Vengeance Is Mine (1984)

Typing Vengeance Is Mine as a movie title produces a few results including the Shōhei Imamura movie from 1979 and a direct to video Steven Seagal action flick from 2010. For Michael Roemer’s film, Vengeance Is Mine (1984), which he wrote and directed, the title might give the wrong impression. It is not a revenge […]

Sunset Strip (1985)

Sunset Strip (1985) put me in mind of that transition period in video stores where DVDs were coming in, and old VHS stock was being sold off in $1 ex-rental bins. Uncovering and finding video boxes to films I’ve never heard with no recognisable actors, often only distinguished by an illustrated poster or a blown […]

Losing Ground (1982)

When we first see philosophy professor Sara (Seret Scott), she is lecturing to a classroom behind a lectern, glasses on and hair tied into a bun, discussing Jean-Paul Satre. This opening scene of Losing Ground (1982) might indicate that this will be a heady, intellectual film, but it’s really about peeling back the layers underneath […]

Iron Warrior (1987)

I can’t imagine the Italian filmmakers directing Conan knock-offs in the 1980s really gave a shit about the mythology or the lore in their movies. They weren’t sketching maps of the various realms or had a bible of notes about the kingdoms and tribes living in this fantasy world. Whatever worked in Conan, or any […]

L.A. Bounty (1989)

I had to rewind Sybil Danning’s introduction scene in L.A. Bounty (1989) to enjoy it all over again. Rocking up to the middle of a nighttime kidnapping at a mansion – in a blue turtleneck, leather jacket and Mum-jeans – to cut some goons in half with a bulky super-shotgun. If you check out the […]