RAZORBACK (1984)

RAZORBACK is an odd film. Not because there's a pissed off pig the size of a van killing people (that's just strange), but because it's really not that great of a movie and yet I couldn't take my eyes off it. The reason being is the cinematography by Dean (THE ROAD WARRIOR, DANCES WITH WOLVES, APOCALYPTO) Semler is excellent. I've seen dozens of killer mutant animal movies and most of them are pretty boring when the creature's not on screen, but not RAZORBACK. Each scene was a delight and strange as it might sound, this movie could probably be shown in film school...not that I have any idea what film school is like.

Anyway, down in beautiful Australia you got this huge razorback going around squealing and gnawing on people. A reporter from America comes down on assignment to do a report on kangaroo hunting and end up gets killed by the giant pig. Her husband is fed some bullshit story about how she fell down a mineshaft so he comes down and he wants some straight answers goddamn it!!!

None of that really matters cuz all you want to see is the giant pig in action. Unfortunately we never get any great shots of him running around kicking ass, it's all pretty much shoulder and face shots, but it works. No gore, no tits, but the camerawork is amazing. Worth a watch.

RAWHEAD REX (1986)

RAWHEAD REX doesn't mess around. Right from the beginning, he's kicking ass and ripping people's faces off!

A farmer in Ireland is clearing a field when he comes across some big rock with ancient-looking writing on it. A normal person would maybe call a museum or a lawyer or something, but nope, not this genius. This guy knocks it over and out pops Rawhead Rex like a fucking jack-in-the-box! Boom! He's been buried down there forever, so to make up for lost time, he runs around for the rest of the movie killing everybody he sees. The only break he takes from stomping mudholes in people's asses is when he urinates on a priest! That's awesome.

I enjoyed RR when it came out 300 years ago, but it’s pretty dated nowadays. Rawhead still looks cool though in an 80's monster kind of way, fait amount of violence, quick tits, average pace, a beautiful Irish countryside setting, less than good acting.  RAWHEAD REX is worth checking out for fans of 1980’s monster movies.

Question: why didn't Rawhead kill the pregnant woman? I thought for sure he was going to jump on her belly like it was trampoline and shoot the fetus out her butthole, but then the scene just cuts off. Did I miss something?

SHAME (1968)

[Update 03/15/2022: Deleting review and the shitty screenshots.  Need to rewatch this film and redo this review completely. Fix the screenshots also.]

LIFE WITH FATHER (1947)

[Update 03/28/2021: Need to redo this review completely. Fix the screenshots also.]

Way back in ye olde 1880's NYC there's a loud, domestic tyrant of a father/husband (William Powell) who bellows all the time and rules his family with an iron fist...or so it appears.  In reality, his dingbat wife (Irene Dunne) ignores his constant screaming and pretty much lives her life in complete dream world. They have four boys who do normal boy stuff. That's the makings of good film, I guess, but just a few minutes into it Dunne finds out her husband hasn't been baptized!  The horror.  So for the remainder of the film she makes his life a living Hell and pesters him endlessly to get baptized. Is that suppose to be funny?  I just found it depressing.  This dude provides for his family, so they can live in absolute luxury and then when he goes home he has to listen to his wife preaching to him nonstop.  Ugh.

Powell and Dunne both do fine with their terrible roles, but that ain't saying much.  The only reason I can think of watching this downbeat clunker is Elizabeth Taylor.  Maybe I'll revisit LIFE WITH FATHER one day, but as for now I was hugely disappointed with it.  Skip it.