The Savage Is Loose (1974) Review

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(More customer reviews)The odd subject of this screenplay could only have been made into a movie during the sex-ploitation craziness of the early '70's. Produced, directed, and eventually distributed by Scott (ostensibly because not even the major studios would touch it) the movie is about a man, who, with his young wife (real wife, Trish Van Devere) and their 4-year old son, David (played by both Lee Montgomery and John Carson) get marooned on a desert island in 1907, the only survivors from a ship that crashes onto the rocky shore during a terrible storm at sea. Five years later, it's 1912, and the toddler is now a happy-go-lucky 9-year having the time of his life in what starts out like a realistic version of "Swiss Family Robinson". However, once the lad starts going though puberty over the next few years, we are lead to realize (as the voyeurs that we are) there is no outlet for his growing desire for the opposite sex, except for the only woman of the island, namely, his mother.
Eight more years pass, and now David is a very healthy, vibrant 17-year old man. His father taught him well - to be self sufficient in a world where the strong survive and the weak must die. Driven by lust after his mother, he creates a sort of "sex dummy" out of coconut shells, canvas bags from the ship, and other materials around the island. His mother eventually stumbles upon it in the jungle and is horrified by what her son has become. Soon she learns that he plans to kill off his own father so that he - being the stronger of the two males on the island - will reap the spoils, that is, his mother.
The movies drifts off at this point like the raft Mom and Dad built to escape their son, which David sets loose in order to keep them from fleeing the island. While the father is away hunting down his son for a confrontation, David sneaks into his mother's hut and holding up the Bible, demands to know where Cain's wife came from if his mother, Eve, was the only woman on the planet. He tears the crucifix from around her throat and leaves her in shock while he turns to hunt down his own father.
David's mother gets the hint, so she burns down the treehouse and the huts, lets loose the animals, and waits at the edge of a cliff with a knife behind her back to kill her son when he finds her. Will she take her own life as well now that she's destroyed her home, her only protection from the jungle? Meanwhile, David has captured his father and has him hog-tied in the jungle where the fire from the huts is heading. Unfortunately, the incestuous theme is never developed, and eventually, David finds his mother, but before he rapes her, he is suddenly overwhelmed by guilt and confusion. He drops to his knees in tears, his mother drops the knife, embraces her crying son, and just as her husband (having escaped the fire with 3rd degree burns all over his body) is about to plunge a spear into his son's back, she holds up her hand in protest. He backs off, she kisses her son on the lips, and he kisses her back - passionately. The camera pulls away and focuses on the derelict on the beach, and we are frustratingly left to ponder what happens, assuming the three eventually accept the unusual relationship of their strangely particular situation.
The movie is gorgeously photographed and Miss Van Devere is stunningly beautiful throughout the film, but it is a very long, drawn out, and quite frankly, a boring production. I ended up looking for the rescue ships myself - hoping for some life to be kicked into this Oedipal study of a civilized family ending up marooned on a desert island, and slowly becoming savage in their characters.
Hence, "The Savage is Loose" works neither as an adventure film, nor as an exploration into psychological melodrama. It's been out of print for a very long time, and there is a reason for this. However, for movie philes or George C. Scott fans (if there is such a group) you may be able to find grainy used videos selling on Ebay or Amazon, and you may still be able to download it from the public domain for free, as I did - before deleting it.


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Cherry, Harry & Raquel / Common Law Cabin (Megavixens / Three Ways to Love) (Big Six / Conjugal Cabin) Review

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(More customer reviews)This is one of Russ Meyer's finer films, a late 60's collage of psychedelia, sex and violence occasionally overdubbed with psuedo-scholarly narration about class struggle(?) A bizarre and thoroughly entertaining mix. Charles Napier shines, as usual.
The DVD, on the other hand, is a bit of dissapointment. While it sports the "MINT QUALITY--From Original Negative" tag on the cover, don't be fooled..the picture (full frame) and sound (mono) are pretty much indistinguishable from the VHS edition of the same film. You get an animated menu, chapter stops, and a few trailers from other RM films, but that's about it.
If you already own the VHS, you may want to skip the DVD. Otherwise, go for it.

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Daddy Darling (1972) Review

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(More customer reviews)The creepy taboo of incest is explored/exploited by Joe Sarno (All The Sins Of Sodom) in this flick, but at least it`s the daughter lusting after Dad and not the other way around (I ain`t sayin` it`s right, but there IS a psychological condition known as 'The Electra Complex' that exists in certain young girls who have an unnatural preoccupation w/ their fathers). Katja lives alone w/ her father, and they share a deep affection - too deep, perhaps. One day Dad announces he`s re-marrying, and Katja`s world comes unglued. When she sees them in bed together, she decides to take matters into her own hands (no pun intended) and tries to disgrace her new mom while attempting to seduce her dad, who`s oblivious of his daughter`s fixation. This film is Danish-produced, and they were/are more lax in the apparant taboos we have ensconced in our American society, so the subject matter doesn`t seem so unusual or wrong (again, I ain`t sayin` it`s right, I`m just sayin`). And that`s why the movie works. For a film made in 1969, it`s notariety lies in its stretching the limits and possibilities of soft-core erotica, just before the advent of hardcore movies took us over the top. It helps that the actresses are attractive, the nudity abundant, and the exploitation envelope pushed. All in all, a good example of reasonably intelligent erotica from a lost era, well-handled (again,no pun intended) and well-executed. (Ignore the reviewer who whined about the picture quality, mine was fine). Loads of extras, trailers for other Joe Sarno flix, and a booklet - now, who`s your daddy?

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Bad Boy Bubby (2005) Review

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(More customer reviews)In the film Bad Boy Bubby, the title character is a thirty-five year old man child who has been locked inside a cramped, dingy room by his abusive mother for his entire life. When Bubby's Pop suddenly shows up after a thirty-five year absence, Bubby is flushed out of his home, and the only world he has ever known, by his Mom and Pop, and into the "real" world, where he experiences equal measures of human cruelty and human kindness.
The film is at times bleak, harrowing, funny, heartbreaking and ultimately hopeful. All of the actors do a very fine job, but Nicholas Hope's performance as Bubby is absolutely stunning. There's a long tradition of actors delving into roles of this type, Sling Blade, Awakenings or Rain Man for example, and while Hope's performance isn't as widely regarded as the lead performances in these three films, it surely would be if the film Bad Boy Bubby had received a wider release - especially in the United States, where until now it has been practically nonexistent. Now however, thanks to Blue Underground and this great DVD release a much wider audience will hopefully be able to see this exceptional film for the first time.
Once again Blue Underground has done a really topnotch job. The film transfer looks great and there are two sound options: a 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround and a Dolby Surround 2.0. Of special note, the sound for the film was recorded using a binaural sound system that is meant to allow the viewer the experience of hearing everything the same way the main character would. The extras on the disc are a 24 minute interview with director Rolf de Heer, who describes the interesting binaural recording process and reveals a lot of fascinating insights and details, including the fact that over 30 different cinematographers were used to shoot the film. There is a second 15 minute interview with Nicholas Hope who discusses his career before, during, and after Bad Boy Bubby. The short film that led to Nicholas Hope being cast in the role of Bubby, titled Confessor Caressor, is also included. And finally, there is also a theatrical trailer for Bad Boy Bubby and a poster/stills gallery. In all a great disc befitting a remarkable film.

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Winner of Four Australian Academy Awards, Including Best Actor - Nicholas Hope, Best Director - Rolf De Heer, and Best Original Screenplay.L.A. Weekly called it "disturbing and compelling", and it was awarded The Grand Special Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival. Despite a limited release in America, it would shock and delight audiences to become one of the most daring and controversial cult films of the past decade. Nicholas Hope in what Variety hails as "an astonishing performance" - stars as Bubby, a demented man-child kept locked his entire life in a squalid apartment by his depraved mother. But when Bubby - who can only communicate by mimicking what others say and do - escapes into the outside, he soon discovers the wonders of sex, crime, rock & roll and pizza. Will this 'mad bastard' be destroyed by the realities of our cruel world, or does a higher calling ultimately await him in the most unlikely place of all?Extras: Christ Kid, You're A Weirdo - Interview with Director Rolf De Heer Being Bubby - Interview with Star Nicholas Hope Confessor Caressor - Short Film Starring Nicholas Hope (20 mins) Theatrical Trailer Poster & Still Gallery

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Gas Food Lodging (1992) Review

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(More customer reviews)Before 'Thirteen' and 'American Beauty,' there was 'Gas Food Lodging.' I can remember when I first watched it some ten years ago. Not expecting much from this almost unknown indie flick, I was clued to the screen for the next hour and a half. While its story of an overworked single mother struggling to raise her two daughters was nothing new, something about it just shined. Like a diamond, it sparkled with a crisp innocence and yet cut with a hard edge. Growing up in a similarly barren environment like Laramie, New Mexico, it wasn't difficult to connect with this film.
Ten years later, this film still packs a punch. Despite its flaws which have become more obvious over time, Allison Anders' film still hits home with its gritty power.
Its strongest attraction is its very plausible portrayal of life in the middle of nowhere. Brooke Adams plays the single-mom waitress fighting to hold her family together, while her daughters search for a way out of their loneliness. Frustrated with her oldest daughter's rebellious ways, Adams' character wears the face of constant helplessness. For those of us who have undergone the same, their screaming parent-child tirades are painful to watch. Ione Skye's Trudi, the wayward 'bad girl' who hides her scars with boyfriend after boyfriend, is the highlight of the film. At times touchingly wounded and at others, screechingly impossible, Trudi embodies the chaos of growing up. Her withdrawn and innocent little sister, Shade (Fairuza Balk) fills up her father void by spending her afternoons watching Spanish tearjerkers at the near-empty town cinema. When she finally follows her heart and falls for somebody from the wrong side of town, you end up pulling for her.
Sparing nobody, all of Anders' characters carry deep wounds. No heroines nor heros here. Victims of a shattered home and a bleak future, all three women struggle to break free and find their little slice of happiness. While the 'men always leave' undercurrent of the film comes across heavy-handed at times, Anders refreshingly refuses simple answers. While most of the men in the film DO fall under the 'loser' category--weak and self-destructive, Anders is careful to be balanced. James Brolin is great as the washed-out ex who, despite his aw-shucks cowboy charm, does nothing to win back his girls. Fatherhood for him means giving a few bucks (his girlfriend's nonetheless!)to Shade. Yet, what saves 'Gas Food Lodging' from being a depressing man-bashing polemic is that all three women eventually find partners who, although far from being flawless, stand by their women.
Anders couldn't have picked a better backdrop for her film. The spartan beauty of the New Mexican desert mirrors the sharp edges and bleak prospects of her characters. Moreover, J. Mascis' (Dinosaur Jr.) soundtrack perfectly underscores the sorrow and loneliness of the film. The songs are great by themselves, but together with the desert sunsets and tumbleweed trailer parks, the end-result is magic.
While not a perfect film, 'Gas Food Lodging' is still a rare treat for those lucky enough to stumble upon it. For those looking for a tightly-acted and moving family drama, 'Gas Food Lodging' won't disappoint!

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American independent director Allison Anders made her name with this keenly observed tale of a single mother and her two daughters stuck in the truck-stop town of Laramie, New Mexico, barely a fly speck on the never-ending desert horizon. Ione Skye and Fairuza Balk star as sisters Trudi and Shade, who couldn't be more different. Trudi rebels against her mother and her soul-numbing life through sex and develops a reputation among the boys for being easy. Shade is the "good girl" who escapes through the overripe Mexican melodramas in the town's largely vacant theater. Brooke Adams, a loving mother hardened by rejection and a demanding job as a truck-stop waitress, tries to hide her loneliness and disappointment and set Trudi on a better path, but as with so many relationships in this film, conflict brings out the worst in them. Anders, a single mother herself, drew on her own experiences to enrich her adaptation of Richard Peck's novel "Don't Look and It Won't Hurt", and she brings a haggard understanding to the strained relations between mother and daughter and the bleak desolation to the lives of three women trapped by circumstance, economics, and landscape, but she also reaches deep into the characters to expose their yearnings and steel their resolve. No knight in shining armor for these women, but Anders allows them to make their way through the emotional landscape with pluck and determination. "--Sean Axmaker"

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