2020s
Plot: troubled Vietnam vet turns vigilante to restore order in his city. Just two years ago French indie filmmaker Benjamin Combes made the coolest retro 80s action movie. That was Commando Ninja (2018) and it was lensed over a two-year period on a modest €35,000 budget. A 70-minute love
2010s
Plot: novelist vows to end government and corporate corruption. Staggeringly incompetent on just about every level, impenetrable for the uninitiated, jarringly disjointed for the bad cinema aficionado, and incomprehensible for everybody else Fateful Findings is Neil Breen’s undiluted masterpiece. Breen flabbergasted the world with Double Down (2005) and I
1990s
Plot: a nuclear trigger is stolen. LETHAL Ladies are on the case. After the strange detours and diversions that were the more adventure-oriented Savage Beach (1989) and the incredibly cynical Do Or Die (1991) Hawaiian low-budget action king Andy Sidaris restored the franchise to its former glory with Hard Hunted.
2010s
Plot: one woman dares stand up against the tyrannical oppressor. About the last place where you’d expect to see a Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) knock-off would be Mainland China. Nothing could be further from the truth, however. If anything, Mainland China has usurped the throne of Italy, Indonesia,
1990s
Plot: sculptress and soldier defend themselves from homicidal cyborg. Richard Stanley’s feature debut arrived with quite a bit of buzz in the advance press. “Ferocious, stylish, and hallucinatory,” wrote Clive Barker. “As terrifying as Alien,” gushed US Magazine and Fangoria boldly claimed it was, “the best science-fiction horror film
2010s
Plot: two friends reconnect and engage in a passionate, steamy affair. Historically there are two ways for directors to get their foot in the door. That’s either by doing a horror (typically a slasher because of how cost efficient they tend to be) or a raunchy comedy. Miguel Chávez
1990s
Plot: 10 million dollars, 1000 guns, 100 criminals, 1 winner. Even the marginally talented occassionally catch lightning in a bottle. Case in point: Albert Pyun and his Mean Guns. In an attempt to imitate Quentin Tarantino he, either by design or by complete accident, stumbled onto a good idea. Pyun
1970s
Plot: twin brothers fall under the spell of a mysterious countess. The Devil’s Wedding Night (released domestically as Il Plenilunio delle Vergini or Full Moon of the Virgins) was another cheapie bankrolled to capitalize on the gothic horror revival craze in the marquee year of 1973. Directed by spaghetti
2010s
Plot: Hong Kong babes must partake in clandestine martial arts tournament. Kick Ass Girls (released domestically as 爆3俏嬌娃, or roughly translated, Explosive 3) is a Mainland China Bloodsport (1988) or Lionheart (1990) derivate aimed specifically at young adult girls, or so it seems at least. There’s physical comedy, romance,
1970s
Plot: where Loredana goes, everybody else follows... Every country has its softcore sex goddess. Holland had Nada van Nie, Germany had the delectable trio of Olivia Pascal, Ursula Buchfellner, and Betty Vergés; Sweden had Christina Lindberg, Solveig Andersson, and Leena Skoog; Denmark had Birte Tove, and in Spain there were
2010s
Plot: resurrected vampire lord vows to cover the world in darkness… Vurdalaki (released domestically as Вурдалаки, in most of Europe as Vamps, and in North America as Ghouls) is probably the closest a contemporary gothic horror has come to the mid-sixties model. Also not unimportant is that Vurdalaki is a
1970s
Plot: Waldemar Daninsky calls upon Dr. Henry Jekyll to cure his lycantropy The fifth installment in the continuing saga of cursed Polish nobleman Waldemar Daninsky benefitted from an experienced cast and director. Being nestled in between the masterful gothic horror - and erotic vampirism tour de force The Werewolf Versus