Shudder Saturday: Thirst (1979)

A sci-fi horror movie that blends vampirism with the experience of being indoctrinated into a cult, Thirst is an interesting oddity that certainly tries to do something a bit different when it comes to the main archetype it deals with. While not entirely successful, especially throughout the first half, it's definitely one that I recommend fans of this subgenre check out.

Chantal Contouri plays Kate Davis, a young woman who is kidnapped by The Brotherhood. They believe her to be a descendant of Elizabeth Bathory, which means she should be an important figure in their organisation. What The Brotherhood does is quite simple, they harvest blood from a number of victims held in an area that is part laboratory and part prison. Drinking the blood should, as far as they are concerned, help them stay youthful and strong. Kate wants no part of the horror that she sees around her, which means it is time to start breaking down her defences with the use of hallucinogenic drugs, a method objected to by Dr. Fraser (David Hemmings). As the movie plays out, Kate becomes more and more unsure of her own mind, and it seems like just a matter of time until she will start drinking blood herself. 

The feature debut from director Rod Hardy, and the only feature script written by John Pinkney, Thirst may be a film to be admired more for its ambition than the execution of the material, but that ambition keeps it a few steps ahead of so many other vampire movies you may enjoy from the '70s and '80s. Although the two may seem far apart, this would make a decent double-bill with the entertaining madness of Zardoz, especially considering the different aspects of potential eternal life being explored.

Contouri isn't a strong lead, but she's not terrible. Perhaps this is due to the script she is working with, considering the fact that she gets a bit stronger when things start to pick up in the second half. Hemmings is his usual enjoyable presence, and you also get a sense of menace provided by Henry Silva and Shirley Cameron, although the former simply exudes menace whether his character is written that way or not. Rod Mulliner is the other main player, a man named Derek who Kate is attached to, and he does perfectly fine work in his role. 

The biggest flaw that Thirst has is the fact that it actually doesn't ever go as far as it could. Whether due to budgetary constraints or a lack of vision, or both, this would have been a better film if it had packed in some more scenes that allowed The Brotherhood to look like a much bigger, and perhaps more dangerous, place. This is horror sci-fi that is a bit light on both (the horror is not horrific enough, despite the implications, and the sci-fi isn't extrapolated further), but it still manages to overcome the obvious flaws thanks to the strength of that intriguing third act.

I would tentatively recommend this, especially to anyone who knows the vampire movie subgenre can encompass films as varied as The Lost Boys, Martin, Lips Of Blood, and The Addiction. You might, as I did, end up appreciating this one more than casual "fang-bangers".

7/10

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Chained Heat (1983)

The Women In Prison movie. It's not for everyone, but certain viewers with a taste for the trashy will know that these movies often practically overflow with gratuitous nudity, sadism and sleaze. Which makes them very entertaining.

In this movie, Linda Blair plays Carol, the new girl in the prison. It doesn't take her long to get the attention of Ericka (Sybil Danning), one of the more powerful inmates. Ericka is involved in a bit of a feud with Duchess (Tamara Dobson), but the two women have mutual enemies, of course, in the shape of the warden (John Vernon) and his staff (mainly Stella Stevens). At least there's the suave Lester (Henry Silva) to help the ladies take part in a lovely care in the community scheme. Well, actually, to be completely truthful, he gives some of them nice dresses to wear and then makes them work as prostitutes.

With its great cast, hilarious lack of anything that makes sense (for example, the hot tub in the warden's office), and pleasing mix of, yes indeed, nudity, sadism and sleaze, this is a particularly fan-pleasing film that takes the recognised components of the niche sub-genre and ramps them all up for maximum entertainment value.

Blair does fine in her role, despite the fact that I don't think she's ever been that great an actress. Her fresh face, and willingness to remove clothing, stand her in good stead to play the innocent girl who may struggle to survive her spell behind bars. Danning is as mesmerising as she usually is, perfect for the queen bee role that she's cast in. It's a sin that she was never cast in a movie role opposite, or alongside, Dyanne Thorne (or am I on my own with that thought?). Dobson holds her own, admirably, whenever facing off against Danning, and makes for a worthy opponent. Robert Miano is a rapey guard, Kendal Kaldwell is a nasty guard who isn't averse to helping the rapey guard get his victims, Stevens is a decent villain, and both Vernon and Silva are enjoyably cringe-inducing in almost every scene they feature in.

Paul Nicholas cobbles everything together well enough. It's all a bit careless and loose, rough around all of the edges in a way that just makes it more endearing, and the script (co-written by Nicholas and Aaron Butler) is as crude, at times, as it is juvenile.

I had a lot of fun watching Chained Heat (hey, I didn't mean THAT . . . . . behave), and I think that anyone else with previous experience of this kind of film, as long as they know exactly what they're letting themselves in for, will find it equally enjoyable.

7/10

http://www.amazon.com/Prison-Triple-Chained-Jungle-Warriors/dp/B004XIWRW4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1406070962&sr=8-1&keywords=chained+heat

Alligator (1980)

John Sayles has a lot of great movies in his filmography, both as a writer and as a director, but I still seem to have the most affection for his creature features. Back in the '70s and '80s he was the man responsible for giving us The Howling, Piranha and this film. This may be the weakest of those three, but it's still a fantastically entertaining movie.

An alligator living in the sewers of Chicago has grown to an enormous size after feasting on numerous lab specimens. It's up to a cop (David, played by Robert Forster) and a herpotologist (Marisa, played by Robin Riker) to come up with a plan that will stop the big beast from eating any more citizens. Ironically, the alligator once belonged to Marisa when she was a small girl, but it was her father who flushed it down the toilet one day while she was out of the house.

Directed by Lewis Teague, Alligator shouldn't really be as much fun as it is, but it is. That's down to the sharp script by Sayles, the great leads in the form of Forster and Riker and the creative thinking required to make a legitimate threat from a mechanical, giant alligator that was often malfunctioning (a la Jaws). It may not be tension-filled from start to finish, but there are plenty of great scenes throughout and the whole thing has a layer of quirkiness to it that adds to its charm.

Forster, in particular, makes for a charming yet atypical "hero". When he's not busy being brave enough to do what needs done (without being in any hurry to throw himself on any swords) he is worrying about his hair loss and/or making a bit of a hash of things while trying to charm the leading lady. Speaking of the leading lady, Riker is a nice mix of beauty and attitude and her work with Forster produces a nice, sparky dynamic that lifts the entire second half of the film.

There are also a lot of familiar and vaguely familiar faces making the supporting cast a bit of a pleasure. Sydney Lassick plays an unscrupulous pet shop owner, Michael V. Gazzo is a police chief, Dean Jagger, Jack Carter and Perry Lang (you'll probably know their faces if you've watched enough movies and TV from the '70s and '80s) all have a role to play and even the mighty Henry Silva gets in on the action, stealing a couple of scenes as a confident big game hunter named Brock.

I used to absolutely love Alligator, thinking of it as an endearing creature feature on a par with Piranha. While I may not still think of it as being quite THAT good I still highly recommend it to b-movie and creature feature fans and I still think of it as a great slice of entertainment.

9/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Alligator-2-Mutation-DVD/dp/B000089AT6/ref=sr_1_1?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1361704052&sr=1-1

Nico AKA Above The Law (1988)

A Steven Seagal movie in which the wooden one bumps up against rough bad guys and does his slap-happy chopsocky schtick. No different from any other Steven Seagal movie then. Don’t let that put you off though, this is Seagal’s first movie and, alongside the next four, remains one of his best. It’s actually worth revisiting the man’s early works to remember just how good he once was.

Directed by Andrew Davis, from a script that was developed from a story by Davis and Seagal, the movie is all about tough cop Nico Toscani (Seagal). Nico was a special covert agent in Vietnam but left in disgust as he saw the war being used as a cover for profiteering from drug money. He doesn’t tolerate hypocrisy and doesn’t care who he upsets, until the day when he runs up against a major baddie who targets his family and those around him.

While it’s not the best of Seagal’s first five movies, Nico holds up as a solid action flick with a decent plotline and enough action beats spaced throughout to keep things moving briskly along. The direct, powerful fighting style that Seagal uses helps things feel fresh and a step apart from a hundred and one other, more stylised martial arts movies.

It also helps that the supporting cast includes an on-form Pam Grier, Sharon Stone, Henry Silva, Chelcie Ross and numerous other folk recognisable to viewers of this type of unpretentious entertainment.

 

Davis handles directorial duties well but both director and star would go on to peak elsewhere (Davis with The Fugitive and Seagal with Under Siege). Nico certainly remains an enjoyable option for the action movie fan though.

6/10

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