Reviews (7)

dis movie rox mai sox mahon!!!!!
DIS IS DA PAM GURL MOVIE...........SHE IS DA BEST GURL IN PLANET CAUSE SHJE LOOX HOT WITH GOOD LOOKIN HOTTAS.................DA BOMB MAN DA BOMB!!!!!I LOVE DAT GURLS MOVIE............MARRY ME

The Big Influence In Life
It's hard to describe the impact this movie has had on my life. I've been considered a bit of a flossing prodigy and I've had a hard time living up to such expectations. This movie, though, set me straight.

What you're going to get from Black Mama, White Mama is a straightforward statement on race relations in the United States. We have two women in America. Both have children. One is black and one is white. It's about the struggles that each have as powerful women in a male dominated society. What it's like to be a strong black woman. And what it's like to be a strong white woman... in a society where you're automatically labeled a B*tch when you tell others what to do and why you don't like them much... it's called being straightforward.

Anyway. Black History Month shouldn't just be about MLK, Jr. Or Malcolm X. It should be about powerful movies like this one, that make a strong statement about race relations between women in America that have children and have to get up everyday and get out of bed and use the bathroom and drink O.J. from the carton.

Enjoyable Ride With Cool Girls Under the Hot Sun
Though an entry of 'Soul Cinema Collection,' "Black Mama, White Mama" does not belong to so-called blaxploitation films. "BMWM"'s idea clearly comes from "The Defiant Ones" and here we see an incongruous pair chained to each other, on the run from the prison for women.

Women's prison? Yes, as avid movie fans know, we have a minor genre dealing with women's prison. Its formula has been the same: cruel wardens, violence among the prisoners, the rigid rules that donimates them, etc., and before the hit of "Coffy," Pam Grier had to serve about two years in this genre. By the time of 1970s the genre has become famous (or notorious) for its violence and nudity, and both stars here also are thrown into women's prison on an unnamed island just after the opening credit. So you know what you see in the next shower room scene.

Thankfully, the prison sequences are not long, and Pam & Margaret soon manage to escape, chained together by the hand, and run and run and ... well, the rest is, as you expect, lots of set-pieces: shootings between guards, gang, and revolutionary guerrillas (!) They are mildly entertaining, especially when Pam is on the screen, but as a whole too familiar to get excited. Still, several scenes are momorable: both stars disguised as nuns, and a very unique way of giving a false scent to a chasing dog by giving a pooch Margaret's underwear. And check out their clothes, especially Pam's (red one); they always look too clean for runaway prisoners!

"Black Mama, White Mama" is worth a look for Pam Grier fans because it seems a miracle now that she survived those Grade-B films to finally be praised by her portraying Jackie Brown with her dynamite performance 24 years later. Another interesting thing about "BMWM" is that the story is co-wriiten by Jonathan Demme, who one year before "BMWH" produced and also co-wrote the same kind of film "The Hot Box," which incidentally features Margaret Markov. (For the record, in another film "Arena" Pam and Margaret both appear.) Demme himself is to direct another women-in-prison movie called "The Caged Heat," his first feature film, in 1974. A long way to "The Silence of the Lambs," isn't it?

Steamy jungle saga with Pam!
Pam Grier is the black mama and Margaret Markov is the white mama in this "homage" (let us not say "rip-off") to the old 1958 Tony Curtis-Sidney Poitier classic The Defiant Ones, in which two escaping prison inmates are chained together, and must overcome their loathing for each other and work together in order to gain their freedom.

In this version, director Eddie Romero (of the Blood Island trilogy) has, instead of a black guy and a prejudiced white guy, a black hooker and a revolutionist white girl, which allows for cat-fights and nude scenes, as well as the chase through the Philippine jungle. The two escapees are pursued by the cops, a drug lord, a bounty hunter, and a guerrilla leader, all with their own motives for catching the runaways.

This is another bare-bones DVD from MGM which has only the movie trailer and a scene/language selector for bonus features. (Well, you do see Pam Grier's bare-bones, so that's not so bad!) The image quality is not the best, though. Still, it's worth its price for Romero/Grier/women-in-prison fans.

Black mama White mama, two hot mamas!
Now this be a movie! On an unnamed Carribean Island our heros Grier (prostitute)and Markov (terrorist) are bused into a female prison. Watch female guards get themselves off while watching playful inmates shower. If a prisoner 'plays good' with the head guard they get out of work. Pam don't like having to pull other people's load, gets into a messhal fight with Markov. They are put into the sweatbox together. There is only room to stand, and they must lean their physiques against each other to stand, because the walls are too hot to touch.

Later they are chained together for interigation because they both have information on two separate parties (druglords and a terrorist group planning to take over the island). While enroute they escape with the help of a terrorist ambush. While on the run, and chained together, Grier wants to go to one side of the island to get her boat and stolen cash, while Markov wants to go to the other side of the island to get the weapons her terrorist friends need.

High points 1) they dress as nuns while on the run 2) a lot of nudity 3) The rhinestone cowboy Puerto Rican bounty hunter who is as much out of place on that island as is a snowball. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Solid B War Film with Plenty of Action
Walls of Hell (Intramuros) is a solid B war film produced in the Philippines. Based on an actual incident, the story revolves around U.S. and Filipino efforts to defeat 10,000 Japanese marines who defied orders and took over an ancient walled fortress in Manila for a fight to the death. 20,000 civilians are trapped inside. The film centers on a small group of guerrillas fighting around and under the 25-foor thick walls of the fortress. Led by Lt. Sorenson (Jock Mahoney), they attempt to rescue 1,000 civilians being held in a Japanese detainment camp who will be massacred if the fortress falls. Mahoney makes the most of his role and Fernando Poe Jr. co-stars as a bitter guerrilla fighter. The film is well directed by Gerardo de Leon and Eddie Romero (who also produced) and is reminiscent of Sam Fuller's early films. Overall production values are good and the movie makes good use of actual locations. If you cringe when you see Eddie Romero's name in the credits, this well executed and entertaining movie will surprise you. ... Read more

Description

Fright and sensuality collide when Blood Island chiefs sacrifice beautiful young virgins to "The Evil One," a horrid creatured bred by radiation and metamorphosed from an innocent man. New arrivals to the island include scientists Kent Taylor and John Ashley, along with the alluring Beverly Hills, but their jungle search for mutated life forms is interrupted by attacks from living vegetation and terrifying beasts! This second entry in the hugely popular "Blood Island" series from Eddie Romero and Gerardo De Leon is a fast-paced drive-in classic filled with monsters, maidens, and mayhem, newly remastered with its original tinted footage presented correct and intact for the first time! ... Read more

Reviews (2)

"Consider that a divorce!"
The brides of blood are the young women of an isolated island who are being sacrificed to The Evil One, a fearful monster who tears them apart to satisfy his blood lust. To the island comes scientist Kent Taylor, who wants to investigate mysterious radioactivity that is causing the plant life to mutate in strange ways, and Peace Corps worker John Ashley, who has been sent to help the natives improve their lot. The natives are not too appreciative of his interference in their primitive ways at first, but he convinces them to band together and fight the beast.

This DVD has good sound and image quality and several interesting features. There's a sexy pictorial layout of stripper Miss Beverly Hills (who became an ordained minister in 1986 and now has her ministry in Hawaii!) There's an interview with director Eddie Romero and a short commentary that has little to do with this particular movie and eight trailers for other Hemisphere movies, some of which are quite hilarious! I recommend this DVD to "blood island" completists, and all fans of outlandish horror.

Brides of SOME Blood......
Native girls ae being sacrificed to a monster called "The Evil One" in this ULTRA-tacky Philipine made outing---part of the "Blood Island" series from the sixties. I liked "TERROR IS A MAN", the first of the series directed by Gerry DeLeon. I DID NOT like "Mad Doctor of Blood Island" and I havn't seen "The Blood Drinkers" so my point of view is rather limited. However, after some shaky credits, "Brides" becomes a low-budget but colorful exercise in perverted exotica. The characters are not defined enough to really care about except Carla(Beverly Hills) the scientist's over-sexed wife who is merely around for eye candy. "The Evil One" is a decidedly lumpy looking monster who tears the female victims apart to "satisfy humself"!!! There is virtually no blood or gore (save for a few limbs here and there) and the island seems to be alive with carnivorous plant life due to radiation exposure. There's a lot of running around and some scientific mumbo-jumbo that is none too convincing. However, I enjoyed it because parts of it were so damn ludicrous it was laugh out loud funny and it IS a colorful diversion from the 1968 drive-in period. Plus there's something to be said for the nice on location shooting that gives it that steamy feeling of being in the jungle. And, when all is taken care of in the end, you get a near orgy as the natives celebrate their freedom from the beast---sexed up to the max! As if they're saying "Great! We're free! Let's all have sex right now!" You've got to see this to believe it. Actually, you should see the whole thing to believe it. AND, in the "extras", Miss Beverly Hills is revealed to have been a stripper before she made this! What can I SAY? ... Read more

Reviews (1)

mixed bag
2 double sided DVDs

TNT Jackson is a blaxploitation film about a woman kung-fu expert seeking revenge for her brother, killed while working for a Hong Kong heroin sydicate. Poor quality transfer, and really fake fighting, but great fun. Best fade-to-credits image ever.

Get Christy Love is network TV's response to the blaxploitation craze. This is the pilot of a series that lasted a single season. Black woman detective tries to make it in a white man's world. It's ok.

Sister Street Fighter is a film in the great and hyper-violent Steet Fighter series starring Sonny Chiba (although this is not really part of the series, and does not have much Chiba). Great film.

High Kicks is one of the worst movies ever made by mankind. No, I am not kidding. Starring a white woman that has nothing soul or savage about her. An aerobics instructor gets raped and her new super-mullet karate-expert janitor and his buffed, shirtless and probably gay fellow karate guys beat up the greasy multi-racial gang. Terrible production qualities, awful acting, pathetic, childish script. No nudity, although lots of serious exploitation shots of women in spandex. Listed at 85 minutes, but it feels much much longer.

And before you think you get no extras with this cheap disk, it includes a Casper the ghost cartoon. Was I ever so young that this boring tripe was enjoyable? No.

I recommend getting the TNT Jackson and Sister Street Fighter disks seperately instead of this - it ends up costing the same. ... Read more

Description

It's WWII in the Philippines and the last of the Filipino guerrillas take a stand against the Japanese forces on their island. Soldiers sent by the Japanese Imperial High Command to retrieve a great treasure of gold from its hiding place have taken over a convent and torture the women on the tiny island. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Bad movie, but great for the Horror Movie collector
I am very fond of old horror movies, and gory stuff, but this movie wasent to good, only buy this if you are a big fan of horror movies. This video should be rated R, for the nudity(they dont tell you this on the box or on the site). When you first turn on the menu and click play movie, it's like a drive in, with lots of mid 20 year old women flashing people. As for the gore it's very cheap. Take my word, only buy this if your a collector! ... Read more

Description

Green-blooded creatures perform an orgy of slaughter as John Ashley returns to Blood Island! Along for the ride is sultry Angelique Pettyjohn ("Star Trek"), who claims to be looking for her lost father but finds private time with Ashley more to her liking. Meanwhile Dr. Lorca (Ronald Remy) experiments on a man whose chlorophyll-contaminated bloodstream turns him into a living, oozing, walking nightmare bent on the savage mutilation of anyone in his path! The village is driven to sheer panic in this wild frenzy of blood and destruction that equals anything ever seen on screen! Billed as the "First Audience Participation Horror Movie," "Mad Doctor of Blood Island" features a classic prologue instructing audiences to drink a magical green potion as they recite the "Blood Oath." Chock full of titillation and grue, this sleaze classic is now presented newly remastered from the original film elements! ... Read more

Description

Returning to Blood Island, a ship catches fire and explodes after its crew is slaughtered by the gruesome half-dead, green-blooded Beast of Blood. The horrendous creature washes ashore and terrorizes the island inhabited by the mad Dr. Lorca (longtime Philippine star Eddie Garcia), who attaches heads to a hulking headless body and makes life miserable for our heroes, two-fisted John Ashley and beautiful Celeste Yarnall (of Elvis Presley movie fame). The couple journeys to the forbidden Valley of Doom, filled with Lorca's hideous failed experiments, where a monstrous climax explodes in a cataclysm of unforgettable horror! ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Classic Drive-In Wonder, Okay DVD
This no-budget wonder from Eddie Romero (The Orson Welles of the Phillipine Islands) and Hemisphere studios is a great throwback to the Drive-In era. 'Beast' is the third entry in the 'Blood Island' series (fourth if you count 'Terror is a Man'). This one has a well concieved monster, surprisingly gory kills (for its' day), 'mondo' jungle ambience, silly sub-Bond intrigue and yes, even some topless babes going for it. The DVD has some nice extras, but I do have some complaints. First, the print used for this DVD transfer is hurting. They claim it's been restored, but I just can't believe it. This thing's riddled with scratches and artifacting and is so dark in places, it's hard to make out what's going on. Also the commentary by the producer is a real snoozer. He goes on and on about the minutae of Hemisphere's history and repeats himself endlessly, not really giving much insight into the making of 'Beast'. That said, I got the impression that Image really was trying to do the best they could with this DVD and that's more than can be said of most genre DVD releases. Even with the drawbacks, this disk is a welcome addition to any schlock-fiend's library and I especially enjoyed the interview with Romero.

DISAPPOINTING "BEAST".....
Another entry in the Blood Island films, this one opens with a fanged monster bursting out of hiding on a cargo ship parked off the coast of Blood Island. The beast grabs an axe and slaughters the crew before the ship explodes in the melee. The sole human survivor, John Ashley, washes ashore as does the monster who ambles off into the jungle. Ashley determines to find and kill the beast but first he must locate the evil Dr.Lorca whose experiments in his island hideaway resulted in the beast as well as some murderous mutated natives. Intrepid reporter Celeste Yarnall comes along to get the scoop. She is kidnapped by Lorcas' henchmen and taken to the hideaway house. A chubby local native girl takes a shine to Ashley and helps him battle the henchmen through most of the middle of the film in the jungle. The beast doesn't show up again until the end when it's revealed Dr.Lorca is looking to give it a new head. Not as fun as "Brides of Blood" although there is a bit more gore and some topless shots of Yarnall and the chubby native girl. The photography is good to poor with some scenes tinted so dark it's hard to make out what's going on. Ashley is wooden as always and Yarnall is not much better but she is fetching in a sarong. I can only say see this if you're curious but there's not much "Beast of the Dead". Instead there's too much jungle action between Ashley and the henchmen.

DISAPPOINTING "BEAST".....
As in the other "Blood Island" films, this one is filmed in the Philippines and stars John Ashley again battling a monster hatched from the island lab of Dr.Lorca. In the opening, the fanged creature bursts from hiding on a cargo ship and slaughters the crew with an axe. The ship explodes during the melee and Ashley and the creature are washed ashore. Ashley is rescued by the natives of the island and the creature ambles off into the jungle. Ashley wanys to find Dr.Lorca and destroy the creature. He is joined by the lovely Celeste Yarnall as a reporter on a similar mission to meet Dr.Lorca. Dr.Lorca was presumed dead in a fire but is actually alive with half his face burned and still conducting experiments in his island house lab that result in mutated natives that attack now and then. The creature doesn't show up again until near the end as Lorca seeks to give it another head. Yarnall is kidnapped by Lorca's henchmen and held in Lorca's house where she now sports lovely island apparel replete with flowers in her hair. Hmmm. Anyway, there's a lot of jungle fighting between Ashley and Lorca's henchmen, some mild gore and bare breasts but little else going on here. "Brides of Blood" was much more entertaining and imaginative. The photography in "Beast" is poor at times and gets so dark you can hardly see what's going on. The monster is fun when he appears but he's not around much except in the beginning and towards the end. I was disappointed in this one.
And Ashley's acting seems to be worse than he was in "Brides" if that's possible. Yarnall is Ok to look at and does some topless scenes but I wanted to see more monster on the rampage. To sum it up, see this if you're curious but "Brides" is better.

A DISAPPOINTING "BEAST"...
Another installment in the Blood Island series has a fanged monster coming out of hiding on a cargo ship and killing the crew with an axe. The ship explodes and the lone survivor (John Ashley) washes ashore on Blood Island. The monster also washes ashore and disappears into the jungle. Ashley is rescued by the natives, most of whom he knows from a previous Blood Island outing and there is talk of "The Evil One" running amok. Ashley wants to find the mysterious Dr.Lorca who is rumored to have survived a fire when "The Evil One" last ran amok. Dr.Lorca conducts fiendish experiments that usually results in monsters and native deaths. Ashley is joined by the lovely Celeste Yarnall who is a writer and photographer. She is promptly abducted by Lorcas' henchmen who take her to his island house. The ending has Dr.Lorca attempting to give the aforementioned monster a new head and all hell breaking loose. This is a pretty dull movie. The monster shows up in the interesting beginning and at the end. In between, it's just endless battles between Ashley and Lorcas' henchmen through the jungle. Several of Lorcas' "failed experiments" show up to cause mischief but they're only natives with awful patchwork make-up jobs. There is some gore and some bare breasts but I thought this movie was about the "Beast of Blood" not jungle battles and fistfights. I hate to admit it but "Brides of Blood" was more fun than this. The photography ranges from good to terrible with some scenes so dark it's hard to see what's going on. I can't recommend this very highly. It's just not very good at all. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Bad movie, but great for the Horror Movie collector
I am very fond of old horror movies, and gory stuff, but this movie wasent to good, only buy this if you are a big fan of horror movies. This video should be rated R, for the nudity(they dont tell you this on the box or on the site). When you first turn on the menu and click play movie, it's like a drive in, with lots of mid 20 year old women flashing people. As for the gore it's very cheap. Take my word, only buy this if your a collector! ... Read more