Showing posts with label Roddy McDowall. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Roddy McDowall. Show all posts

Monday, February 27, 2023

THE CAT FROM OUTER SPACE (1978)

Not to be confused with The Human Centipede from Outer Space, THE CAT FROM OUTER SPACE is the mildly delightful tale of an alien, Jake, who is forced to land on Earth to repair his space ship.  Jake is just a normal cat, except that he's very smart and has a highly advanced collar that pretty much gives him god-like powers.  It can freeze people in place, make objects fly or speed up or slow down and all kinds of other stuff.  It can also make his voice appear inside your head as a way of communication.  Anyway, Jake's small space ship is taken by the military, so Jake needs human help to assist him in getting the large quantity of gold needed to repair his craft.  He enlists the help of some local scientists who take to rigging (with the help of Jake's powerful collar) sporting events and gambling on the results.  No word on the thousands of gamblers whose lives were probably destroyed by the insane results of these events.

In a weird way THE CAT FROM OUTER SPACE reminds me of THE MILLION DOLLAR DUCK.  Cute critter with a special ability is hunted by the government and needs the help of a small group of well-meaning humans that include Sandy Duncan.  And that's not a bad thing because I like THE MILLION DOLLAR DUCK alright.

Medium pace, super cute cat (or cats?) as Jake, impressive cat "acting", cast full of well-known old Hollywood faces, Roddy McDowall as a bad guy, lifeless direction, very impressive aircraft stunts that looked dangerous as fuck, tons of plot holes, goofy humor mainly directed at children, zero tits, zero gore, dumb ending.  Modern audiences would probably find TCFOS to be a boring turd, but it does have a certain innocent charm to it.  I'd watch it again and I would totally 100% love to see a remake!

Saturday, December 12, 2015

PRETTY MAIDS ALL IN A ROW (1971)

Man I would love to know the story behind this picture!  I can just imagine how the initial pitch at MGM went: "Alright, last year those assholes over at 20th Century Fox made a ton of dough with BEYOND THE VALLEY OF THE DOLLS and we only got one film in the Top 20 Box Office list, so let's make our own campy sex movie!  We get Rock Hudson all furred up with sideburns and a "Magnum P.I." mustache.  He's got a hot wife but he's so hip, with his peace signs and love pad guidance counselor's office, that these long-legged teenage chicks in miniskirts can't keep their pussies off of him.  He's banging like 3 or 4 before lunch!!!  Anyway, so here's the kicker: every one of these chicks is dripping pussy juice all over the school for this groovy old dude but whenever they ask him about leaving his wife...he kills them!!!!!!!!  It's brilliant.  Slasher movies haven't been invented yet, but it's gonna be just like a slasher movie, just without the gruesome kills and the Final Girl.  Get some other big names involved like Telly Savalas, Angie Dickinson (we need to get her to bang some teenage boy also), Roddy McDowall, a theme song sang by The Osmonds (sex comedy audiences love the Osmonds!), throw in some topless chicks and this thing is going to be a hit!  So whatta ya think?"  "Go for it, but make sure to throw in some corny dialogue that people can giggle at in 50 years."

When the film first started I was kinda taken back at how interesting the opening credits were with the horny teenager boy going to school and walking down the hallway, the whole time being bombarded with sexy chicks everywhere he looks.  Suddenly, Rock Hudson shows up like some over-the-top 70's stud, slingin' ding-a-ling non-stop like John Holmes!  It was great!!!  Then...after like 30 minutes the film just stalled.  It was weird.  Instead of continuing with the same momentum of the opening act, the second and third acts don't really go anywhere.  The girls were still beautiful, of course, but the story dies a slow death. 

Worth watching if just for the oddity value of the whole thing.  And I honestly would love to learn the truth behind the making of this movie. Oh yeah, I nearly forgot, this movie was produced and written by Gene ("Star Trek") Roddenberry.