Tag: action

Our Man Flint (1966)

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It’s a swingin’ good time here at B-Movie Enema!

This week, we’re going to look at the first of a couple of films from producer Saul David, who wanted to create something sort of like James Bond, a massive breakout star by this time, after only four incredibly popular Bond films in four consecutive years. David wanted this new hero to be a different “cup of tea” to Bond. This guy was going to be sensitive and sensible. He’s going to be loyal to his own individual code.

This new hero is Derek Flint, a spy extraordinaire. He used to be an agent of Zonal Organization World Intelligence Espionage (better known as Z.O.W.I.E.). He is now retired and just hanging out with his live-in babes, whom he calls his “playmates.” This swinging rich bachelor, who has four girlfriends, is played by James Coburn.

His role as Derek Flint in this film, 1966’s Our Man Flint, would actually serve as Coburn’s first actual lead role in a motion picture. Prior to this film, Coburn had been in quite a few supporting roles. Saul David would say that Coburn was undoubtedly one of the most interesting-looking actors working in films in the 60s. He had to be David’s Flint.

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Missing in Action 2: The Beginning (1985)

Published on by Geoff Arbuckle2 Comments

On March 19 of this year, Carlos Ray Norris roundhouse kicked his way into the afterlife after spending the last 50 years being seen as a legitimate action badass, a guy who seemed to be a bigger-than-life figure, and a hero to many Gen Xers. We knew him as Chuck Norris. In 1972, he played Colt in the Bruce Lee martial arts classic, The Way of the Dragon. At that time, he was an incredibly skilled martial artist. In fact, he was a champion and a very difficult guy to face off against for years, leading up to his casting as Bruce Lee’s nemesis in that film. Lee recognized Norris as an appropriate opponent.

A few years later, Norris became an action star of his own in Breaker, Breaker, Good Guys Wear Black, A Force of One, and The Octagon. Going into the 80s, Norris was well-positioned to become a major action star. After the phenomenally popular Lone Wolf McQuade, Cannon Films pounced on the opportunity to cast Norris as their leading action star for an entire decade, solidifying him as a mythical figure kids grew up watching, later turning him into a popular meme by creating well-meaning jokes about how tough he was in the face of impossible opponents (like natural catastrophes, celestial objects, and, yes, even death).

Decades later, Norris largely retired from acting, instead appearing in commercials, doing philanthropic work in areas of the world with less-than-satisfactory HIV/AIDS care, and occasionally doing political rallies with conservative candidates. While I don’t agree with his politics or religion, I do appreciate Norris for that action star status he had when I was a kid, just looking for action movies and punching and shooty shoot guys on a Saturday afternoon on cable. On March 19, 2026, a big piece of the youth of a lot of guys I know, myself included, was sad to hear Norris was hospitalized in Hawaii for a sudden medical emergency and had subsequently died. I had just weeks previously written a review for Missing in Action, but opted to largely leave that review alone upon release, so this already-planned follow-up’s preamble now serves as the official B-Movie Enema eulogy for a man who will most definitely continue to appear on the site. Rest in peace, Chuck Norris.

And now, let’s talk about Missing in Action 2: The Beginning.

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The Haunted World of El Superbeasto (2009)

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Welcome back to Rob Zombie’s Spookshow at B-Movie Enema!

Last week, we looked at Rob Zombie’s take on The Munsters. While that movie ended up with some mixed results, it showed something that I don’t think many people realize about Zombie by looking at him, listening to his music and his on-stage persona, and the films he’s made over his movie career. Zombie has a real love for stuff he grew up with too. He isn’t all exploitation, foul-mouthed characters, and disgusting redneck murderers. No, he still likes comic books, the family-friendly TV shows he grew up with, and animation.

This brings us back to two elements of Zombie’s early influences and career that I hinted at last week. One of the guys he wanted to be was Stan Lee. Obviously, Lee is best known for his work in Marvel Comics, but it’s clear that Zombie sees Lee as a showman, something he would end up becoming in his music career. He also sees Lee as someone who created a shared universe of characters that seem to naturally fit in when they interact with one another. Zombie’s films have that shared universe feel to them. They all kind of show a darker side under the surface of the rest of the world’s brighter shine.

Now, when it comes to this week’s movie, The Haunted World of El Superbeasto, it’s clear this is taking on that love of comic books that were directly from guys like Stan Lee. This is Rob Zombie’s animated feature that is much more on the action and superhero side than the horror. It’s the yin to his horror yang growing up. It also features another famous Bela Lugosi element.

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Kinjite: Forbidden Subjects (1989)

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I guess September was planned as something of a return of various subjects or actors, and in this case, also directors.

Welcome back to B-Movie Enema. I guess when I programmed what September was going to feature on the blog, I was thinking about a lot of things I hadn’t done in a bit. I had Red Letter Media come back, another killer primate movie, and some blaxploitation. So I guess it’s only fair to bring Charles Bronson, J. Lee Thompson, and Cannon Films. This week, we’re gonna learn about Kinjite: Forbidden Subjects.

Cannon is all over this blog. So much so, there’s a whole tag for Cannon Films. There are so many, I bet I have forgotten to tag some with that. Shit, I almost forgot to tag THIS review with Cannon Films. Charles Bronson, surprisingly, has not been covered as much here on B-Movie Enema. Maybe I’m worried his ghost will come back, ask me if I believe in Jesus, because I’m gonna meet ’em. I’ve only covered two of his movies before, Assassination waaaaay back in 2018, and then 10 to Midnight back in the summer of 2024. One of those movies is far better than the other. The other is a Cannon production.

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Truck Turner (1974)

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And just like that… Isaac Hayes is back, baby!

Welcome back to B-Movie Enema, and welcome back, Isaac Hayes, and especially welcome back, blaxploitation! Just not too long ago, we had a quick appearance of Isaac Hayes in Return to Sleepaway Camp, playing the chef at the camp. He was dressed just like his Chef character from South Park. That’s how everyone knew that was Isaac Hayes, aka Chef, playing a chef.

This week, though, we’re getting Isaac Hayes into the place I think most people expect him to be – blaxploitation action. Yes, it’s 1974’s Truck Turner, also known as Black Bullet. By the time Truck Turner hit screens in June 1974, Hayes was already an Oscar winner. Yeah, I don’t think many people realize that Hayes won the Oscar for Best Original Song for his “Theme from Shaft.” That was a major achievement in 1972. Most Best Original Song Oscar winners were kind of stuffy, or sappy, or, to put it mildly, very white. Shaft was a hit, though, and it signified a shift into the 70s that black folks could play in the movie sandbox too… quite well. Isaac Hayes put together a banger of a theme song for the movie, and Oscar history was made.

And that history? It wasn’t so much the act of winning an Oscar as much as Hayes was only the THIRD black person EVER to win a competitive Academy Award. The other two were Hattie McDaniel for Gone with the Wind and Sidney Poitier for Lilies of the Field. It was an incredible feat.

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Space Cop (2016)

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Ah… It’s good to be back from camp.

We spent the entire summer out in the great outdoors, but it’s time to get back to serious business here at B-Movie Enema. And since it’s time to deal with serious, very grown-up business, I think we should look no further than Red Letter Media. Wait… Really? They’re our serious business?

Last time we looked at ol’ RLM, it was for their 2010 horror comedy Feeding Frenzy. Back then, they were still largely known as the guys who did the Mr. Plinkett reviews. They wouldn’t have actual sustained success as a YouTube channel until Mike Stoklasa and Jay Bauman created their review show Half in the Bag, which, in itself, rolled into other popular shows, the most popular of them all being Best of the Worst. Through these shows, this is where Rich Evans would gain most of his popularity.

Evans, a guy who was largely in the Plinkett reviews as the on-screen portrayal of Harry Plinkett, and reprised that in Feeding Frenzy, was maybe a little understated and shy early on in his Best of the Worst appearances. However, whether by way of him really kind of becoming one of the more common panelists on the show, or through Stoklasa’s constant belittling and lampooning, Rich Evans would become a major figure on RLM. This would often lead to him being the guy I think most viewers might say they appreciate even more than Mike and Jay, the obvious faces of the media company. And so, he got the chance to create another character, the title character of this week’s featured film, Space Cop.

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Missing in Action (1984)

Published on by Geoff Arbuckle5 Comments

This review was written in advance of Chuck Norris passing away on March 19,2026 following a medical emergency. It’s not exactly written to be a tribute or an in memoriam to Norris, but more of a typical review of Missing In Action. That said, this movie is one of the more important ones in his filmography and the start of a franchise we will return to later in the year. It will be at that point that there will be more to say about the passing of an 80s action icon.

Oh boy, it’s time for some Chuck Norris/Cannon Films goodness on this week’s B-Movie Enema!

1984’s Missing in Action is kind of an important movie for our two primary entities. First and foremost, this was the first film Chuck Norris made for The Cannon Group and producers Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus. That also meant that Cannon got Chuck Norris, an action star already, to more or less become the face for the company for years to come. This movie also brings director Joseph Zito back for another go at B-Movie Enema. Zito had previously directed The Prowler in 1981, but 1984 probably brought his two most recognizable films to his filmography – Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter and Missing in Action. In 1985, Zito, Cannon, and Norris teamed up again for another movie that really should find its way to the blog someday soon, Invasion U.S.A.

It’s really hard not to compare Missing in Action to 1982’s First Blood. First Blood probably kicked off the subgenre that Letterboxd likes to call vetsploitation. And how could it not? It was Sylvester Stallone in a really good performance as John Rambo, which then led to several leading action characters in the 80s being somehow a part of the Vietnam War. Missing in Action originated as a treatment by James Cameron for Rambo: First Blood Part II. That’s where the Rambo flicks and the Missing in Action series both get their pretty tight similarities. Golan and Globus totally owned up to the fact that Cameron’s treatment served as the inspiration for their series. So they released Missing in Action and Missing in Action 2: The Beginning as quickly as they could to get it out ahead of Rambo to avoid any legal issues. I wasn’t entirely sure how that avoided issues, but whatever, it was the Go-Go Boys doing what they do best, go-going.

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Golden Needles (1974)

Published on by Geoff Arbuckle1 Comment

This week’s B-Movie Enema is on the hunt for a legendary statue with needles, which, when stuck into an adult male in a very particular pattern, will turn that guy into a sexual Tyrannosaurus.

And it’s Joe Don Baker who is one of the men after it!

Yes, you read that right… Joe Don Baker is after the seven Golden Needles that will turn him into a sex machine (well, maybe not so much, but still…). If it wasn’t for a very specific appreciation for Baker, I might just have to barf. *Hurk*

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