TOMB OF NOSTALGIA: SLAVE GIRLS FROM BEYOND INFINITY (1987)

SLAVE GIRLS FROM BEYOND INFINITY (1987)

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Full Moon Pictures 1987 release is B-movie exploitation to the core. Despite the possibilities evoked by one of the best exploitation flick titles ever, it’s actually just a science fiction retelling of The Most Dangerous Game. It finds shapely space slave girls Daria (80s B-movie queen Elizabeth Kaitan) and Tisa (Cindy Beal) escaping captivity in their animal skin bikinis and crash landing on a remote planet. This savage planet is home to the mysterious Zed (Don Scribner ) and his androids, who warmly welcome the girls into Zed’s castle. Soon the two find out that Zed’s hospitality is a smoke screen and that he is a big game hunter. Worse still, they, along with stranded siblings Rik (Carl Horner) and Shala (scream queen Brinke Stevens), are his next intended prey. Can these scantily clad space vixens outwit the diabolical hunter and beat him at his own deadly game?

Low budget flick is written and directed by Ken Dixon with a definite Roger Corman-esque flair. It has three beautiful ladies as it’s leads and when they are not bearing their natural charms, they are as scantily clad as possible. The FX are delightfully cheesy, there is some bloodshed and we have our lovely ladies prancing around the alien jungle bearing laser cannons and plenty of skin. It’s all done tongue in cheek and while the actors play the material seriously, we have a pair of bickering androids (Kirk Graves and Randoph Roehbling) to remind us it’s all in fun. There is a rubber monster/cyborg (Fred Tate) lurking in the jungle for added peril and our damsels find themselves in distress as often as in firefights with the villainous Zed. It has all your exploitation movie needs, including sex, nudity, action, violence, perils, escapes and a touch of bondage to add a little kink to the proceedings. It moves quickly at an economical 80 minutes, giving us little time to think about just how silly it all is.

There are a couple of things that hold this flick back from firing it’s B-movie laser blasters on full. The acting is a bit flat, though Kaitan tries hard to give her Daria some fire, and Scriber’s Zed is a dull, pontificating villain. The flick is a lot of B-movie entertainment, but would have been even better with a villain who was stronger, or simply a lot more fun. Comments could be made about the sets, FX and costumes, but the resulting cheese factor adds to the overall B-movie appeal. A happy accident there.

In conclusion, this is an amusing exploitation flick that skates very close to Roger Corman territory. It’s the type of film he would have made and it’s a surprise that he didn’t come up with it first. Writer/director Ken Dixon has fun with his premise and delivers the exploitation goods proudly. Livelier performances, especially from it’s bland villain, would have made this a real blast, but our leading ladies do try hard and appear to be having a good time romping around in little or less. Regarded as a bit of a cult classic all these years later and for fans of this type of stuff, it succeeds more than it fails. The type of flick they don’t make anymore.

-MonsterZero NJ

Rated 3 (out of 4) Slave Girls From Beyond Infinity.

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TOMB OF NOSTALGIA: DOCTOR MORDRID (1992)

DOCTOR MORDRID (1992)

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Full Moon flick is a complete rip-off of the Doctor Strange comic book character, though predating the hit MCU film by almost twenty-five years. It tells of modern day sorcerer Anton Mordrid (Jeffrey Combs) who teams up with pretty police occult specialist Samantha Hunt (Yvette Nipar) to battle an evil wizard named Kabal (Brian Thompson). Kabal plans to unleash Hell on Earth and Mordrid plans to stop him.

Rip-off or not, amusing comic book style flick is written by frequent Full Moon scribe C. Courtney Joyner and directed by the father and son team of Albert and Charles Band. It’s a direct to DVD feature and looks more like a TV show than a movie. At only 74 minutes it feels more like a TV show, too, one that never got past the pilot episode. Still, it is fun and tries hard, even if it’s inspiration is far too obvious. The FX are cheesy, though there is some stop motion animation from the late, great David Allen. With such a short running time, the simple story moves along fairly quickly and doesn’t overstay it’s welcome. The low budget deprives it of any real action sequences, other than the climactic throw-down, which is a fun scene at a museum complete with battling stop motion animated dinosaur skeletons.

The small cast get the material and take it serious enough. Combs is now a horror movie legend and here he gets to have a bit of fun as superhero type. He’s charming and does exude intelligence and power, which makes his Doctor Strange lite a fun character. Yvette Nipar is the smart and sassy Samantha and she isn’t given much to do, but at least is a strong willed heroine, even if only a second banana to Mordrid. Thompson is a fine enough villain as the evil Kabal. He looks like an 80s hair metal band member and has the appropriate swagger of a powerful being bent on world domination…at least one in a B movie like this. Supporting players are Jay Acovone as a hard nosed police detective, with Keith Coulouris and actress/stuntwoman Julie Michaels as Kabal’s minions.

In conclusion, this may be a way too obvious rip-off of a classic Marvel character, but it’s not all that bad. It is one of the better Full Moon direct to DVD productions and gives Combs a chance to have a little fun playing a hero type. The cast and filmmakers get the tone right for this kind of thing and it’s almost too bad budget restraints keep it from delivering some punchier action and more fitting FX. Some nostalgia also adds some fun, as it is from the early 90s, so, it still has a hint of 80s in it’s tone. Completely derivative, but still a good time. 

-MonsterZero NJ

Rated 3 (out of 4) bargain basement sorcerers.

 

 

 

 

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TOMB OF NOSTALGIA: SUBSPECIES (1991)

SUBSPECIES (1991)

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As it was the birthday of the late, great Angus Scrimm recently, I decided to revisit this flick in which he stars in a small role as Vampire King Vladislav. This is one of Charles Band’s Full Moon direct to video productions and actually has a bit of a cult following, spawning three sequels and a spin-off. This first film tells of the approaching of the Festival of Prejmer in which the locals celebrate a time when, as they believe, vampires saved them from the invading Turkish army. The Vampire King (Scrimm) is going to use it to pass his crown and the powerful relic, the Bloodstone, onto his younger son Stefan (Michael Watson). His evil eldest son Radu (Anders Hove) is not happy about this and returns from his banishment to murder his father and take the powerful Bloodstone for himself. Now Stefan must find a way to stop him and help two American college students (Laura Tate and Michelle McBride) and their local friend (Irina Movila), who have been targeted by his bloodthirsty brother.

Flick is an OK vampire yarn elevated by some nice Romanian locations where it was actually filmed. The plot, as per Band and Jackson Barr’s script, plays it safe and doesn’t stray too far from the traditional vampire story. It has it’s fiend pursuing innocents and turning some into his own kind and a Van Helsing  type character, which here is represented in the form of local man Karl (Ivan J. Rado). There is a romance between Stefan and Michelle (Laura Tate) that seems added to satisfy the Anne Rice crowd, but otherwise it’s very old-fashioned. The film does have some atmosphere, though even at only 80 minutes director Ted Nicolaou moves things at a very moderate pace. There is the expected bloodshed and some nudity to appease the intended target audience and some brief stop motion animation from the legendary David Allen, in the portrayal of Radu’s diminutive demon-like minions. Being direct to video, the cinematography is sadly TV-like and the film’s sumptuous Romania locales deserved better. Aside from the always delightful Scrimm and Anders Hove giving his raspy voiced Radu some menace, the cast is fairly wooden all across the board. There is also a bit of a physical resemblance between Watson and Tate, including similar hairdos, that adds an uncomfortableness to their vampire/human romance. Too bad producer Charles Band couldn’t have given this flick a little more effort on a production and creative level, as it had potential to be something with a bit more weight had it not been targeted for direct to video sales.

Not a great movie by any lengths, but it has it’s entertainment value and even filmed unflatteringly, the Romanian locations are atmospheric. The vampire tropes are all paraded out for fans and our lead fiend is memorable and deserved a better film to be in. Angus Scrimm adds class to his pre-credits role as the Vampire King and might have been even more impressive if not for that silly wig they make him wear. Worth a look, but don’t expect too much. Actress Denise Duff would replace Tate as Michelle for the next three flicks.

-MonsterZero NJ

2 and 1/2 fangs.