Cameraman (1928) Review

Director: Edward Sedgwick, Buster Keaton (uncredited)
Stars: Buster Keaton, Marceline Day
Genre: Slapstick, Romantic Comedy

The Cameraman was Keaton's first film after moving to MGM--a move he would later consider to be the worst decision of his life--and it also happens to be one of the last silent films he did. More importantly though it is widely considered the last "true" Keaton film; the last picture he would make with passion and in his signature Keaton style. 

I have very mixed feelings about The Cameraman. If I could compare it to one other silent Keaton film it'd probably be The General, since both feel very well-paced and more slow, making it feel more like a typical film rather than a mere laugh fest. There are laughs to be had no doubt, it just feels more like a Romantic Comedy than any other Keaton film before it. In fact, I'd say that this film feels more like a Charlie Chaplin picture than a Buster Keaton one. Which, of course, isn't necessarily a bad thing. 

There's not much in the way of stunts here, which is a tad disappointing but also not surprising. When MGM signed Keaton they forced him to use a stunt double for some of the more dangerous stunts as they were keen on protecting their investment (it's just a shame they killed it at the same time). There are plenty of, what shall I call them...visual jokes, though. Watching Keaton talk to a monkey or play pretend baseball or break a window over and over is all well and good and funny, it's just not nearly as impressive as some of his earlier work. 

Whereas The General felt more like a proper Action Adventure than a Slapstick, The Cameraman feels more like a proper Romantic Comedy. Keaton films have always involved a boy trying to win a girl, and his films have always had a very basic level of emotion to them, but in The Cameraman much of it is Keaton's character actually spending time with the girl (played by the very beautiful Marceline Day I may add) rather than just overcoming obstacles and spending the final frame of the film with her in his arms. So, in that respect, I suppose it is natural to say that The Cameraman has some of the best character development we've ever seen in a Keaton picture (though that's hardly the point of a Keaton picture).

It's a pleasant little film with lots of emotion and some real good laughs. A must-see for Keaton fans as it both marks the end of one part of his career and the beginning of another (or the beginning of the end would perhaps be more accurate--or perhaps just the end).

Purchase The Cameraman on Amazon: DVD Collection - DVD - VHS

The Punisher (1989) Review

Director: Mark Goldblatt
Stars: Dolph Lundgren, Louis Gossett Jr.
Genre: Action, Exploitation

One of the earliest film adaptations of a Marvel comic book character (lest us not forget the Howard the Duck movie), though perhaps not the finest example of how to do a comic book movie right.

So the mob kills Frank Castle's, an ex-cop's, wife and children. So he decides to kill every criminal there is, especially the mob. Thus he becomes The Punisher. However, when the yakuza come over from Japan and try to take over the mob by kidnapping all the dons' young children, The Punisher must step in and save the children.

The plot doesn't really have much to do with The Punisher comics at all. Sure there's Frank Castle's backstory (a very loose backstory, mind you) but there's no classic Punisher enemies, take for example Jigsaw, instead there's all new enemies and a new story. I know that when this film came out The Punisher was still a fairly new series (started in 1986) but they still had plenty to work with. This is essentially The Punisher thrown into the plot of a typical 80s action film. The yakuza? Seriously? A bunch of young kids serving a major plot in the film? The kids in the film mostly ruined it for me. It made the film seem like it was undecided whether it wanted to be family-friendly or not. With the yakuza and ninjas and the kids it almost feels like a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie at times.

The main problem is that this film is just some damned conventional and boring. Everything about it follows the formula of an 80s action film: from the enemies to the stereotypical black 80s cop to the involvement of children to the soundtrack to the camerawork to everything else. If you've seen any other action film from the 80s you've essentially seen this one. 

Then we have The Punisher himself, played by Dolph Lundgren (whom also did many of his own stunts in here). Lundgren does a decent job portraying The Punisher/Frank Castle, for the most part. He certainly fits the look (except for that painted on 5 o'clock shadow. Seriously, what the hell?). He has such a dumb face though that sometimes the sight of him makes you want to laugh. If anyone has a dumb-looking face it's Dolph. He's not a terribly good actor either, but that sort of works for The Punisher. He does a decent enough job as the title character, I can't really complain. What I can complain about, however, is the design of the character. Where the hell is the skull? Why would you design The Punisher without a skull on his torso? That's like making a Superman movie and not giving him the 'S' on his chest. Were they trying to make it less comic-booky and feel more realistic?

This is an action film. In fact, I'd probably even call it an exploitation film (or, more accurately, an Ozploitation film). The only problem is the action scenes are lame. They're boring. The action is dull, unimaginative, and often gratuitous (not that I have much of a problem with gratuitous violence, so long as it's in good fun). And when an Action Film's action fails then there's not much else you're left with.

I watched this movie a lot when I was a kid. I wasn't born yet when it was released (not that it was released into U.S. theaters anyway), but I remember having a VHS or possibly even DVD release. There was probably even a time when I would have called The Punisher my favorite comic book character largely because of this film (my favorite pretty much changed every other week back then). But even with nostalgia working for it I couldn't call this a good film or even a largely enjoyable one.

There's many better Action films from the 80s that you can watch. I'd avoid this one unless you really love The Punisher and want to see what early Marvel films were like.

Purchase The Punisher on Amazon: DVD - VHS

Game of Death (1978) Review

Director: Robert Clouse
Stars: Bruce Lee (footage), Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (footage), Robert Wall
Genre: Kung Fu, Bruceploitation

This is not a true Bruce Lee film. It's shameless Bruceploitation that used the footage of a dead Bruce Lee to make some money on his name. It's actually kind of disgusting.

Before I get to the story in the movie let me comment on the story behind the movie. Before Bruce Lee died he had been working on a new film called Game of Death and he had already shot some footage. It was to be the film that truly captured his philosophy and display his fighting as he would want it to be displayed. He had to put the project on hold though to go and make Enter the Dragon which, unfortunately, would prove to be his last film; dying before he could finish what would surely of had been his masterpiece.

So, with the Bruceploitation genre already up and running and such "Bruce Lee" films being released like The Legend of Bruce Lee or Bruce Lee Fights Back from the Grave or The Clones of Bruce Lee, it apparently occurred to someone that they could not only exploit Bruce's name but his unused footage from his uncompleted Game of Death also.

The result was a stitched together film with some scenes using footage from other Bruce Lee films, some scenes utilizing the unused Game of Death footage, some scenes using Bruce Lee stand-ins (who look nothing like Bruce), and some scenes of stand-ins actually using cardboard cut-outs of Bruce Lee's face. Oh, and they use actual footage from Bruce Lee's funeral as a plot device in here. The stitched together film which shamefully bares the name of Bruce Lee's unfinished film comes nowhere near matching Lee's vision and instead is just an awful film. 

The plot resembles nothing of Lee's original script and the film only makes use of about 11 minutes of the unused footage instead of the more than 30 that was available. The new story is about some mafia who harasses Billy Lo...who is supposed to be Bruce Lee since the film shows us Billy Lo working on Fist of Fury...so I dunno. It's a stupid fucking plot. It's a stupid fucking movie.

The only good thing about this film is the 11 minutes of actual Bruce Lee footage, which wasn't even used to the best of its potential. How can you take a film seriously when it actually tries to trick its audience into thinking some stand-in that looks nothing like Bruce Lee is actually Bruce Lee by use of false beards, sunglasses, and Bruce Lee cut-outs? It's silly, ridiculous, and quite insulting to audiences and to Bruce Lee's legacy. Also, I should add, they had to use a Kareem Abdul-Jabbar stand-in as well, being that he refused to partake in this "new" Game of Death.

The non-Bruce Lee fighting is decent. It's nowhere near the level of Bruce Lee fighting and choreography but for what it is it's alright. The Robert Wall locker-room fight was pretty good. The motorcycle fight was kind of cool. Overall though it's just a pretty pathetic film. 

There's really no necessity to watch this film. If you want to see the full 35 minutes of Lee's original footage for Game of Death check out the excellent documentary titled Bruce Lee: A Warrior's Journey. Also check out my review for the Unfinished Game of Death.

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The Game of Death (unfinished, 1972) Review

Director: Bruce Lee
Stars: Bruce Lee, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, James Tien
Genre: Kung Fu

This is a review for the original footage Bruce Lee shot for his uncompleted Game of Death in 1972, before he put the project on hold to go make Enter the Dragon, which shortly after he, unfortunately, passed away, leaving this film to never be completed. This is not a review for the 1978 Bruceploitation film, also entitled Game of Death.

There is nearly 40 minutes of footage which Lee had shot in existence. I will be reviewing the footage and what Lee had intended the film to be, i.e. the film's vision.

Bruce Lee was to play a successful martial artist who a Korean gang tries to recruit to help them rob a pagoda which is guarded by a skilled martial artist on each floor. Bruce Lee's character was to refuse but eventually forced into helping the gang once they kidnap his family. At the base of the pagoda there are ten karate black belts they must defeat. Inside the pagoda there are five floors each one with a progressively more challenging opponent.

The only parts that were filmed were as followed: Dan Inosanto (a student of Lee's and would later go on to train Bruce Lee's son Brandon) as the Third Floor Guardian, Ji Han-Jae as the Fourth Floor Guardian, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (former professional basketball player and student of Lee's) as the Fifth Floor Guardian, the final opponent. Hwang In-Shik and Taky Kimura were intended to play the First and Second Floor Guardians, and frequent Bruce Lee co-star Nora Miao (and the only person to share an on-screen kiss with Bruce) was set to play the sister of Bruce Lee's character. The likes of Robert Wall, Chuck Norris, Jackie Chan, George Lazenby, Sammo Hung, Jim Kelly, Bolo Yeung, and Lam Ching-ying were also intended to have roles in the film.

The film was set up to represent Bruce Lee's true philosophy: to be formless. He would overcome each challenger on each floor by adapting to each of their different styles. He would ultimately win because he was formless, adaptable and they were slaves to their style (aside from Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on the final floor, whose method reflected Lee's own real-life Jeet Kune Do). The yellow and black tracksuit actually was meant to represent flexibility and lack of uniform, whereas many of the other opponents in the pagoda were to wear the uniforms of their school of style. I have no doubt that had the film been completed it would have been Lee's magnum opus; accurately portraying his beliefs and philosophy and his fighting style (or lack thereof). Lee, after all, was to be credited as Director, Star, Writer, Producer, Choreographer, Co-cinematographer, among many other roles.

The footage that does exist, which can be viewed for the first time ever in the excellent documentary Bruce Lee: A Warrior's Journey, is fucking awesome. The fighting is ruthless and the idea of having a challenger on each floor leads to great pacing, anticipation, build-up, and gives the sense of weariness seeing Lee climb up and up the stairs just to fight an opponent harder than the last.

I've said it before and I will say it again: the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar fight is the greatest Bruce Lee fight out of all of his films. Many will argue that the best was the Chuck Norris fight in Way of the Dragon, a good fight no doubt, but still, in my opinion, not as good as Bruce vs Kareem. I remember watching Game of Death footage when I was very, very young (I'm sure it was from the shitty 1978 version) and I remember being terrified by Kareem. He was so giant and massive...mysterious even. He was silent and his eyes hid behind those dark glasses. Just sitting there in that room. It was one of the scariest things I'd ever seen as a kid. I remember as a child sharing the fatigue of Bruce Lee climbing those steps. I remember feeling just as rewarded as Lee's character must of felt after winning. It was truly a powerful fight for me when I was young, which only makes me all the more sad that the film was never completed.

One of my biggest wishes is that Bruce Lee had lived long enough to complete The Game of Death. I'm confident it would have been his best film and one of the greatest martial arts films of all time. I suppose we should be thankful that we at least have some of the footage.

The footage that was shot is fantastic and the concept of the film likewise. I can't quite apply a rating to this being that it's an uncompleted film, but by all means check the footage out in the documentary Bruce Lee: A Warrior's Journey.

Purchase Bruce Lee: A Warrior's Journey (which contains all known Game of Death footage): DVD - VHS

The Shiver of the Vampires (1971) Review

Director: Jean Rollin
Stars: Sandra Julien, Marie Pierre Castel
Genre: Horror

French director Jean Rollin's third film which also happens to be his third film about naked vampires.

A couple of newlyweds decide to visit the wife's cousins, whom live in a castle, for their honeymoon. Except when they arrive they find out that her cousins are dead...and by dead I mean they're vampires. And so from there the plot unfolds.

Rollin isn't exactly known for having straightforward or even coherent plots, but this one is fairly simple, for a Rollin film at least. It's easy to follow and understand (for the most part; it's still a bit confusing at times) but it's still quite an engaging story and enjoyable throughout. A Rollin film is hardly ever about the story though.

This film is very beautiful, somewhat on a poetic and writing level but mostly in its cinematography and imagery. Some people seem to complain that Rollin's first film, The Rape of the Vampire, was a bit pretentious and overdone when it came to camerawork and imagery (I happen to disagree with such an statement) but those people should be happy to know that The Shiver of the Vampires manages to have some wonderful camera angles and whatnot but in a completely non-intruding way.

Of course it's a bit of a challenge to do imagery and camerawork justice with words; it's something you have to see for yourself. There's great use of lighting as well, with red, green, and blue glows in every scene, sometimes reminding me of the red lighting used years later in Dario Argento's Suspiria. There's also a fabulous soundtrack. Whereas The Rape of the Vampire had a No Wave Jazz sound this film has a Psychedelic Rock sound. It's very suiting to the film and is actually done quite well; a joy to the ears.

This wonderful imagery and cinematography and lighting and score, as you may expect, form a very unique atmosphere. Which is perhaps the film's strongest point--it's atmosphere, which is an odd fusion of Surreal, Psychedelic, and Gothic. 

There's the obligatory nudity and eroticism that nearly all Rollin's films have. It's nowhere near as explicit as some of Rollin's later work, but it's not often that you'll find a woman with all her clothes on. It's never really gratuitous nudity though...at least not completely.

Another great film from the master of vampire lesbians, Jean Rollin. One of my favorite films from him. A fine example of Atmospheric Horror done well. 

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