Customer Reviews

After Dark Thrillers

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

BCI's AFTER DARK THRILLERS consists of two double-side recorded DVDs with two movies per side. Transfer quality of these unrestored films is adequate.

SYNOPSES--

BLUE MONEY-- NOT the 1985 Tim Curry film. This one stars Alain Patrick as a man whose involvement in adult filmmaking is his undoing.

CLICK-- When a fashion photographer brings some models to a remote ranch to shoot some "snuff" pics, a crossdressing psycho killer "nurse" targets the girls. Slow first hour is washed away by gore afterward.

DOUBLE EXPOSURE-- The police and a shrink suspect that a fashion fotog who has recurrent nightmares of slaying his scantily-clad models may be the slasher terrorizing their city.

FRENCH QUARTER-- Bruce Davison, Virginia Mayo and all the primary actors have dual roles in this story of a girl relocated to the Crescent City for the sake of work who dreams she lives in the 19th Century. Fine jazz soundtrack accompanies this unique story.

HOT TARGET-- Titillating tale of American woman married to a Kiwi who takes up with a fellow Yank cat burglar. Story is incidental to the numerous bedroom scenes.

NIGHT CLUB-- Young couple spend their last dollar then borrow from a mobster to finish converting an abandoned warehouse into a club. When business is poor they're hard-pressed to pay back the usurious loan.

PICK-UP-- Two hippie girls hitch a ride on a cool dude's mobile home bus. The three get lost in the Everglades after some bad weather.

SEPARATE WAYS-- Great cast in this story of a bored married couple who are both having affairs.


For some gangland thrills, check out the nine films on ST. CLAIR's MOB MOVIES box set.


Parenthetical numbers preceding titles are 1 to 10 viewer poll ratings found at a film resource website.

(3.9) Blue Money (1972) - Alain Patrick/Barbara Mills/Inga Maria/Jeff Gall

(2.2) Click: The Calendar Girl Killer (1990) - Gregory Scott Cummins/Troy Donahue/Hoke Howell/Ross Hagen/Keely Sims

(4.7) Double Exposure (1983) - Michael Callan/Joanna Pettet/James Stacy/Cleavon Little/Seymour Cassel/Misty Rowe/Sally Kirkland

(3.8) French Quarter (1977) - Virginia Mayo/Bruce Davison/Alisha Fontaine/Ann Michelle/Lindsay Bloom

(5.0) Hot Target (New Zealand/UK-1985) - Simone Griffeth/Steve Marachuk/Bryan Marshall/Peter McCauley

(4.4) Night Club (1990) - Nicholas Hoppe/Elizabeth Kaitan/Clint Atkinson/Deborah Tilton/Peter Jurasik/Ed Trotta

(5.2) Pick-Up (1975) - Jill Senter/Alan Long/Gina Eastwood/Tom Quinn/Bess Douglass/Jim Bouton (voice)

(5.0) Separate Ways (1981) - Karen Black/Tony Lo Bianco/Arlene Golonka/Jack Carter/William Windom/Robert Fuller/Sybil Danning (uncredited: Monte Markham)

I really didn't like this collection of films. Part of the problem is that several of the films really aren't thrillers Separate Ways for example is more a domestic drama of a marriage in trouble, while Night Club is drama about trying to open a night club.

Mostly I didn't like this set because I really didn't like any of the films. In all honesty this is probably the first collection of films like this where I really didn't like any of the films enough to even contemplate watching any of them again. The best film in the set is Separate Ways, with a French Quarter a close second (its ruined by over use of an annoying lens filter). Those were the only two of the 8 films that I actually watched all the way to the end without hitting the fast forward. The remaining six films were an endurance test for me and what was to be several nights viewing turned into a single evening marathon as I scanned through this truly poor collection of films. After the third bad film I just wanted to find a thriller that I was going to make the effort worth it. None of them really are.

I know that the cost of the set is rather cheap, but unless you have a reason for looking for one of the films included I'd take a pass and pick up another set instead. Frankly I only paid five bucks for this and to be perfectly honest I feel ripped off.

The quality of the titles selected for these B-movie packs usually runs the gambit from "surprisingly good" to "I want those 90 minutes of my life back." Few of the movies in "After Dark Thrillers" actually qualify as thrillers, but there are some that qualify as worthwhile viewing, especially if you stick to the movies made before 1980.

The Good
- BLUE MONEY (1972): A pre-"porno chic" era pornographer (Alain Patrick, also this movie's director) struggles to balance work and home life, but a cute young starlet (Inga Marie) and an FBI investigation threaten both. Though rough around the edges and not really a thriller, this one actually has something to say about changing mores of the times and the consequences of buying into them. Barbara Mills is excellent as Patrick's wife.
- SEPARATE WAYS (copyright 1979; released in '81): An upper middle class housewife (Karen Black) embarks on a path of self-discovery when she learns of her husband's (Tony LoBianco) cheating. This poor man's "An Unmarried Woman" may be out of place on this DVD set, but it's still worth watching. David ("An American Werewolf in London") Naughton has a small role as a college student that seduces Allen, and Sybil Danning has an even smaller part as a sales woman at LoBianco's car dealership and, remarkably, doesn't seduce anyone.
- PICK-UP (1975): Two sexy hitch-hikers, (Jill Senter and Gini Eastwood) are picked up by Alan Long in his Winnebago for a ride that leads to a sexual frolic in the Everglades -- until they're terrorized by a bunch of rednecks in a pick-up truck. Not much of a story but plenty of '70s grooviness, delivering on the sex and nudity, with a generous helping of violence and some disorienting side-trips. This title is also available on "Drive-in Cult Classics, Vol. 1."
- FRENCH QUARTER (1978): Small town girl Alisha Fontaine heads for New Orleans where -- all together now -- she ends up working as a stripper. A cup of drugged tea then transports Fontaine back to a turn of the century whorehouse, where she's the prized virgin about to be auctioned to the highest bidder. Amidst all the bare breasts is a completely clothed (but still shapely) Virginia ("The Best Years of Our Lives") Mayo. Though marred by a sometimes-flagging pace, Vaseline-on-the lens cinematography, and irritating -- and unnecessary -- narration, "French Quarter" is better-than-average drive-in trash. Also stars Bruce Davison.

The Bad
- CLICK: THE CALENDAR GIRL KILLER (1990): It took six writers (seriously, SIX?) and two directors to make a movie this bad. Ross Hagen (one of the six screenwriters and a co-director) chews scenery as he shoots pictures of baby oil-coated '80s babes writhing about in thong bikinis and lingerie. Among those wandering around looking for a cohesive story thread, wearing a pleading "can I have my paycheck now?" expression, is Troy Donahue. God, this was awful.
- DOUBLE EXPOSURE (1983): Michael Callan produced this showcase for his midlife crisis, playing a successful photographer who easily charms ladies like Joanna Pettet into joining him in his motor home (!) for a good time. He might also be a serial killer. The nightclub Callan and pals frequent is just a drag show short of catering to all tastes, featuring disco dancing, lady mud wrestling AND Chippendale dancers. Not as bad as "Click" by virtue of being coherent and intermittently entertaining, but it's still pretty lame. Look for Sally Kirkland in a cameo as a streetwalker.

The Boring
- NIGHT CLUB (1989): Generous helpings of sex and nudity can't make this pretentious attempt at a psychosexual thriller interesting; nor can they hide the fact that producer Nicholas Hoppe is a thoroughly un-sexy, uncharismatic and insufferably whiny leading man.
- HOT TARGET (1985): A promising erotic thriller that instead plays like tepid Lifetime channel suspenser with nudity. Simone ("Death Race 2000") Griffeth provides the nudity while made-for-TV stud Steve Malachuk closes out his screen-acting career as her hairy-chested seducer. It was made in New Zealand, a fact I'm sure the good people of NZ would prefer you just ignore.

The After Dark Thrillers arrived and was as described! Totally awesome to see some of these movies again. Not the best quality movies but still fun to watch.

Unfortunately the quality of the physical media is poor, and copies with one side of one DVD blank are found, gaps where the recording were not well recorded show up, and since the company that made the product sold that line to another company that does not support it, you may get a good set of not too great movies, or you might get a not so good set of not too great movies. Even missing part of the material the set is worth more than most of the used copies sell for, and it is NOT the seller's fault that there are issues with the original manufacture.

My Mom used to tell me "If you don't have anything good to say, don't say anything at all." But then Mom never saw these awful flicks, and I'm sure she would understand if I just give you a very brief warning.

A few words jump immediately to mind when trying to think of ways to describe the movies in this set. Mom WOULDN'T understand though, if I were to use those words here in a public forum, so let me use these instead...

Vapid... Worthless... Boring... Mindless... 80s girl bands at yuppie parties... UGH! The acting is horrible, and the stories could have been written by 5th graders.

I know it's only six and a half bucks, but please, make a contribution to your favorite charity, or go buy a couple packs of cigarettes and start smoking, or do anyting other than wasting your money on this box of vapid, worthless, boring, mindless tripe!

You have been warned!