GAS, FOOD LODGING (1992)

Ione Skye and Fairuza Balk are sisters living in a small New Mexico town where nothing ever happens.  There's no money because there's no jobs.  Their well-meaning mom works all the time as a waitress down at the truck stop, but because she works so much she's never home. The oldest girl passes all of her time with boys and the youngest watching movies down at the local movie theater.

Normal real life dramas happen: mom dates, the older girl gets fucked over by self-centered boys and the youngest searches for her father. Each of the women and the various men in their lives are well fleshed out, but I found my mind wandering during the movie. I really liked the story, but towards the end it became apparent it really wasn't going anywhere. Maybe that was the point of the movie, but I felt like the story needed a little more structure. The drama needed to be more raw. There were a few moments where I saw that flash of emotion I was looking for (the abortion argument, borrowing the $50, the kitchen arguments), but then the story would slow down again to a crawl. That's the fault of the script thought because the actors all did great jobs with what they were given, especially the three leads. I was also impressed with James Brolin's brief appearance. He really is a great actor.

I don't want to sound too negative about this movie though, I actually liked it despite its flaws and would watch it again.

DRUGSTORE GIRL (2003)

A large drugstore opens in a small town and four of the local business owners plan a revolt...until they meet Obayashi, a sexy drugstore employee who they all get the hots for instantly. They stalk her and learn that she plays lacrosse, so naturally they do the wise thing and start playing lacrosse themselves! And it fucking works! She finds out that they've been playing lacrosse and decides that she'll be their coach. Things snowball and before you know it they're playing other teams including a bunch of old housewives and some Native American Indians.

The story is wacky and makes very little sense, but yet somehow I enjoyed it and found it to be a fun and sweet bubblegum movie.  If you like silly movies, then check it out.

HELL NIGHT (1981)

I have a sweet spot for HELL NIGHT.  Ever since I saw first saw it on late night cable as a kid and it scared the shit out of me. Watching it now as grown man with a hairy chest, a 15 pound dick and urine that can burn it's way through an iceberg made out of lead, HELL NIGHT seems very tame in the violence department, but it still manages to create a lot of suspense thanks to the filmmakers using the novel idea of creating characters that the viewer actually like! Unlike most slashers where the characters are so annoying they can't get killed fast enough (I'm looking at you SORORITY ROW and LAID TO REST). The entire look of the film is very pleasing with an awesome spooky mansion, excellent lighting and all of the victims dressed in old-timey clothing.

The plot: four pledges trying to get into a college fraternity have to spend the night in a vacant mansion where a family was murdered 12 years ago. Naturally, the frat dudes have set up some pranks to scare the pledges, but shit soon hits the fan when people start getting killed for realz!

Fun movie, but I would like to complain about the small number of victims. With only a total of 7 people inside the mansion there's not going to be a lot of action and that's where HELL NIGHT falls short. The suspense and buildup are great, but I would have liked it much better if there had been more people involved. It would have been awesome to see the pledges trying to turn the tables on the frat people then having the frat people and the pledges join together against the killers for the big bloodbath at the end. Just a thought. Also, some quality nudity and gore would have been nice. As it is though, HELL NIGHT if a fun lightweight 80's slasher.  Recommended for sure.

True story: I was watching this film once at a friend's house when his very young son came walking in the room.  It was towards the end where the bad guy was chasing everybody around and my friend's kid was on the verge of freaking out when I told him not to worry because that is just the Hug Monster and all he wants is a hug, but the the other people don't want a hug from him because he's so smelly.

S&M HUNTER (1986)

While doing some research about Yutaka Ikejima, the director of THE JAPANESE WIFE NEXT DOOR, I came across this 1986 shocker about a gay dude who's boyfriend has been kidnapped by an all female high school gang and forced to have sex with them against his will. The gay guy is desperate so he enlists the help of "S&M Hunter" to rescue his boyfriend. S&M Hunter is a friendly sadist who, faster than a blink of an eye, can tie up a woman and give her pleasure she didn't even know was imaginable. What he doesn't know is the newest member of the gang is the girl who knocked out one of his eyeballs in their last fight. She also dresses up like a Nazi SS officer for some unknown reason.

At only an hour long there's no time to bullshit. It's all action and sex the entire movie with only the barest amount of time spent on talking, but even then it's hilarious cause they say some crazy shit. I enjoyed S&M HUNTER a lot. The comic part were very funny, but I do have to complain that none of the girls were above averagee, so that really put a damper on the sex scenes.

I'm not sure if it's worth buying, but if you can find a copy to rent it's definitely worth watching. I was especially pleased at the seriousness to the two gay characters. It's rare to see a exploitation movie from the 1980's where the gay characters weren't treated as a joke.