Originally published at Indulgences. You can comment here or there.

So sorry for no movie review last weekend. My brain needed a minor break from watching B films. This week I wanted to watch a classic film, and one that I had not seen before. After a few minutes browsing recommendations online, Invasion of the Body Snatchers seemed the obvious choice. How silly that in all my years I hadn’t see this until now. I sure am glad I did–this is a great one!

After returning home from a short holiday Dr. Miles Bennell finds that a number of people in town are acting quite peculiar. Around the same time Dr. Bennell is reunited with a former flame, Becky. Becky quickly realizes that her cousin Wilma is among those acting strange. Suddenly afraid of their Uncle Ira Wilma continues to go on about how “Uncle Ira isn’t Uncle Ira anymore”. It isn’t until late one night when Miles’ friend Jack calls him over to his house, that they realize the severity of what is going on in town. When Miles and Becky arrive at Jack’s house, he shows them a body he found. A body with no life, no expressions, and completely void of emotion. However it does have an eery resemblance to Jack. They soon discover that these creatures or “pod people” are replacing the humans for which they look like, and are completely unidentifiable other than their lack of emotions. Like all other films in this genre it soon becomes a race for two people to save the entire planet from these Body Snatchers.

This movie was a lot of fun to watch. The film was pretty fast paced, and unlike a lot of old movies–kept my attention throughout the entire film! The theme of this movie reminded me a lot of I Married a Monster from Outer Space, and when I was looking at the Wikipedia page for this film, they said the same thing. If you are just getting started on the B-movies, this would be a great place to start. Now I can’t wait to see all the remakes they did of this 1956 classic!

Originally published at Indulgences. You can comment here or there.

After I rented Cat Women of the Moon, this was one of the films that Blockbuster Online recommended to me. I was really excited about this one because it had pretty good reviews, unlike a lot of those old campy movies! When we got the film we watched it half way through before it started to skip terribly, eventually just freezing completely. After trying to clean the disc off, and having the same problem, we reported it, and had to wait almost a week to finish watching this movie!

Queen of Outer Space’s theme seems quite typical of many sci-fi films of the late 50’s and early 60’s. A ship full of men head to the moon and they crash land in some mysterious location. Naturally, the place they land is inhabited only by gorgeous women with long legs, short skirts, and large bouffants. Though many sci-fi films followed that formula, this one tops all others, not only because it stars Zsa Zsa Gabor, but because it goes above and beyond most films of that era in its usage of sexual connotation.

After crash landing in on an unknown planet, the four men aboard get out to investigate. They oldest of the crew quickly concludes that they are on the planet Venus. After a less than welcome greeting from the women of the planet, they quickly learn that the planet is ruled by the evil, masked queen, Yllana, and that the men went extinct many years before. They quickly meet Talleah (Zsa Zsa Gabor) who tells them of her plan to try and over throw the queen. After a brief stint with the queen, one of the men removes her mask to find that her face is horribly disfigured. Yllana explains that men did it to her, the radiation from wars caused her scars. The now furious queen decides that the only choice she has is to destroy the Earth, and all the men on it. The four men on Venus need to fight the evil queen for their lives, the lives of their ladies, and for every single person on Earth.

While there is a storyline somewhere in this movie, it is hard to pay attention when all you see on the screen is men and women making kissy faces at each other. While the three younger men quickly find ladies to latch onto, the oldest man in the bunch gets the pleasure of watching the three couples have a steamy make out session in a cave, while trying to hide from Queen Yllana. This movie was really worth the wait. It was highly amusing, and the picture was so clear and easy to watch. Zsa Zsa and her accent were never explained….was she from the opposite side of Venus?

Originally published at Indulgences. You can comment here or there.

This movie is such a huge cult classic. I can’t remember the first time I saw it, but I know I know that I did fall in love immediately. Something about movies about ‘bad girls’ or ‘girl gangs’ just really amuses and intrigues me.

The film is about three go-go dancers looking to get some thrills in the dessert. As they race around in their fast cars, they quickly discover a couple on their way out to the dessert as well. The head of the pack, Varla, savagely murders the boyfriend then takes the girlfriend, Linda, hostage. The three girls hop into their separate cars and drive off to a gas station. One of the girls, Billie, sees a good looking guy pushing a man in a wheel chair. The gas attendant tells the girls that the father is extremely wealthy, and the son, who is pushing him has the brain of a vegetable. Varla decides that the pack should follow them out to their house to steal the old man’s money. Soon after arriving at the Ranch the girls are discovered. They tell the old man that Linda was involved in a freak accident, is the daughter of politicians, and is mentally unstable, so they have to tie her up and gag her and return her to her parents. The old man invites the girls to lunch, and they accept. From here on out it becomes a knock down, drag out race for every person’s life, the money, and love.

Everything about this movie is high drama, and action packed. This film is quite possibly the ultimate in young boy fantasies. There are girls who like girls, girls who like boys, girls who fight with each other, revealing midriffs, low cut tops, girls in bikinis, car races, gun battles, weight lifting, and so much more. Everyone should see this movie because it is such a classic gem.

Originally published at Indulgences. You can comment here or there.

I watched this movie about a year ago with my husband. I thought it was hysterically entertaining, but he on the other hand thought it was a “sack of crap”. Recently I put it on again, and it was much more well received the second time around.  I’m not exactly sure what changed for him, but he too thought it was hilarious.

When several people in California turn up dead, of unknown causes, the authorities get involved. After a little investigation they conclude that the deaths were brought upon by ’sexual exhaustion’. With a cast of buxom beauties in dark sunglasses, it is soon revealed that the women in the film are injecting themselves with hormones from bees in order to have bigger busts, smaller waists, and to reverse any signs of aging. Unfortunately for these women, the hormone injections have some nasty side affects. After taking these injections, the women are officially transformed into ‘bee girls’. After the transformations their entire eye turns black, so they are forced to wear sunglasses in order to fit in to society. Another affect is that they have a constant desire to mate. Putting two and two together, the officials soon figure out that these bee girls are behind it all.

This 1973 grindhouse film is a cross between soft core porn and a monster movie. Unlike most classic monster movies however, the victim experiences extreme happiness in his last seconds alive.

This film is about as good as it came in the 1970’s for B films. With gorgeous women with feathered hair and all sorts of promiscuous sex, one may catch themselves saying “bom chika bow wow” repeatedly during the coarse of the movie. Nudity aside, this movie is actually pretty entertaining. It’s one of those movies, that are so ridiculous that you find yourself laughing over the intense and suspenseful scenes. The close ups on the women’s eyes are truly one of the creepiest things I have ever seen. One of the best bits of the movie to watch out for is when they show the bee girls’ point of view.

Originally published at Indulgences. You can comment here or there.

This week we signed up for Blockbuster.com to avoid all the trouble of going to the dreaded video store. It also saves us a considerable amount of money, and their are far more videos.

We have used Blockbuster online before, along with Netflix, both at the same time for a small period of time. I love how you can browse through films you liked, get recommendations, and rate the films with just a click of a button. Of course, knowing me, I start clicking on all the films that have one star ratings. My queue is now filled with monster movies, sci-fi thrillers, and grindhouse style movies. I can’t wait!

This movie was the first film we received in the mail. I chose it because it was written by one of my favorite filmmakers; Edward D. Wood Jr. According to Wikipedia, it was also the most financially successful film that had Ed Wood’s input.

This movie is the story of what happens to teenage girls when they get everything they ever wanted. The lead in this movie is Paula Parkins, the daughter of a well to do couple who give her everything but attention. With the lack of attention and structure in her life Paula quickly looks elsewhere for her kicks. She gets some girls together and organizes a girl gang. The girls start robbing and terrorizing innocent victims and establishments. At one point the girls find a couple parked upon Lover’s Lane. They tie up the girl, and bring the boy into the woods and rape him. The girls soon get in connection with another girl, during a steamy makeout party, who wants a local school to be vandalized. Somehow the police get tipped off, and the film quickly becomes a high speed chase and gun battle, ending the girls’ violence spree, with a shocking surprise ending.

With a classic good girls gone bad storyline, this film sort of captures your attention, as you want to see what crazy antics these young girls pull next. With their makeout pajama party, rape, guns, high speed chases, and bullet bras, this is the perfect example of what the life of a bad girl was supposed to be. It is a classic 50’s ‘movie with a moral’ film. Teenagers gone violent due to the parent’s poor parenting. With a lack of money the wardrobe and props were very limited. According to this film vandalizing a school merely means turning desks on their side, and being shot produces no blood whatsoever. Nevertheless, these are the things that I loved about this film. It’s limited budget, under dramatic acting, tight sweaters, and controversial subject are all classic Ed Wood style.

Originally published at Indulgences. You can comment here or there.

I almost never go to the video store, when we want to rent a movie. The reason for this is that I absolutely despise going with Russ. I can go alone, or he can go. We can not go together. I am the sort of person that wants to be in and out, get home and watch the darn thing, and he is the type that has been known to stroll casually around the store, picking up every other box and reading the thing. I always end up getting impatient and bored, so I always send him. He has good taste in movies, so it almost always works out for the best.

Well this week was no exception, I didn’t have anything I was wanting to watch, but I told him to pick up some goofy B-movie, so I could review it on Saturday night. He did incredibly well when he picked out “I Married a Monster from Outer Space”.

This 1958 film is about a pair of newlyweds, Marge and Bill. On the eve of their wedding Bill goes out drinking with his buddies. On his way home he makes a stop, where he is abducted by aliens. The next morning Bill struggles to make it to the wedding on time, but at the last minute shows up and the two get married. Shortly after their wedding Marge begins noticing some very odd changes in the way Bill behaves. Once a social drinker, suddenly becomes allergic to alcohol. On top of that animals no longer like him, and he suddenly doesn’t know what thunder is. Marge is also concerned with her inability to get pregnant after a year of marriage. One day after noticing Bill’s odd behavior she follows him out to the woods, where she sees his true alien self conversing with others of his type. Scared she runs back to town where she tries to warn everyone, but like any monster movie, no one believes her. It is soon discovered that all the men in town are aliens, and they are waiting for the right time to breed with the women, to produce alien offspring. It soon becomes a race with the clock, as Marge tries to warn other of what is going on.

With a tag line like “The bride wore terror” one can only expect to be in for a treat. This film doesn’t fail to deliver either. It is an incredibly easy to watch film, more so than most B-movies in my opinion. It had pretty good special affects for it’s time, though there are a few scenes were it is supposed to be night and it is clearly day.  One of the best parts to look out for is during the lightning scene when Bill’s true, alien face is shown every time lighting strikes.  If you are newly wed, or about to be married, I would definitely recommend you see this film….for your own safety.

Originally published at Indulgences. You can comment here or there.

I chose this movie as the second Saturday Night Movie review because it was made alongside of last week’s film, The Giant Gila Monster, and the two were shown as a double feature at Drive-Ins. This low budget horror film was made in 1959 and is a classic amongst monster movie enthusiasts. It falls perfectly into the ’so bad it’s good’ category.

The film starts out with Thorne Sherman and his first mate, who are set to deliver supplies to a group of people on a very remote island. On the island are a scientist named Dr. Craigis, his assistant, his daughter, Anne, and her fiance. Shortly after delivering the supplies it becomes quite apparent that a hurricane is coming in, and it would be best to stay on the island until the storm passes. Dr. Craigis tries desperately to get Thorne to leave due to violent animals on the island, but Thorne is adamant, and stays on shore. It is soon learned from Anne that the island is filled with giant shrews. These giant shrews are a side affect of Dr. Craigis’s experiments, and as they grow their food supply quickly depletes. With a lack of small animals to feed on, the giant shrews quickly start hunting humans. Soon they have burrowed into the basement of the house. As the group of people start shrinking it becomes apparent to the remaining, that they need to leave the island as quickly as possible.

Starring James Best (Sheriff Roscoe P. Coltrane from The Dukes of Hazard) as Thorne and Ingrid Goude (1957 Miss Universe) as Anne, this movie is fun for a good laugh. Though the giant shrews may have caused quite a scare at the time of its release, these dogs with rugs attached to their backs are far from scary. The close ups of the shrews are hairy puppets with long toothed snarls, and very much resemble the ‘R.O.U.S.’ or ‘rodents of unusual sizes’ from Princess Bride. The film is filled with high pitched screeching of the shrews, along with a few occasional barks. While the intended emotions are not achieved from the viewer this movie is good old low budget fun, and best of all, only 70 minutes long!

Originally published at Indulgences. You can comment here or there.

Ghost World has been one of my favorite movies since it came out in 2001. Based on the graphic novel by Daniel Clowes, every bit of this movie is fun, quirky, and hilarious. As a newly graduated high school student in 2001, I identified perfectly with Enid’s character and envied her carefree sense of dress.

So how can one achieve the youthful, and slightly off kilter look of Thora Birch’s character? Easy!
♥ A black bob haircut is a must.
♥ Glasses are the ultimate accessory. Buddy Holly style is the way to go, though anything with rhinestones are perfect!
♥ Shop for tees in the little boys section of your thrift store. Look for old cartoons or other quirky subjects.
♥ Combat boots complete every Enid outfit.
♥ Shirt dresses are easy, comfortable, and especially great in vintage prints.

1. Shirt from Boundless NY 2. Boots from Doc Martins 3. Glasses from Glasses on Web 4. Bag from Fun Fashion Accessories 6. Skirt from Shopper’s Choice

1. Jacket from Top Shop 2. Creepers from Pleasure USA 3. Glasses from Glasses on Web 4. Pants from Wet Seal 5. Tee from Old Navy

1. Necklace from Refinery 29 2. Boots from Zappos 3. Dress unavailable 4. Glasses from Oliver Peoples

Originally published at Indulgences. You can comment here or there.

When I started this blog (over a month ago now!) I knew that I wanted it to be more like an online magazine than my past, more personal blogs. Though I do, and probably will continue to, talk about myself a bit, I want to focus more on things that interest me than how my day went. I have several ideas in my head that have yet to make it into the blog (but just you wait!). One of the things I knew I wanted to do when it began was have a regular section devoted to reviewing movies.

My husband and I are huge movie buffs. While we both like a wide array of genres, we both are especially drawn to certain types of movies, he is a bit more into the classic old films, and I am a bit more into the cult or B movies. We tend to watch a lot of “bad movies”. Now, when I say bad, I’m not talking about the terribly written romantic comedies or spoof movies that they have out these days (uhh…Meet the Spartans….really now, is that necessary?). I love the low budget (as well as quality) films of the 50’s, 60’s, & 70’s. I love monster movies, and Sci-Fi, and all the other quirky, yet original films that where made in similar production styles. Something about their simplicity, originality, and terrible acting just really draws me in. Maybe it is from all the years of watching Mystery Science Theatre 3000.

The Giant Gila Monster is the tale of a small town in Texas that starts being terrorized by a giant monster. When a teenage couple goes missing, some friends offer to help the town sheriff to solve the mystery of their disappearance. After several days of searching, their car is finally found abandoned in a ditch. The main character, Chase, along with the Sheriff realize there is something strange going on when they realize that the skid marks from where the cars went off the road are at exact right angles to the direction of the tires. It isn’t until later in the film when the gila monster attacks a train that the town realizes just what they are dealing with. It soon becomes a race to stop the plus sized reptile, before it kills the entire town, and Chase’s younger sister.

The Giant Gila Monster is the sort of movie that makes me wish for simpler times. The main character is a good looking guy who wows his girlfriend and younger sister with his singing and ukulele playing. All the teens in this town are well off kids, with a good head on their shoulders, and a love for dancing. With drag racing, sock hops and hot rods, the gila monster soon becomes only a supporting character to these stereotypical 50’s teenagers. With a constant theme of drinking and driving this movie really makes you realize how foreign life in the 1950’s is to us.

This is a fun and easy to watch movie. The music in this movie is so upbeat and fun, it really makes you want to put on your saddle shoes and join in. The effects may have been captivating in 1959, but the only time you see the reptile look as big as he is said to be, is when he is placed next to some matchbox cars, or when he attacks a model train. Nevertheless, this movie has a special place in my heart, and is B-movie gold!

The Giant Gila Monster is public domain so can be viewed for free online. The screen is a bit small, so to get the full affect, I suggest renting the movie!