Cobra (1986, George P. Cosmatos)

" City cop is on the trail of a serial killer. Loaded with action and violence. Stallone fans will love..."



I'm not even going to write anything about this film. It's ridiculously bad ass and tons of fun. That's it.

Watch it only if you are one of the film viewers who are able to get into a movie and don't watch while laughing at it because its "cheesy". Laugh because you are being entertained by the film and are having fun, don't laugh because you are better than it.

- Ridiculously Awesome

Infra-Man aka The Super Inframan (1975, Shan Hua)

"Princess Dragon Mom and her mutant army have arisen, and only Inframan can stop them!"

I don't even know what to make of this film. Its absurd, over the top, ridiculous, and tons of fun. I can honestly say I loved every single minute of this camp classic that so desperately needs a strong cult following.

The plot deals with Princess Dragon Mom coming out of the underworld after being there since before the Ice Age. She arrives out of a volcano and is quick to start her plan of world domination by spawning a lot of crazy looking monsters and some computers to put the plan into motion. No one can defeat her and her monsters until a top scientist decides to make an ordinary man into the all powerful Infra-Man (!!) . Infra-Man has powers no normal humans have such as rocket boots, thunderball fists (!!!), laser beam eyes, and the power to become a huge being. With these powers he sets out to defeat all the monsters, destroy Princess Dragon Mom, and save the world! Yeah, this movie is too awesome.

Infra-Man is a copy of Japan's Ultraman but done in the Shaw Brothers type of style. By this I mean that Infra-Man knows a lot of kung fu and fights every monster, who also knows kung fu, in forests and crazy looking sets. This all adds to a great delirious effect of colors, sounds, and sights.

The whole movie plays out like a Power Rangers episode on acid. It really is an odd movie that you have to see to believe. A lot of people will hate the crap out of it but if you are able to lose yourself in the camp and not take everything too seriously you should have a great time. I know I did.

- Ridiculously Awesome

Manos: The Hands of Fate (1966, Harold P. Warren)

"uhhh...?"

I have to start out by saying I saw the infamous MST3K version of this movie. I cant say that I am a huge fan of the series but I can say that I am a very big fan. When I first discovered the vhs tapes of the show at my library I was quick to go through all of them really quick. This also sadly meant that I was just left with nothing more to watch of the show. I had no dsl to download the episodes and I had no money to buy the expensive box sets. So I just basically decided to just sit it out and hope I would get dsl one day and be able to download some episodes.

Luckily though I was very happy to discover that almost every episode is up on youtube or google video. Since then I have had the "treat" of watching such things as Pumaman (PUMERMAN!) Space Mutiny, and Santa Clause.

Since I was heavily bored a couple of nights ago I decided to finally watch what a lot of fans consider to be MST3K at its greatest. Others even say that it is hands down the greatest MST3k episode by far. The infamous Manos: The Hands of the Fate episode. The episode that became a running gag on the shows history, along with one of my favorites Mitchell.

So, anyways....in very simple terms this movie is so beyond horrible that it is one of the funniest movies ever made. It really is drop dead hilarious. Its been awhile since a movie has made me laugh this hard. I decided to write more about MST3K more than the actual movie because there is not much to say about the movie. It's a movie that you have to see to believe and once you do you will understand why it is so infamous among cinephiles.

I also think that you have to watch the MST3K version of it because the actual movie by itself would just be too bad. Also, I don't think the hype surrounding the episode is correct. It's among one of the best episodes but it doesn't take the crown from Pumaman or Merlins Shop of Mystical Wonders as being the best, at least to me.

Movie Grade: ZERO STARS

Camp/So Bad It's Good/MST3K Upgrade: ****

Grizzly (1976, William Girdler)

"A fifteen foot tall grizzly bear terrorizes a state park. Christopher George leaps into the carnage to stop it."

This is like the most badass movie ever made. It's all about a killer bear and the rebel park ranger who is out to stop it with the help of the kooky animal expert. It's just excellent.

Some people name it a cheesefest and laugh at it for being "so bad" but this one doesn't deserve that treatment at all in my opinion. Sure, some things are outdated and the ending is gloriously over the top but that really doesn't justify people to laugh at it and ridicule it. I honestly do believe that this film is a great horror film and that it's intense atmosphere still holds up. It's a wild and crazy film and every single second of it is pure entertainment.

I find it so funny that so many people are quick to laugh at this film because its about a killer bear and yet are quick to put Jaws in the top ten list of the greatest films ever made. People tend to forget that Jaws is just a killer shark film. It's well made and well acted but at the end of day its just a killer animal movie. It's just as ridiculous as the rest of them, the only difference is that it's just better made than the rest of them. However, does a well made film automatically make it a better film than an above average made film? In my opinion no. In my opinion it all comes down to how the story is told. Wither it be with a lot of great camera movements or with no camera movements, it's all about telling an interesting and above all an entertaining story. So this is why I honestly really do believe that Grizzly is just as entertaining as Jaws. It might seem cheap at times but the entertainment factor is always set at the highest level and when it comes to a killer animal movie I want to be as entertained as much as possible. It also doesn't hurt that the film isn't badly directed or badly acted at all.

Grizzly is pure fun. It knows that its a "B movie" and it has as much fun as possible and that's why i loved it so much. I will now consider this the "B version of Jaws" and I mean that with a lot of love.

- Ridiculously Awesome

The Big Bird Cage (1972, Jack Hill)

"Grier and Haig are thieving mercenaries who engineer a prison break from the outside."

I loved this one so much. I loved every single campy second of it and it will soon be in my favorite guilty pleasures.

The plot deals with a loving couple, Pam Grier and Sid Haig, who are revolutionists in the Philippines. One day their group of rebels decides that they need to build up their army by kidnapping woman. Instead of kidnapping them though, they decide that they should stage a prison break in the local evil women prison where the evil gay wardens torture the hot women non stop.

This is a very simple outline of the plot. We are treated to a lot of great stuff through out the movie. Most of these things take place during the prison scenes where we are treated to tons of classic stuff. We get the nympho prisoner who is more mad that she can not get some than the fact that she is in an evil prison. We get the hatred between the tall dyke and the short dyke. We get the gay wardens of course, The evil and intense prison warden. The wooden cage that drives woman wild and crazy! Half naked girls all the time. Mud fights and we of course get Sid Haig getting a job at the prison later on by posing as a gay man. This film has it all.

The film is always fast and pretty self conscious of what it is. It doesn't try to go for big emotions and because of this the film is a lot of fun. It also doesn't hurt that the direction is not bad at all given the type of film it is and it's also great to see some good acting for once in one of these old exploitation films.

There is once again not a lot to write about for this one. It's a fun ride while it lasts if you are able to just lose yourself in the camp. I was able to and I loved it more than I probably should have.

- Ridiculously Awesome

Fight for your Life (1977, Robert A. Endelson)

Fight for your Life (1977, Robert A. Endelson)

"This is the story of three escaped convicts who take a middle-class Black family hostage for a relentless nightmare of racist humiliation, sexual violence and extreme vengeance."

While reading up on this film I read that it is flat out banned in Britain it almost caused riots where it was shown. Most of the time when I read facts like this or "it made people faint!" I always take it as an exaggerated comment. After seeing this film I really do believe the comment. I still can not believe that this film exists and that it was in one time in theaters.

Fight for your Life is hands down the most politically incorrect film I have ever seen and on top of that it's one of the most offensive films I have ever seen. Having said that this film is incredible. It's beyond insane and it's beyond intense. It really qualifies as one of those films that you have to see to believe.

Where to begin with this one.....William Sanderson gives one hell of a performance as the lead convict. He plays the most racist character I have ever seen and will ever see. Every racist remark you can think of he says and every racist thing that you think a person can do he does. He is also over the top in every single way. This is a trademark in these exploitation films but it works in this one given that the film breaks any and all boundaries. So the over the top acting fits right in place.

What else is in this film other than this beyond racist character? Everything. Seriously. Everything. There is a certain death that is just crazy. There is rape. Oh and of course there is some revenge. It's got everything and it pushes everything to an uncomfortable boundary. It might offend most people and some people will find it horrible. I found it amazing.

This is hands down the best exploitation film I have seen. If you are into these kind of films you have to check this one out. It really is insane.

- Ridiculously Awesome

Slithis (1978, Stephen Traxler)

"A nuclear leak creates a mutant Slithis sea monster, which terrorizes the variety of pets, winos, and hippies who hang around Venice, California."

I loved Slithis. I can honestly say that I loved every single minute of it. This one has everything that you would want from a B movie. It has horrible acting, horrible cinematography, horrible special effects, horrible edits and reaction shots, it even has horrible over the top characters. So in other words....this movie is awesome. I even loved how it tried to be an old school horror film while trying to be a modern scare fest. Everything in this film is so ridiculous and over the top that you cant help but be amazed by it. I would buy this on DVD in a second if it was out.

I also want to point out how much I loved one actor in this. I don't know his name or who is character actually was. I think he was a police captain or something but I am still in awe of him. He has to give the most over the top performance I have ever seen. Seriously this is the most over the top acting you will ever see. He is in this one for about 10 minutes but he absolutely kills ever single second and every single minute. His background acting is even over the top. Just sheer power. That's the only way I can review his acting.

I don't know what else to say about this one. All these "grindhouse films" are hard to write about and even harder to rate. There is not much to write about them and that's why I love them so much. I would even go as far to say that you know everything about each of these films after just looking at the poster. I mean, look at this poster. It just screams of coolness and it is.

- Ridiculously Awesome

The Van (1977, Sam Grossman)

"Bobby is a shy Los Angeles teenager who buys a sleek chevy van for himself to impress, pick up, and seduce various teenage girls to spruce up his dull life while trying to get money by drag racing other vans to finance operating it."

You ever see a film that has something in it that is so out dated that you can't help but laugh at it? Normally these type of things pop up a lot in films from the 70's and 80's. Wither it be the clothes,the hair, the style, the humor, the language. Now, imagine if all of these things were combined in one gigantic out dated film. This is The Van, one of funniest "so bad it's amazing" films I have ever seen and will ever see.

The Van is about a lame guy who is somehow considered cool around town. He becomes amazing, and I really do mean AMAZING, around town when he gets his "kick ass rockin' custom van" All the guys want to race him and all the girls want to bang him. All because of this custom van. How custom is this van? Well, it has a waterbed,mirrors,a table, a "party cup holder", a "killer 8 track", shag carpets, shag carpets on the wall, and even a toaster. This is the most kick ass van ever and everyone in town knows it.

Theres not much else to this film. It really is about a guy and his amazing custom van for one hour and a half. Every single scene in this film is hilarious. My favorite scenes are when Bobby tries to pick up some girls. His pick up line is "You see that cool van out there? Yeah, it's mine. So, you wanna go smoke a joint in the back of it" Bobby then smokes a joint with the girl. Some "groovy tunes" kick in and Bobby bangs the girl. Oh, the girls ALWAYS make sure to say that the van is amazing in the middle of sex. Yup, this movie is seriously beyond awesome. Another favorite scene of mine is when Bobby goes to the beach with his pals. On the beach are a lot of other custom vans parked. Once again some groovy tunes kick in and a montage begins of Bobby being in awe of these vans.

The Van is in the category of "so bad it's amazing" It really is a bad film. Heck, it's beyond bad but it has enough cheese and unintentional humor that makes it become a fun film to watch. After watching it you will feel like wearing some cut off shorts and buying your own rockin' van to bang girls in. It will also make you want to find out who owned a custom van in the 70's that way you can punch them right in the face.

- Ridiculously Awesome