WEST SIDE STORY (1961)

Russ Tamblyn (eight years before getting promoted to being the leader of the Satans in SATAN'S SADISTS) is the leader of the Jets.  A small "American" gang that has a rivalry with a gang of Puerto Rican immigrants called the Sharks.  Both gangs are based out of the Lincoln Square neighborhood in Manhattan and are constantly at each others throat.  Things go from bad to worse though when the sister (Natalie Wood) of the Sharks leader falls in love with the ex-leader (Richard Beymer) of the Jets.  Things really go south when people start stabbing each other to death!

WEST SIDE STORY can best be described as Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" modernized as a "juvenile delinquency" film (they were popular in the late '50's/early '60's) and told through lots of awesome song and dance numbers...my personal favorite being "America".

Anybody interested with American musicals needs to watch WEST SIDE STORY.  Not only is it a very interesting time capsule into the early 1960's, but the music, dancing, singing and choreography are all simply amazing.  And let's not forget the colors and the cinematography!  And the cast!

Oh well, I could keep going on and on about how much I enjoy WEST SIDE STORY, but I think it'd be best if you just go watch it for yourself.  Have fun and remember to be cool, boy.  Breeze it, buzz it, easy does it.  Just play it cool, boy, real cool!

DARK NIGHT OF THE SCARECROW (1981)

Originally broadcasted on CBS on October 24, 1981, DARK NIGHT OF THE SCARECROW tells the somewhat disturbing (for network TV) story of a young, small town girl who is friends with an intellectually disabled man named Bubba.  One day a dog attacks the girl and, thinking that Bubba is to blame, four hot-headed rednecks (lead by a perverted mailman who secretly has the hots for the little girl) hunt down Bubba and find him hiding in a scarecrow outfit.  They kill him and stage it to look like self-defense.  Bubba comes back from the grave dressed as the scarecrow and fucks them all up.

For an early 80's TV movie, DARK NIGHT OF THE SCARECROW is very dated, but it's still watchable.  I remember watching it on TV when I was a little girl and it was terrifying, but watching it now as a ruggedly handsome adult I barely even peed my pants at all during the infamous tree-shredder scene.  The one thing that did surprise me was just how slimy Charles Durning's character was.  Jesus Christ, this dude was creepy as fook.  Leering at the little girl, stalking her, grabbing at her, shoveling down food, always wearing the mailman outfit day and night, jumping off a tombstone!

DARK NIGHT OF THE SCARECROW isn't the best horror TV movie ever and honestly it's not even scary at all, but the story is interesting and the story moves along at a nice pace.  Worth a watch for fans of older TV movies.

CALIGULA REINCARNATED AS NERO (1982)

[Update 08/31/2021: Deleted most of the review.  Need to redo it completely. Fix the screenshots also.]

"Oh, I don't feel like nibbling your nipples now!""

Nero's loving mother wants her son to be emperor, so she kills her husband with poisoned mushrooms and Nero is crowned emperor. He's cool for awhile, doing his mother's bidding and engaging in unprotected sex, but soon he gets bored with normal sex and starts exploring the depths of freakiness and madness.

This film has it all: wall-to-wall nudity, orgies, incest, castration, gladiators, a gladiator revolt, lots of lesbian action, full frontal male nudity, rape, weird dancing, whippings, suicide, a muscled-up little person, gay 2nd base, Christians fed to the lions, cheap sets, tear collecting, decapitation and a lot of insane raving! It's one act of depraved lunacy right after another.