The second B-Movie in our pairing comes from just two years later than our first! Director Phillip Noyce took the formula perfected in the Zatoichi series of films from Japan about a blind samurai. Actor Tim Matheson wanted to produce, and brought the idea of making an American version of the films, through two directors, three studios, seven years, and eleven drafts of the screenplay, to TriStar pictures, before getting it made. The story follows former Vietnam solder Nick Parker (Rutger Hauer), blinded by mortar fire, and taught to fight with a samurai sword by kindly villagers. He returns to the U.S. to find his former squad-mate, Frank Devereaux (Terry O'Quinn). After discovering that Frank and his wife have divorced, Nick ends up being tasked to escort Frank's son, Billy, to his father in Reno. Along the way, harassed by people working for mob boss MacCready (Noble Willingham) who have captured Frank and are forcing him to create drugs for him, Nick must find a balance between completing his own quest and protecting Frank's son on his. Plus, the trio reveal which two dance-based films will be part of their Thanksgiving-time pairing!
Everyone loves B-Movies, and the Geeks and G.I.T. are no exceptions. This episode is the first of two focusing on some B-Movies that are worth seeing! It was 1987, the end of the Reagan era, and buddy cop movies were very popular. On the heels of films like "Beverly Hills Cop," director Tom Holland, whose "Fright Night" we just reviewed, brought together Whoopie Goldberg and Sam Elliott in a rather unique buddy action film called "Fatal Beauty." Goldberg plays Rita Rizzoli, a narcotics detective with the LAPD. She stumbles across a cocaine variant called "Fatal Beauty" which does, in fact, kill those who take it. After bearding drug-kingpin Conrad Kroll (Harris Yulin) in his beautiful L.A. mansion, Kroll assigns his security man Mike Marshak (Elliott) to follow Rizzoli "for her protection." Over the course of the next several days, the two find more and more reasons to join forces, along with a growing personal connection. Also starring Ruben Blades, John P. Ryan, and Brad Dourif, this film is so much better than it deserves to be. Even Roger Ebert gave it a thumbs up!
It's part two of this year's Halloween pairing, looking at 80s vampire films! For this episode, we move to 1987 and the film the really kicked off the whole teenage vampire craze that's still sweeping Hollywood, director Joel Schumacher's "The Lost Boys!" Written by Jan Fischer and James Jeremias, with screenplay help from Jeffrey Boam, the film follows Lucy (Dianne Wiest), a single mother of two boys, Michael (Jason Patric) and his younger brother Sam (Corey Haim), as they find themselves at the "end of the world," being the west coast, in the California community of Santa Clara. They're moving in with Michael and Sam's Grandpa (the incredible Barnard Hughes), and there's a lot of adjusting to be done by all involved. But the three members of the family meet new friends that all bring complications to their lives. Michael meets David (Kiefer Sutherland) and David's girlfriend Star (Jamie Gertz), who Michael falls for almost instantly. Sam meets the Frog Brothers, Edgar (Corey Feldman) and Allen (Jamison Newlander) at the local comic book store. And when Lucy meets Max (Edwrd Hermann), the owners of the local video rental store, sparks fly almost immediately! But most is not as it seems, and the three sets of relationships collide and sweep Grandpa up in a delightfully original vampire tale that's still entertaining 20 years into the 21st century! Finally, the trio reveal their guilty B-Movie pleasures that'll be making up the next pairing!
It's Halloween time again, and as usual, we've got a pair of amazing horror film reviews for you! First up, arguably the best horror/ comedy of all time, but definitely the best of the 1980s! From writer/ director Tom Holland, it's 1985's "Fright Night!" When a vampire moves in next door, you have to try to destroy him, even if no one else believes you, not even the famous "vampire killer" who hosts the weekly horror movie television program! Starring William Ragsdale as Charley Brewster, the young man who notices the vampire moving in, Amanda Bearse as his girlfriend Amy, and Stephen Geoffreys as their "friend" Evil Ed, the film also features Chris Sarandon as Jerry Dandrige (the vampire), and Jonathan Stark as his live-in... ghoul? Golem? No one really knows, but his name is Billy Cole. And finally, the former "vampire killer" is none other than Roddy McDowall as Peter Vincent! It's a favorite of both geeks and the geek-in-training, so you know it's a great film!
For the second film in our pairing of unabashedly, gleefully whimsical comedies, we move to the opposite end of the 80s for the 1989 Weird Al Yankokvic-written treasure that is "UHF!" Starring Yankovic as George Newman, alongside David Bowe as Bob Steckler and Michael Richards as Stanley Spadowski, the film tells the story of a long-suffering dreamer who gets a dream job: Running a tiny UHF television station! George and Bob, with the help of their new janitor, Stanley, try to figure out how to turn around the failing "U62" TV station. When they unexpectedly succeed, however, they begin to threaten the powerhouse VHF station, Channel 8, run by the cruel and merciless R. J. Fletcher (Kevin McCarthy). Add to this mix Victoria Jackson as George's girlfriend Teri, Fran Drescher as receptionist/report Pamela Finklestein, and Anthony Geary (of "General Hospital" fame) as Philo, the station engineer, and this becomes a "Secret Life of Walter Mitty"-esque comedy with great performances, music, and comedy that'll leave you singing the theme to the "Spatula City" commercial long after you've finished the film! And the trio reveal which two 1980s vampire films made their Halloween pairing for this year!
The second B-Movie in our pairing comes from just two years later than our first! Director Phillip Noyce took the formula perfected in the Zatoichi series of films from Japan about a blind samurai. Actor Tim Matheson wanted to produce, and brought the idea of making an American version of the films, through two directors, three studios, seven years, and eleven drafts of the screenplay, to TriStar pictures, before getting it made. The story follows former Vietnam solder Nick Parker (Rutger Hauer), blinded by mortar fire, and taught to fight with a samurai sword by kindly villagers. He returns to the U.S. to find his former squad-mate, Frank Devereaux (Terry O'Quinn). After discovering that Frank and his wife have divorced, Nick ends up being tasked to escort Frank's son, Billy, to his father in Reno. Along the way, harassed by people working for mob boss MacCready (Noble Willingham) who have captured Frank and are forcing him to create drugs for him, Nick must find a balance between completing his own quest and protecting Frank's son on his. Plus, the trio reveal which two dance-based films will be part of their Thanksgiving-time pairing!
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