Blu-ray Review: Golden Temple Amazons

Golden Temple Amazons is one of the odder films in Jess Franco’s work, in part because there is some question about how much of it Franco actually directed. A credit at the beginning calls the film a “Jess Frank Presentation,” but then James Gartner is credited as the director. James Gartner is not one of Franco’s many pseudonyms, but is actually a pseudonym for Alain Payet. Some claim that Jess Franco directed the entire thing, while others believe the film was co-directed, and others believe that Franco began the film (under a different title), and then Alain Payet finished it. It was released in 1986, but has many similarities to Diamonds Of Kilimandjaro, which came out in 1983, so perhaps that last idea is the correct one.

As the film opens, several women are riding horses, their naked breasts bouncing in slow motion. When they arrive at the home of the Simpsons, they demand that Mr. Simpson comes out. When he complies, they put an arrow in his chest. His wife is likewise killed. As the women leave, the couple’s young daughter, Liana, comes round from the back of the house to discover her parents’ bodies. The film then jumps to several years later, and Liana (Analia Ivars, but credited as Joan Virly) has grown into an attractive woman who befriends and rides elephants. (There is some really nice elephant footage, marred only by one of the worst soundtracks to ever make it into a film.) Liana is friendly with a wide variety of animals, actually, including giraffes and a chimpanzee (or is it a monkey?). Father Johnstone (Olivier Mathot, but credited as Oliver Matthew, who also appeared in Diamonds Of Kilimandjaro) arrives at the house. He was a friend to Mr. Simpson and has arrived to find out what happened to him. (Took him long enough, eh?) As he reads aloud to Liana from her father’s diary (her parents didn’t teach her how to read), we are treated to a flashback of the action in which Mr. Simpson first encounters the Amazon women and discovers their great caverns of gold. The women warn him to return the gold he’s taken and to leave the area, but he doesn’t heed their warnings. He’s kind of an asshole, actually. And his wife fires a gun in the women’s direction, making her not too sympathetic either. So, as with Diamonds Of Kilimandjaro, we quickly find ourselves siding with the tribe and not the so-called “civilized” man. Anyway, Liana vows revenge on the women who killed her shitty parents.

As she sets out on her search, she is almost immediately captured in a net by a tribe of men. But it turns out they only stopped her out of concern for her. (That’s how my friends try to keep me from making mistakes too!) Their plan doesn’t work, of course, and one of the tribe’s members ends up accompanying her on her quest. He is the tribe’s medicine man, and he is apparently there mainly for comic relief. They are also joined by a group of archeologists (after Liana was captured by their porters – you know, for a girl who grew up without parents in the jungle, she’s not very savvy about her surroundings). And the group goes off in search of adventure, a lost civilization and revenge.

Quite a bit of the film is dull and silly. The gold aluminum foil on the walls looks ridiculous, and the guy who is supposed to be hammering it is clearly hitting it gingerly so as not to tear it. And the cheap blond wigs often look terrible. But still, there are certainly some interesting moments and elements. The Amazons are actually ruled by a mysterious man named Uruck (William Berger) and his mistress Rena, a woman who worries that Liana will take her place. And the moment when Uruck takes Liana into his chamber is handled really well. We see that he rapes her, but the camera remains outside the room, with the guards and with Rena, who is humiliated after losing a fight with Liana. She is also humiliated and distraught because she is being replaced at that very moment. She is defeated, and Liana is being defeated, raped by the man who ordered the deaths of her parents. It’s an intriguing and strange and effective scene. This film also has a surprising amount of cool footage of animals. And remember, when things get weird: “Forget your archeology, let’s get out of here.”

Golden Temple Amazons is scheduled to be released on Blu-ray on September 11, 2018 through MVD Visual as part of the MVD Classics series. The disc provides the option of watching the film dubbed in English or in its original French. The film’s trailer is included, as well as the trailer for Jess Franco’s Diamonds Of Kilimandjaro.

Blu-ray Review: Diamonds Of Kilimandjaro

Jess Franco was an unusual and incredibly prolific filmmaker (he directed between one hundred fifty and two hundred movies). Not all of his films are excellent, of course, but all of them have moments and elements that make them worth watching. Lately there has been a renewed interest in his work, which is good news, for it means that more of his films are getting Blu-ray and DVD releases. Diamonds Of Kilimandjaro might not be as popular as some of his other films, but it does feature a supporting performance by Lina Romay, Franco’s muse and second wife, who in appeared in much of his work. The film is now getting a Blu-ray release, as part of the MVD Classics series.

When the film opens, a small plane is in trouble, preparing for a crash landing, as a tribe below watches. When the two survivors emerge from the wreckage, the tribe kneels before them as if they are gods. A few years later, armed treasure-hunters make their way through the jungle and are suddenly surrounded by the tribe. One of the men is beaten until Diana, the young woman now grown, puts a halt to it. Interestingly, all the men of the tribe immediately get on their knees, but the one woman (who was administering the beating) remains standing, like she knows better. It’s a nice touch. The woman even questions Diana’s judgment when Diana demands the man be set free. He is warned to never return. By the way, both women are nearly naked. This is a Jess Franco film, after all.

The treasure-hunters go see Diana’s mother, a rich woman in her sick bed, who seems surrounded only by people who want her money. She is played by Lina Romay, who began acting in Jess Franco films a decade earlier. Though she doesn’t have a large role in this film, her presence is appreciated. The explorers offer to mount an expedition to find and return her daughter if only she’ll finance it. She sees them as thieves right away (the women in this film are much smarter than the men), but takes them up on her offer, for she must cling to hope of seeing her daughter again. But can she trust them? Even her relatives are only after the inheritance, and don’t want Diana to return for that very reason. These characters are all greedy and self-centered, making the world of the tribe all the more appealing. It’s an intriguing effect, as the viewer can’t wait to get back to the jungle, where the people might be cannibals but at least they’re honest. It’s the opposite of how most films of this genre make the viewer feel. And into the jungle the team goes, after a girl none of them actually wishes to save. With such questionable motives, how could anything possibly go wrong? Well, it doesn’t help that one of them shoots the first native they encounter. But remember, “Any man who thinks too much of his honor is no good in bed.”

This film has a lot of the stylistic elements that Jess Franco is known for – interesting use of sound, zooms, moments of odd focus, extreme close-ups of people, and wide and sometimes gorgeous shots showing the landscape. He always makes the most of his locations, as he does here. The film is presented in English, and like all Jess Franco films that are dubbed, the dubbing has much room for improvement. And it’s not just a matter of things not being in sync. One character is referred to as Diana’s cousin at first, though he is clearly much too old, and then later referred to as her uncle, which makes more sense. However, like all dubbed Jess Franco films, the poor dubbing becomes part of the film’s charm. There is also a moment when in a wide shot you can see a note written in French in blue marker, and then in the close-up, it’s suddenly in English in black marker. There is also a strange moment when one character almost becomes Gollum from Lord Of The Rings when talking about his stones.

Diamonds Of Kilimandjaro is scheduled to be released on Blu-ray on September 11, 2018 through MVD Visual. By the way, even though the Blu-ray case indicates that the film is 83 minutes, the disc actually contains the 95-minute version. The Blu-ray contains the film’s trailer (which is in French), as well as the trailer for Jess Franco’s Golden Temple Amazons.

DVD Review: Of Horses And Men

I don’t believe I’ve ever seen a film quite like Of Horses And Men before. Its subject, its tone, its style and its characters all feel singular to this movie. And that is remarkable. Clearly the film is a work of passion. At the end, there is this message: “No horses were hurt in the making of this film. The entire cast and crew are horse owners and horse lovers.” That message goes a long way in explaining how they got some of the tremendous footage that this film contains. But the extraordinary footage is only part of what makes this film a delight.

The movie begins with extreme close-up shots of various parts of a horse, until a shot of the animal’s eye reveals a man standing there. He is attempting to put a bridle on the horse, which he eventually manages to do. Though spread out, the community is close in spirit, and several people with binoculars wait for a glimpse of him riding his new horse. As the man proudly rides the horse, there are some shots of his face, and some of the horse’s face, as if each has his or her own thoughts, but maybe have the same goals. As he rides atop the mare, a stallion breaks free from a nearby pen and mounts the mare. The sun’s reflection on the binoculars in the distance alerts the man that everyone is witnessing his strange ménage à trois.  The man’s demeanor changes quite a bit after that, and the film takes a surprising turn.

What’s interesting is that after that, the film gives us a close-up of the eye of another horse, this time with a passing vehicle reflected in it. The vehicle’s driver spots a boat in the distance, and races back to a pen, from which he takes a horse and rides it into the water all the way to the boat. He makes it to the boat, only to purchase some rather potent alcohol, which then kills him. There is a wonderfully odd humor to this film, and at his funeral he is described by the minister as a man “who let nothing come between him and his goals.” It is a small, tight community, and the first man attends the funeral. So does his girlfriend, whose stallion was the one to violate his mare, and the two now seem estranged and do not speak to each other.

Each section of the film begins with a reflection in a horse’s eye, as if the action is from the perspective of the horses, which creates an interesting dynamic, as it is not just about the relationships between characters, but the relationships between the characters and the horses. The horses are a big part of the identity of these people and their community. The characters are all interconnected, so the film never feels like an anthology of stories. In addition to the excellent footage of the horses, there are gorgeous wide shots of the landscape, and some intense footage that brings us close to the human characters. For example, when one man cuts a barbed wire fence, the wire snaps and hits him in the face, blinding him. This movie also contains one of the oddest and most honest sex scenes I’ve ever seen in a film (and yes, binoculars come into play again). Okay, I suppose the movie actually has two of the oddest sex scenes I’ve seen, as we cannot forget that early threesome scene. There is also a scene where one of the characters acts like Han Solo on Hoth, using a horse to stay warm.

Of Horses And Men was directed by Benedikt Erlingsson, and was released on DVD on December 5, 2017 through Music Box Films. The film is presented in its original Icelandic, with English subtitles. The DVD contains the film’s trailer.

DVD Review: Dogs Of Democracy

Dogs Of Democracy is a documentary film that on its surface is about the stray dogs in Athens and the people that take care of them, an interesting topic in itself. But in addressing that topic, the film goes deeper to discuss the ways that people treat one another, particularly the ways that people treat the homeless. It was written and directed by Mary Zournazi, who also narrates the film.

At the beginning, Mary says that she took her first trip to Athens in order “to explore the culture of my ancestors.” But when she arrived, the city was in the middle of a crisis, with demonstrations in the streets. She saw something else unexpected in the streets, and that is the film’s focus – the stray dogs and the people caring for them. Several of these people are interviewed. Some, like Spiros, are actually homeless themselves. All of them are amiable and likeable, and it’s easy to connect with them and with what they are trying to do. “Traditionally we Greeks are on the side of the losers in a way,” says Eugenia, about caring for the dogs. “So it seems natural to us to favor them and be on their side.” Rita, another person who cares for these animals, tells us, “The stray dogs of Athens are the souls of the streets.”

“Like Gandhi says, you can tell what a culture is like by how it looks after the weakest in the community and how it treats its animals,” Rita says. And this idea is really at the heart of the film. It’s interesting to me that all the stray dogs have names, and that the people know their names. Many even have collars. The documentary ties the idea of these stray dogs to the growing homeless population. Many people had suddenly found themselves unemployed and on the streets because of the economic crisis.

The film does get a bit into the history of the city’s changing attitudes toward the stray dogs. And yes, there is a lot of adorable footage of the dogs. These dogs are not at all shy about coming right up to the camera. There is even some funny footage, like the odd standoff between a car and a dog, with the dog barking at the car, and the car honking at the dog. Who will yield? But the most interesting footage is of the dogs at the demonstrations with protestors. You get the sense the dogs know exactly what is going on and what is at stake. One particular dog becomes associated with the movement, and is even referred to as the protestors’ “guardian angel.” The people being interviewed tell some incredible and moving anecdotes, and the film carries messages of hope and kindness.

Dogs Of Democracy was released on DVD on June 26, 2018 through MVD Visual. The DVD contains the film’s trailer.

Blu-ray Review: Greaser’s Palace

Greaser’s Palace is a strange and wonderful biblical comedy set in the old west, delivering not only laughs but also shocks and heartache. It stars Allan Arbus (Coffy, the television series M.A.S.H.) as Jessy, a Jesus-like figure who wants to become a professional entertainer and heals folks along the way. It has now been released on Blu-ray, which includes an interview with director Robert Downey.

Much of the film takes place in a small town run by Mr. Greaser. Citizens are forced to be tribute to him, and he seems to hold the power of life and death over them (though no power over his own bowels). He keeps a band in a jail cell on his roof, and even holds his own mother in a cell. Yet he doesn’t seem evil. He doesn’t appear to be the devil character in the story. When we first see the town, a woman is singing a song about adultery to an audience of appreciative men. The song is hilarious, but among the crowd is the Holy Ghost – a man in a sheet and hat, smoking a cigar. After he puts his cigar out on the chest of Lamy Greaser, there is some mayhem, until Lamy is gunned down by his father. Yes, the movie is full of strange surprises like that.

Meanwhile, a family makes its way across the land in a covered wagon, hoping to meet Mr. Greaser so that the woman can sing for him. The young boy is played by Robert Downey, Jr., by the way, in an uncredited role. Behind the carriage, Jessy parachutes down to Earth. He wears a zoot suit, a wide yellow tie, a pink hat and white gloves. And there is a certain spring to his step as he walks along. When the Holy Ghost delivers to him the body of Lamy, Jessy brings him back to life, saying he needs his help to pursue a career as an actor and singer. (And there is a running joke about the William Morris Agency.) What is interesting is that both Jessy and the woman are seeking basically the same thing – a career as an entertainer. We see Jessy’s journey, and we see the family’s journey, and we hope they will meet up soon, especially after the woman wakes to find that both her man and her boy have been killed during the night.

There is quite a bit of death in this film, though much of it is directed at poor Lamy, whom his father dispatches a few more times. People begin to follow Jessy after seeing him bring Lamy back from the dead. And there is a wonderful scene where Jessy walks on water, even performing a somersault, in order to entertain his followers. Interestingly, his followers include Mr. Greaser. As I mentioned, Mr. Greaser doesn’t come across as evil. At one point, Mr. Greaser tells Coo Coo, “I wish I could put my arms around each and every one of them and let them know that everything is going to be okay.” After Coo Coo asks him why he doesn’t do just that, Mr. Greaser responds, “I’m not bizarre enough.” A surprising response.

There are a lot of funny lines and moments and situations in this film. When Jessy is stopped by a group of afflicted individuals who wish to be healed, one of them ends up repeating joyously, “I can crawl again!” Another tells him to get his hands off him. The religious characters in the story – a nun and a monk – are disappointed in this messiah. What is interesting is that Jessy questions his own identity, which the monk calls blasphemy. And if you’re wondering if God plays a role in this story, since Jesus and the Holy Ghost are present, the answer is yes. And one of my favorite moments is when Jessy tells his father, “I really don’t trust you.” The sound is also kind of intriguing in this film. There are moments when the film is nearly silent, as when the woman wakes to find her husband and son with their throats cut. Certainly not something you’d expect from a comedy. But this film strange and glorious film takes us on its own peculiar ride, and meets us on its own terms, and proves once again that the best decade for film was the 1970s.

Special Features

The Blu-ray includes an interview with director Robert Downey, in which he talks about the film. He says there is no spiritual message. “I just wanted to have fun.” He talks about casting Allan Arbus, and tells some funny and odd anecdotes, including one about his son.

The special features also include trailers for Seizure, Doctor Death, Hollywood Boulevard, Conduct Unbecoming (I need to see this one), Saint Jack (I love that movie), and Aloha, Bobby And Rose.

Greaser’s Palace was released on Blu-ray on June 5, 2018 through Scorpion Releasing and Music Box Films.

Blu-ray Review: Godmonster Of Indian Flats

Godmonster Of Indian Flats is a strange and kind of goofy, yet enjoyable film about a sheep herder who discovers a strange creature among his sheep, and about the corrupt town nearby. It’s sort of a horror film, but it is the citizenry of the town that is more frightening than the actual creature. It was written and directed by Fredric Hobbs, who also made Alabama’s Ghost, and was released in 1973. It is now getting a Blu-ray release, thanks to the good folks at American Genre Film Archive, Something Weird, and MVD Visual, and the disc contains a lot of special features.

The film has kind of a wonderful opening. It starts out in the country, with shots of sheep being transported. And a man is riding in the back of the truck with the sheep. Then suddenly the truck stops and the man, wearing a furry vest and cowboy hat, gets out. The truck drives away, revealing that the man, Eddie (Richard Marion), is in Reno. The music and tone suddenly change to let in the sounds of the city. Eddie steps into a casino, and the music and tone change again, with eerie, creepy sounds dominating the soundtrack. But on his first try at a slot machine, Eddie wins, and so the sounds of the casino begin, as if the city has now welcomed him, accepted him. And soon Eddie is also welcomed by a group of people at the casino, who take him to another town. This entire opening sequence is done really well, with a style and expertise you might not expect from a movie like this.

The place they arrive appears to be an old west town that progress forgot, and in a saloon Eddie has his pocket picked and is roughed up. Fortunately, Dr. Clemens (E. Kerrigan Prescott), a college professor with a laboratory on the outskirts of town, comes to his aid and drives him back to his sheep farm. And as Eddie goes to sleep with his sheep, well, things get weird. When Clemens and his assistant, Mariposa, check in on Eddie the next day, they find him in shock next to a strange creature in the hay. They take both Eddie and the creature back to the lab to study the creature and take care of it. As the creature grows, we see that it is part sheep, part humanoid, which makes us wonder just what Eddie has been doing with his sheep. Eddie isn’t the only one with perhaps unnatural tendencies with regard to sheep. Though he and Mariposa seem to have become an item, Mariposa looks to be more interested in the creature, swooning and trying to engage it in some weird sort of dance. “I’ve been following you all the way from the Glory Hole,” she tells the creature.

But as I mentioned, it is some of the people in the town that are the real weirdos here. There is Mr. Silverdale, who restored the town so that it could become an historical landmark, and who hates tourists. There is Philip, his associate, an anxious, egotistical man. There is a crooked sheriff, a fortune teller named Alta, and a guy who lives at the dump, poking through garbage. Joining them is Mr. Barnstable, a man who has come to town with instructions to purchase the land, and who is mistreated by the town leaders. We also get a funeral for a dog that isn’t really dead, a seemingly racist vigilante squad, and strange and dangerous gases rising from the mines.

Yes, the acting is uneven. Yes, there are some ridiculous and goofy moments, like when Clemens finds those bones easily in a pile of dirt. And the ending is crazy and unexpected. But it’s an enjoyable movie nonetheless.

Special Features

The Blu-ray contains quite a bit of bonus material. There is a short film about studying UFOs that is narrated at the beginning, almost like the movie is being read to us. Hey, one guy was beamed aboard a craft, just like in Star Trek. And remember: “Abe in 1860, Gabe in 1960.” This short is approximately thirty-six minutes. Just In Case: Suppression Of School Bus Fires is an educational short film on how to set school buses on fire, and about how children are horrible. This one is approximately twenty-five minutes. White Gorilla is a short film about an expedition that comes across a white gorilla. It is approximately ten minutes.

There are also trailers for films like Creature From Black Lake, Grizzly (“the deadliest jaws on land belong to Grizzly”), The Mysterious Monsters, South Of Hell Mountain, and Man Beast.

But the main special feature is actually a second feature-length film. Titled The Legend Of Bigfoot, this 1975 film was directed by Harry Stuart Winer, and is about a tracker who becomes obsessed with finding Bigfoot. It’s an odd film, featuring some excellent nature footage. At one point, the tracker is called to Alaska to hunt down a bear that was supposedly killing cattle. But he knew immediately that the bear wasn’t responsible. There is some nice footage of bears, by the way. One of the people there claims that Bigfoot was responsible for the deaths of the cattle. And this is the beginning of the tracker’s interest in the legend. The tracker narrates the film.

Godmonster Of Indian Flats is scheduled to be released on Blu-ray on July 10, 2018.

DVD Review: Searching For Victor “Young” Perez: The Boxer Of Auschwitz

I’ve long been fascinated by World War II, and particularly by the atrocities committed by the Nazis. These days it seems more important than ever to not forget what happened then. What is intriguing is that there are still more stories to learn about the people and activities of that time. One such story is told in the documentary Searching For Victor “Young” Perez: The Boxer Of Auschwitz. Perez was a champion boxer who was taken to Auschwitz, where he was forced to box to entertain the Nazis. The documentary is told from the perspective of Tomer Sisley, a writer and actor who hoped to play Perez on screen. In doing research for the project, he met with the last surviving people who knew Perez. And so this film is not only the story of Victor “Young” Perez, but of Tomer’s search to learn about him. Tomer Sisley narrates the film in addition to appearing in it.

Tomer Sisley speaks with people who knew Perez before the war, shedding light on what he was like both as a boxer and as a person, and on his relationship with actor Mireille Balin. That relationship is particularly interesting, as Balin would become both a big star and a known collaborator with the Nazis. Also interesting is that Perez refused to wear the yellow star. In 1943, he was arrested by French police and sent to Auschwitz. Sisley interviews a Holocaust survivor who was on the same train as “Young” Perez. A casual question from Tomer Sisley about Perez’s name leads to one of the most heartbreaking line of the film: “I knew him under circumstances when nobody had a name anymore.” Also heartbreaking are his descriptions of those he saw on the train and his experience upon arriving at the camp. He says that “even the Germans were impressed to know that in this convoy was a world champion.”

The film takes us to Auschwitz, where a survivor who knew Perez acts as a guide for Tomer Sisley, showing the barracks and relating some details that are horrifying. Even if you’ve heard some of these things before, watching a survivor describe them can’t help but move you. And there are some details I hadn’t known before. The documentary spends a good amount of time at Auschwitz, and all of this material is fascinating. There is not much left of the specific camp where Perez was held, but what we do see of it is captivating. The film then travels to Israel where Tomer Sisley interviews one of the last Auschwitz boxers still alive. This material too is completely engrossing, and this man is able to shed light on Perez’s death. Less interesting are the shots of Tomer writing his script and training to be a boxer himself. That stuff is unnecessary, and fortunately is kept to a minimum. In addition to the interviews and current footage of the concentration camps, the film does include some old still photos and footage of “Young” Perez boxing.

Searching For Victor “Young” Perez: The Boxer Of Auschwitz was directed by Sophie Nahum, and was released on DVD on June 26, 2018 through MVD Visual. The film is presented in French, with English subtitles. The DVD contains the film’s trailer.