Interiors (1978) - Allen's first serious film is enjoyable, smart; perhaps too much so

♥♥♥♥

 

A sparse, minimalist and entirely textual poster for Woody Allen's Interiors

A New York family with a mentally unstable mother and three adult daughters. The matriarch's husband, the father, requests a temporary separation, which eats through the mother. Meanwhile the daughters deal with each their own issues.

 

Interiors is written and directed by New-Yorker master filmmaker Woody Allen (What's Up, Tiger Lily? (1966)), whose 8th feature it is.  

Good performances outline this dark film, - both thematically and literally speaking, although the central theme is elusive. Allen's writing is, as usual, solid, smart and adroitly carried out; the color choices and production design speaks volumes as to the family's problems.

This feels like Allen 'doing Bergman', (Swedish master filmmaker Ingmar Bergman that is), one feels, and being extraordinarily serious. It is well done, but it doesn't leap from the screen, so to speak, but rather may feel a bit sterile. Interiors is good nevertheless.

 

Related posts:
 
Woody Allen: 2016 in films - according to Film Excess

Café Society (2016) - The greatest living American filmmaker hands us another splendid gem

Irrational Man (2015) - Allen's pleasant morality tale divertisement

2014 in films - according to Film Excess

Magic in the Moonlight (2014) - Allen's irresistible French Riviera romance

2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]

2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
Blue Jasmine (2013) - Allen presenets Blanchett, a woman under the influence

Fading Gigolo (2013) - Turturro's pleasant turn as a high-end NY prostitute  (as actor)

To Rome with Love (2012) - Woody Allen's slightest film to date  

2011 in films - according to Film Excess

Midnight in Paris (2011) - Allen's zany (and a little depressing) crowd-pleaser  

Cassandra's Dream (2007) - Allen's well-laid but inconsequentiel English cul-de-sac  

Match Point (2005) - Allen takes London with pensive thriller hit 

2003 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II] 

2003 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I] 

2003 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess

Top 10: The best big flop movies reviewed by Film Excess to date  
Anything Else (2003) - Perfect contemporary relationship comedy 

The Curse of the Jade Scorpion (2001) - Allen's hypnotic, noirish shenanigans 
Celebrity (1998) or, Stars in New York

Mighty Aphrodite (1995) - Sorvino soars in funny Allen dramedy (writer/director/co-star) 
Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989) - Sin and guilt up for laughs and rumination in unspectacular Allen work 

Hannah and Her Sisters (1986) or, Manhattan Struggles and Wonders 
Broadyway Danny Rose (1984) or, Keep Your Heart   

Top 10: Best comedies reviewed by Film Excess to date
Annie Hall (1977) or, My Relationship with Alvie Singer   

Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* (*But Were Afraid to Ask) (1972) - Allen's curious sex comedy is a riot
Bananas (1971) - Woody Allen's South American misadventure is still a barrel of laughs   
Casino Royale (1967) - The packed spy spoof frontrunner, a film very much of its time (as actor)

 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 3.1 mil. $

Box office: In excess of 10.4 mil. $ (North America alone)

= Uncertain but likely a big hit (projected return of 4.64 times its cost)

[Interiors premiered 2 August (New York) and runs 92 minutes. Shooting took place from October 1977 - January 1978 in New York. The film grossed 10.4 mil. $ in North America, and gross numbers from its foreign markets are regrettably not reported. It sold 41,636 tickets in the small market Denmark, coming to approximately 133k $. A conservatively projected foreign gross of 4 mil. $ would result in a 14.4 mil. $ world gross, which would rank the film a big hit. It was nominated for 5 Oscars, winning none: It lost Best Actress (Geraldine Page (Loving (1983, TV-series))) to Jane Fonda in Coming Home; Supporting Actress (Maureen Stapleton (Passed Away (1992))) to Maggie Smith in California Suite; Art Direction - Set Decoration to Heaven Can Wait; Director to Michael Cimino for The Deer Hunter and Original Screenplay to Nancy Dowd, Waldo Salt and Robert C. Jones for Coming Home. It won 1/2 BAFTA awards, was nominated for 4 Golden Globes and won a National Board of Review award, among other honors. Roger Ebert gave the film a 4/4 star review, translating to 2 notches over this one. Allen returned with Manhattan (1979). Page returned in Harry's War (1981); Stapleton in The Runner Stumbles (1979). Interiors is fresh at 78 % with a 6.90/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of Interiors? 

I Spit on Your Grave/Day of the Woman (1978) - Zarchi's infamous, unrelenting rape-and-revenge picture

♥♥♥

 

A sensation-promising and quite long tagline overheads an image of scantily clad Demi Moore (who does not act in the film, however!) with a bloodied hunting knife in a forest on this great poster for Meir Zarchi's I Spit on Your Grave

Jennifer is a short story writer from New York who arrives at a summerhouse in Connecticut, and her partially bared body induces four local men til beat her up, gang rape her and leave her for dead. But she doesn't die. In fact she wakes up with revenge on her mind!

I Spit on Your Grave is written, directed and edited by debuting Meir Zarchi (Rachel (1960, writer)).

We get to know a repulsive sediment of men through fairly well-acted performances here, and Camille Keaton (The Butterfly Room (2012)) is beautiful as the victimized Jennifer, who exacts gruesome vengeance: SPOILER Especially the castration scene is grim.

Apart from this, the film actually has some fine imagery (cinematography by Nuri Habib (Bipanah (1953))) and is fundamentally ambiguous, - it seems simultaneously feminist and exploitation-minded, - and shocking. The trailer and poster indicates that audiences should be outraged that Jennifer would allegedly not be convicted for her revenge in any American court. The ascertainment is highly speculative, and most will probably also find that it is not her revenge that is outrageous but the crime that precedes it.

 

Watch a short trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 80k $

Box office: Unknown

= Uncertain

[I Spit on Your Grave premiered 23 May (Cannes Film Festival, out of competition) and runs 102 minutes. Zarchi has explained that inspiration for the story came from his meeting and helping a rape victim in New York in 1974. Keaton was reportedly chosen from a New York audition out of 4,000 women. Shooting took place from July - August (1978) in New York and Connecticut. 2 crew members resigned during production, because they could not take the portrayed violence. Zarchi limited mention of anal rape to obtain the R rating. Zarchi himself distributed the film initially at drive-ins, without much success, before Jerry Gross Organization eventually distributed it wider in North America, now under the title I Spit on Your Grave, although still to reportedly small results. Gross had the poster made seen above with a then unknown Demi Moore posing with her back to the camera, as she was working on another film for him at the time. I Spit on Your Grave was released in a handful of other markets but didn't find a mass audience before it was released on video. It was banned in many countries, including Norway, Ireland, Australia, the UK, Iceland, Canada and West Germany. Roger Ebert gave it a 0/4 star rating, translating to 3 notches under this one. The film inspired an unofficial 1993 sequel (with Keaton), three remake sequels (2010; 2013; 2015) and finally an official sequel by Zarchi and with Keaton, entitled I Spit on Your Grave: Deja Vu (2016). Zarchi first returned with Don't Mess with My Sister! (1985). Keaton returned first in Raw Force (1982). I Spit on Your Grave is rotten at 51 % with a 5.40/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of I Spit on Your Grave?

The Inglorious Bastards/Quel Maledetto Treno Blindato (1978) - Castellari's WWII exploitation charmer

♥♥♥♥

 

Nude women, explosions, war machinery and macho violence is vividly promised on this self-tooting poster for Enzo G. Castellari's The Inglorious Bastards

A small group of captured American soldiers are on their way to execution in France in 1944, when a flat tire allows them to alter their trajectory: Towards freedom in Switzerland, killing as many 'krauts' on their way as possible!

 

The Inglorious Bastards is written by Sandro Continenza (Sbirulino (1982)), Sergio Grieco (Il Sergente Klems (1971)), Franco Marotta (Lucia (2005, TV movie)), Romano Migliorini (Bandidos (1967)) and Laura Toscano (De Moda (2004-05)), with Alberto Piferi (Salomé (1986)) contributing dialog, and directed by Enzo G. Castellari (Payment in Blood/7 Winchester per un Massacro (1967)). The original Italian title translates to 'that damned armored train'.

How this many individuals could have written this film together is just one of the incredible things about it. The story is generally not the easiest to relate. 

Bo Svenson (Icarus (2010)) plays the 'bastards'' alpha leader, and he does so with a rapscallion charm, which really permeates the entire group, despite the dire war that they find themselves in. This is all part of the fun and ruckus, with plenty of gunpowder and bullets, and Italian film tricks of the era. The Inglorious Bastards is a real charmer.

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: Unknown

Box office: Unknown

= Uncertain

[The Inglorious Bastards was released 8 February (Italy) and runs 99 minutes. Shooting took place in Italy, including in Rome. The production reportedly suffered the trouble of having all of their weapons seized by the authorities halfway through production, due to the Italian Prime Minister's recent kidnapping and murder by the Red Brigade terrorists. New blank-fire prop weapons had to be created fast for the completion of the film. Details concerning the film's budget and box office performance are regrettably not online, but it was widely released in Europe and sold impressive 62k tickets in the small market Denmark, (approximately 453k $), indicating that it was likely a hit. It is not listed as having had a North-American release until 1981. Quentin Tarantino bought the rights to remake the film, although he only reused the title for his Inglorious Basterds (2009). Castellari returned with Sensività (1979). Svenson returned in Il Figlio dello Sceicco (1978); Fred Williamson (Boss Nigger (1974)) in 6 TV credits prior to his theatrical return in Il Cappotto di Legno (1981). 10k+ IMDb users have given The Inglorious Bastards a 6.5/10 average rating.]

What do you think of The Inglorious Bastards?

Halloween (1978) - Carpenter's haunting slasher classic

♥♥♥♥♥

 

A jack-o-lantern that becomes a strong hand stabbing with a kitchen knife makes up this iconic poster for John Carpenter's Halloween

Michael Myers is evil incarnate; locked away since childhood for murdering his older sister. Now he has broken free from the mental hospital, and he is heading home to Haddonfield, Illinois on Halloween - with blood lust!

 

Halloween is written by co-writer/producer Debra Hill (The Fog (1980)) and great New-Yorker filmmaker, co-writer/director/composer John Carpenter (Dark Star (1974)).

It is an incredibly simple premise in one of the all-time strongest horror classics. Jamie Lee Curtis (Love Letters (1983)) is a brave sport, and Donald Pleasence (Dracula (1979)) is ideal as Dr. Loomis, who has long ago seen and recognized the dark evil in Myers.

The mask is just as important, and Carpenter's catchy musical theme. You simply can't argue with the effectiveness and screaming thrills of Halloween.

 

Related posts:

 

Halloween franchise: Halloween (2007) - Zombie's remake is a bloody stinker  

Halloween H20/Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998) - Myers spreads fresh terror in Miner's fine sequel 

John Carpenter: Cigarette Burns (2005, TV movie) - Carpenter burns out in weird, tiresome TV movie

Dario Argento: An Eye For Horror (2000, TV documentary) - Great bio-doc of master filmmaker Dario Argento (interview subject)

Escape from L.A./John Carpenter's Escape from L.A./Escape from Los Angeles (1996) or, Snake Plissken in Crazy-World! 
Christine (1983) or, Bad Plymouth!

Top 10: Best future-set movies
Escape from New York (1981) - Carpenter introduces Kurt Russell as action star in dystopic dream
Top 10: The best action movies and TV-series reviewed by Film Excess to date
Assault on Precinct 13 (1976) - Solid action guerilla film-making 

 

Watch a short TV spot trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 300-325k $

Box office: 70.2 mil. $

= Mega-hit (returned 216-234 times its cost)

[Halloween was released 25 October (North America) and runs 91 minutes. Carpenter earned 10k $ and 10 % of the profits for his work; Pleasence was paid 20k $; Curtis 8k $. Shooting took place in April 1978 in California, including in Los Angeles. The Myers mask was actually a cheaply bought Captain Kirk mask (molded from William Shatner's face) with widened eye holes and then spray-painted a bluish white. The film opened to a 1.2 mil. $ first weekend in 198 theaters in North America, where it grossed 47 mil. $ (67 % of the total gross). Roger Ebert gave the film a 4/4 star review, translating to a notch higher than this one. NBC bought the original TV rights for 3 mil. $ in 1980. A novelization and a video game followed, along with 11 sequels (including remakes and reboots); Hill and Carpenter were involved as writers and then producers of the first two of the sequels, Halloween II (1981) and Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982). Carpenter returned with Someone's Watching Me! (1978, TV movie), Elvis (1979, TV movie) and theatrically with The Fog (1980). Curtis returned in The Love Boat (1978, TV-series), Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (1979, TV-series) and theatrically in The Fog; Pleasence in 3 TV credits prior to his theatrical return in L'Homme en Colère (1979). Halloween is certified fresh at 96 % with an 8.60/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Halloween?

Game of Death (1978) - Bruce Lee's last real picture is a blast

♥♥♥♥

A cool 1970s-style poster for Robert Clouse's Game of Death, which promises that star Bruce Lee is going to kick some serious butt in the film

Billy Lo is an action movie star with an evil Macao gangster after him. After staging his own mock funeral, [which uses footage from Bruce Lee's (The Orphan/Ren hai gu hong (1960)) real-life funeral], Lo seeks to get rid of his enemies!

Game of Death is written by writer/co-director Robert Clouse (Darker than Amber (1970)), co-directed with co-director/star Lee. Clouse took over the film after Lee's untimely death in 1973 in the midst of production, forcing a drastically altered plot.
The film begins with the famous Lee-Chuck Norris (Top Dog (1995)) Colosseum fight scene lifted from Way of the Dragon (1972). In the film that follows, Dean Jagger (King Creole (1958)) is great as the triumphantly cackling Macao gangster villain Dr. Land, and Lee's fight against Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (Fletch (1985)) is phenomenal, as is the film's motorcycle scene.
The inevitable many doubles for the tragically suddenly passed away star Lee and poor slow-motion work impede this otherwise great martial arts classic.

Watch a fan-made trailer for the film here

Cost: Unknown, reportedly 850k $
Box office: Reportedly in excess of 31.3 mil. $
= Uncertain, but certainly a mega-hit (may have returned 36.62 times its cost)
[Game of Death premiered 23 March (Hong Kong) and runs 94-125 minutes (different edits). Shooting took place in Hong Kong and China. Production was halted when Lee was offered an 850k $ budget for his first kung fu movie produced by a Hollywood studio, Warner Bros.; Enter the Dragon, directed by Clouse. This was his last completed film; he passed away from cerebral edema (excess of fluid in the brain), before it was released and before he could return to filming of Game of Death. Though reportedly 100 minutes was filmed, only about 11 minutes were thought usable at the time and are incorporated into the finished film. Clouse was hired to rescue a film from the footage. The 850k $ budget for the film listed elsewhere is mysteriously identical to that of Enter the Dragon and could be false. The in any case low-budget production became controversial due to Lee's death; especially since it uses footage from his actual funeral, including of his corpse in his open casket! Abdul-Jabbar would not return to film more due to the controversy, and several other stars turned down offers to be in the film. Still it opened to enthusiastic audiences: It grossed 10 mil. $ (31.9 % of the total gross) in North America, the 2nd biggest market; 13.13 mil. $ (41.9 %) in Japan, the film's biggest market, and 6.12 mil. $ (19.6 %) in France, its 3rd biggest market. The 31.3 mil. $ gross is only from these markets plus Germany, and the film screened in several more and so must have had an even higher total gross. Game of Death II (1981) is made by an unrelated Chinese filmmaker, splicing past Lee performances together to serve a new plot. Clouse returned with The London Connection (1979). 32,540 Rotten Tomatoes users have given Game of Death a 3.57/5 average rating.]

What do you think of Game of Death?

The Fury (1978) - De Palma's telekinetic powers run amuck!

♥♥♥

A mysterious, stressful poster for Brian De Palma's The Fury, which hints at the telepathic powers involved in the plot

Kirk Douglas (A Lovely Way to Die (1968)) plays a father, whose son is kidnapped by a secret governmental department inside the CIA, who want him for his telepathic abilities. With the help of a young woman with a similar talent, Douglas searches for his son.

The Fury is written by John Farris (Dear Dead Delilah (1972)), based on his own same-titled 1976 novel, and directed by great New Jerseyite filmmaker Brian De Palma (Hi, Mom! (1970)), whose 11th feature it is. It is an odd b-film, reminiscent of the better films Carrie (1976), - also by De Palma, - and David Cronenberg's Scanners (1981).
The story wallows in pseudo-science and is weak. John Cassavetes (Machine Gun McCain (1969)) plays a part in The Fury, SPOILER and when he literally explodes in sensational details in the ending, the film attains its tentative third ♥ in my assessment. But The Fury is surely no-one's finest hour.

Related posts:

Brian De Palma: Carlito's Way (1993) - De Palma's best gangster movie
Carrie (1976) or, Don't Bully the Strange Girl! 

Watch a short TV teaser for the film here

Cost: 5.5 -7.5 mil. $ (different reports)
Box office: Reportedly 24 mil. $
= Box office success - maybe even a big hit (cost returned 3.2 - 4.3 times)
[The Fury was released 10 March (USA) and runs 118 minutes. De Palma cast Douglas, a major star, because he had felt that his previous telekinesis movie Carrie had suffered at the box office for missing a major star. Shooting took place in Israel and in Los Angeles, California and in Illinois, including Chicago, from July - August 1977. The hotel scene was shot in Chicago's Plymouth Hotel, which would also be used in John Landis' masterpiece The Blues Brothers (1980). Later stars Dennis Franz and Daryl Hannah make their movie debuts in The Fury, and Jim Belushi is an extra. SPOILER The first take of Cassavetes' body exploding wasn't successful, and it took nearly a week to prepare a second take. Roger Ebert gave the film a 3/4 star review, translating to a notch better than this one. De Palma returned with Home Movies (1979), again with Douglas, who returned before that in The Villain (1979). Cassavetes returned in Brass Target (1978). The Fury is fresh at 80 % with a 7/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Fury?

Every Which Way but Loose (1978) or, Honky Tonk Monkey Business!

♥♥♥

One of the more curious 1970s phenomenons, James Fargo's Every Which Way but Loose

QUICK REVIEW:

Philo Beddoe is a truck driver, who is good at fist-fighting and lives with his orangutan Clive. He falls in love with a country singer, (Sondra Locke (Death Game (1977))), whom he pursues with bikers and the police at his heels!

Every Which Way but Loose is something of a crazy hillbilly comedy. It has something in the neighborhood of 400 fights in its, including Clint Eastwood (A Fistful of Dollars (1964)) beating a man with a fish. Our hero also hitches Clive up with a lady orangutan.
In a way this film is deeply speculative, cashing in on our fondness of our Simian friends, - but on the other hand, - why the hell not?!? It is also original and charming as few other films. Ruth Gordon (Jimmy the Kid (1982)) is a hoot in one of the film's many funny supporting parts as Ma, who takes her driver's license again and again. Clive is, by the way, played by orangutan Manis, who probably had the time of his life on the movie, after which he returned to life as a show monkey in Las Vegas.
The ending of the film is as untraditional as the rest of it: SPOILER Eastwood loses his grand fight and also doesn't get the girl.
Every Which Way but Loose is written by Jeremy Joe Kronsberg (Going Ape! (1981)) and directed by James Fargo (The Enforcer (1976)).

Related review:

Any Which Way You Can (1980) or, More Monkey Business!

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: Estimated 5.2 mil. $
Box office: Reportedly 106 mil. $
= Blockbuster
[Every Which Way but Loose was released December 20 and runs 114 minutes. Eastwood went against numerous advice from his production and agent teams in doing the film, which was shot from April 1978 in California, Colorado and New Mexico. The film was panned by critics but became Eastwood's biggest hit at the time and the second highest-grossing film of the year. It is reportedly still among the 200 highest grossing films of all time (adjusted for inflation.) The film opened to a 10.2 mil. $ opening weekend in North America, where it grossed 85 mil. $ (80.2 % of the total gross). It got a sequel in Any Which Way You Can (1980). 28,071 users have rated Every Which Way but Loose 3.1/5 on Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Every Which Way but Loose?

Damien: Omen II (1978) - Mimicking follow-up is a true turkey

♥

A poster for Don Taylor and Mike Hodges' successful Damien: Omen II

QUICK REVIEW:

Seven years after the events of the first film, (the masterpiece The Omen (1976)), devil-boy Damien lives with his rich, initially unsuspecting uncle and his family, until he is to go away to a military school.

Rarely has a phenomenal first film been followed by as poor a sequel as is the case here. The awfully titled Damien: Omen II is a big production, justified by the massive success of the original film, led by William Holden (The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)), who was there for what must have been a hefty paycheck, (let's not kid ourselves.) He was offered the Thorn-part in the original The Omen but turned it down due to his distaste of starring in a film of the devil, - but after the film's incredible success, he made sure to agree to do the sequel...
The tentative chills of the film are soon replaced by a sense of 'who-dies-next', which isn't scary at all, and worse is that the death scenarios are almost ridiculous more than once, SPOILER with the scene of the man who dies under the ice, - which changes from being glass-like to completely white and nontransparent between shots, - being the worst.
The promising premise of Omen II is wasted in what turns out to be nothing more than a stupid rehash, which attempts to match the brilliant first film as if filmmaking was nothing more than a can factory.
Stanley Mann (Firestarter (1984)) wrote the script, based on Harvey Bernhard's (Omen IV: The Awakening (1991, TV movie)) story and David Seltzer's characters (Bird on a Wire (1990)), and the film was initially directed by Mike Hodges (Flash Gordon (1980)), who was thought slow and therefore got replaced by Don Taylor (The Island of Dr. Moreau (1977)). The film is a case of the fatal combination; bad start, middle and end. - Damien: Omen II is just plain bad!

Willam Holden applies a stern face in Don Taylor and Mike Hodges' Damien: Omen II

In lieu of a trailer for the movie, not currently on Youtube, here is Jerry Goldsmith's (The Omen) opening theme

Cost: 6.8 mil. $
Box office: 26.5 mil. $ (North America only)
= Big hit (at least)
[Damien: Omen II was released June 9 and runs 107 minutes. The only returning actor is Lew McKern (The Blue Lagoon (1980)) as Bugenhagen, who, however, went uncredited. The film is mainly set in Chicago, and the Thorn Industries building is in fact Chicago's city hall, but filming also took place in Wisconsin. The film opened #1 in North America in just 525 theaters to an astounding 3.8 mil. $ first weekend. The franchise continued with The Final Conflict (1981), Omen IV: The Awakening (1991, TV movie), The Omen Legacy (2001, TV movie) and The Omen (2006, remake). Damien: Omen II is rotten at 41 % with a 5 critical average on Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Damien: Omen II?