Tag: comedy

Meet the Feebles (1989)

Published on by Geoff ArbuckleLeave a comment

Welcome to another review here at B-Movie Enema, ya filthy animals! Yeah… I suppose that’s a proper way to start because we have some animals who have filthy lives in this week’s movie. This week, I’m going to be digging deep into the nether regions of Peter Jackson’s 1989 musical black comedy Meet the Feebles.

Now, when you think about Peter Jackson, I think what comes to mind is his very polished films like the Lord of the Rings trilogy, the remake of King Kong he made, or maybe the unpopular, but reevaluated, fun romp that was The Frighteners. The point I’m trying to make is that he’s well-known today as a very top-tier filmmaker. Think of him as the George Lucas of the 90s and 00s. He set up his own special effects company, Weta Workshop. He does nothing half-assed. He has big visions and ideas and it usually pays off in moola for studios.

He’s been nominated for nine Academy Awards (and won three of them), he unearthed and revived a lot of old Beatles footage for a hugely successful documentary, and he’s done more to popularize Hobbits and Elves and Wizards than maybe even Wizards of the Coast has, but let’s back it up a little bit to the early part of his career, shall we?

Continue reading “Meet the Feebles (1989)” →

Amazon Jail 2 (1987)

Published on by Geoff ArbuckleLeave a comment

Welcome back to B-Movie Enema and the continuation of the Amazon Jail saga with Conrado Sanchez’s Amazon Jail 2!

This month, we’ve got a set of releases from Vinegar Syndrome in 2023. We looked at the first film of the Amazon Jail duology last week. We finish that up this week and move on to some more fun next week. We’re going to be able to get right into the movie very quickly because these movies are wildly obscure so there’s not much of note I can really dive into in the background.

I will follow up on what I discussed for a short bit last week and say this comes from the later days of the Mouth of Garbage exploitation movement in Brazil. That began in the 70s out of Sao Paulo and tackled sex comedies for the most part as well as horror and action films. By this time, a regime change in Brazil led to the loosening of censorship in cinema so porno films began to be produced by the time Amazon Jail 2 was released.

Continue reading “Amazon Jail 2 (1987)” →

The Toxic Avenger (1984)

Published on by Geoff ArbuckleLeave a comment

He was 98 lbs. of solid nerd until he became… THE TOXIC AVENGER!

Welcome to a brand-spankin’ new B-Movie Enema. As it were, Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas, my Enemaniacs! To celebrate, let’s visit Tromaville, New Jersey, the home of everyone’s B-movie uncle, Lloyd Kaufman. Kaufman and his producing partner Michael Herz co-directed this breakout film for Troma Entertainment.

Now, I’ve covered several movies released by Troma from within the distribution arm of Kaufman and Herz’s entertainment company. I’ve even covered a few other movies that featured Kaufman as an actor. Only once, though, did I ever cover a film actually funded, made, and released by the Troma team. I’ve not brought this one up for quite some time. It used to be one that I would reference often, and definitely compare to when I’d see a movie of a particular level of quality. Do you guys remember which one that was?

That one is the cinematic diarrhea disaster that was Pot Zombies.

Continue reading “The Toxic Avenger (1984)” →

Dr. Caligari (1989)

Published on by Geoff ArbuckleLeave a comment

It’s December here at B-Movie Enema Industries, and that means things are getting a little cold. But I’ve got something to warm the bones. By that, I mean something really weird. This week, I’m looking at the avant-garde 1989 Dr. Caligari.

I don’t want to say this is a remake of the German expressionism classic The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, but let’s try to sort all this out. That original version I just mentioned was released in 1920. This was during a time of massive film experimentation in post-World War I Germany. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is one of the most influential early films in history. While 1922’s Nosferatu is a more influential monster film, Caligari twisted the way a story could be told. That wasn’t just a clever way of using the word twisted to describe the look of the film. There are multiple reads about how the narrative plays out.

Dr. Caligari, in the original that is, was a man who went from town to town and did sideshow-like performances with his somnambulist, Cesare, who is forced to obey his every command. Cesare is Caligari’s instrument of revenge against those who wronged him. It turns out that the character who is telling this story is actually a patient in an asylum. Caligari is actually the head doctor there. The other main characters, Cesare, and the girl whom Cesare falls in love with, Jane, are also inmates. It’s an early example of a twist ending and an unreliable narrator in a film.

Continue reading “Dr. Caligari (1989)” →

The Stepford Wives (2004)

Published on by Geoff ArbuckleLeave a comment

Welcome to B-Movie Enema.

You come to this place for movie reviews. Sometimes you get a laugh. Sometimes you might feel the pain I felt while watching a movie and you begin to cry. If you are some sort of weirdo that thinks heartbreak would feel good anywhere, then might I suggest you get the fuck out of here you goddamn monster?

We’ve been in this neighborhood before. Yes. Back in July, we took a trip to a scenic village to see what 1975’s The Stepford Wives was all about. We return again to check out the 2004 remake starring a pretty A-list cast of actors like Nicole Kidman, Matthew Broderick, Bette Midler, Christopher Walken, and Glenn Close. Not only do you have some pretty powerful actors involved but you also have the film being directed by Frank Oz.

But oh boy were there issues with this production.

Continue reading “The Stepford Wives (2004)” →

Beneath the Valley of the Ultra-Vixens (1979)

Published on by Geoff ArbuckleLeave a comment

Welcome to the grand conclusion of Russ Meyer Month II here at B-Movie Enema!

We finish with Beneath the Valley of the Ultra-Vixens. This 1979 sexploitation satire not only brings our journey through another month of Russ Meyer movies to an end, but it, more or less, also signals the end of Meyer’s career itself. This is the final non-documentary film the King of Sexploitation Films ever made. He would end up doing some additional tongue-in-cheek documentaries like Mondo Topless, Too, Melissa Mounds, and Pandora Peaks but he never did do another narrative film after this movie’s release.

The reason for that is rather simple. While Meyer’s films were still popular, and he was a likable figure in the realm of softcore films, the hardcore porn industry became, for a lack of a better term, mainstream by the 70s with hits like Behind the Green Door, Deep Throat, and Debbi Does Dallas becoming as close to household titles as porn films could get. Meyer did still mostly retire from film a very wealthy fella. He personally oversaw the management and licensing of his own library of films. It’s likely why so many of his movies do not still have HD restorations or Blu-Ray releases. The exact state of the rights to his movies isn’t clearly defined from what I could find after a cursory search. If you go to the right places and the right conventions, you can usually score a 22-film box set for not too expensive at all, but the films’ looks and transfers are not consistent. It’s why some of the pics I used during the course of this month have been a bit rough.

Continue reading “Beneath the Valley of the Ultra-Vixens (1979)” →

Common Law Cabin (1967)

Published on by Geoff ArbuckleLeave a comment

As we pass out of the dog days of summer, and transition into the colorful days of autumn, I think it’s time we checked in with an old friend – Russ Meyer! We begin with this week’s new B-Movie Enema review with 1967’s Common Law Cabin.

I might as well go ahead and call this month Russ Meyer Month II. I’ve visited the works of the great Mr. Meyer in two different ways. First, if you go back to May 2020, COVID was raging like a bad case of hemorrhoids and the first Russ Meyer Month was rocking and rolling with some of the nudie film master’s most recognizable films. The second time I came to something Russ Meyer, it was to warm things up last December with the pretty great (and fairly sexy) Supervixens. It was very clearly time to return.

This month, I’ve got five more classics to discuss. I very specifically chose four films for their titles. The fifth, well, it’s another time Meyer worked with my all-time favorite critic, Roger Ebert. This first movie is, on the surface, maybe, the oddest of this month’s collection.

Continue reading “Common Law Cabin (1967)” →

Flesh Gordon (1974)

Published on by Geoff ArbuckleLeave a comment

Some weeks ago, I took a look at the 1972 cult, adult, animated classic Fritz the Cat. In that review, I talked about that movie having a reputation that precedes itself. Just the title almost gives it a mythical aura. I mentioned a couple other movies in that review, and one of those is the topic of this week’s B-Movie Enema review – Flesh Gordon.

Obviously, 1974’s Flesh Gordon is a sex parody of the classic Flash Gordon serials of the early days of swashbuckling matinees. So I guess we should start with the subgenre itself. The sex comedy actually goes waaaaay back to ancient Greek theatre. Basically, it’s farcical sex. This carried into the Roman times which actually then became the major influence of what we know as situational comedies, better referred to as the sitcom.

In the mid to late 17th century, of all peoples, the English brought the sex comedy back into popularity. However, the origins, and the eventual influence, of Flesh Gordon can go to a period of the 50s and earlier 60s when Hollywood would have these cheeky romantic comedies that were charged with a bit of sex appeal. This was directly influenced by the early sexual revolution of Playboy magazine being introduced and sexologist Alfred Kinsey of Indiana University studying the sex lives of women. This would eventually bring us to the late 60s and early 70s when Hollywood itself would shift to a new style and way of business and indie filmmakers looking for a start would make a whole bunch of scandalous comedies that could play with the new lifestyles that grew out of the late 60s as well as nudity and much more open discussion of sex lives.

Continue reading “Flesh Gordon (1974)” →