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This weeks episode is a discussion of Bernard Hirschenson’s directed picture, Pick-Up (1975). Crown International Pictures slapped a misleading title on the poster to lure people in. They then they added a good looking female model to the poster that isn’t in the picture. In a nutshell, Pick-Up is a LIE and Mike, Mark and Iris flesh that LIE out so that you don’t have to. You’re welcome!
EP158 Listening Portals RSS feed: EP158 – Pick-Up Libsyn: EP158 – Pick-Up Direct download: EP158_bbandbc_pickup.mp3 iTunes: EP158 – Pick-Up Stitcher Smart Radio: EP158 – Pick-Up
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Coming Up Next Week: Pieces (1982)
The Plot: Land of the Minotaur begins with a murderous ritual. Two unknown people, a man and a woman, are strapped to stone tables and are quickly executed by a small group of cultist, one which includes the evil Baron Corofax (Peter Cushing).
We next meet Father Roche (Donald Pleasence), who meets a couple friends and puts them up in his home for the night. While Roche is asleep, these friends sneak out of his home in search of a tomb in which they believe a couple of people have gone missing. While in the tomb, they find the bodies of the missing and encounter a large stone Minotaur, who scoots along the floor threatening them.
As the film progresses, Father Roche calls two more friends to help him search for the missing three. Upon searching the tomb themselves, they find the ritual room seen earlier in the film. At this point, Baron Corofax invites Father Roche and his friends over for a chat and we come to learn that this film is heavy on dialogue and clearly a paycheck for Pleasence and Cushing.
The Takeaway: Land of the Minotaur is a somewhat misleading title as is the original movie poster. If looking at the poster, one might think they’re getting ready to watch a fantasy film, or maybe even an Indiana Jones like adventure film, yet, the film is far from either of these. The original title would have better sufficed, The Devil’s Men , as the film is about a cult who worships a stone minotaur and sacrifices those who enter the minotaurs cavern. That being said, the film is a rather dull journey that’s heavy on dialogue and light on plot.
Film Facts: Land of the Minotaur (aka The Devil’s Men – a more appropriate title) was directed by Kostas Karagiannis and written by Arthur Rowe. The film was distributed by Crown International Pictures and was released in August of 1976. As a director, Karagiannis has 146 director credits on his IMDB resume, which most where produced in his native land of Greese. Writer Arthur Rowe has an interesting resume to say the least. Most of his work can be found in TV. He wrote for shows such as The Girl From U.N.C.L.E. (1966-1977), Mission Impossible (1966), The Streets of San Francisco (1972) and Starsky and Hutch (1975) to name a few. He also penned the screenplays for Zepplin (1972) and The Magnificent Seven Ride! (1972).
Both Donald Pleasence and Peter Cushing where staples in cinema by the time they agreed to work in Land of the Minotaur . One year after this film, Cushing went on to play Grand Moft Tarkin in Star Wars (1977) but is often remembered as Professor Van Helsing or Baron Frankenstein (among many other roles) while working with Hammer Film Productions. Pleasence went onto play Dr. Sam Loomis in John Carpenter’s Halloween (1978) and appeared in a total of 223 TV/Film productions over the many years he worked.
Thoughts In My Head: – Ahh, nothing like a human sacrifice to start a film – I have a feeling this will be classic, classically bad that is – People in this film like to stare blankly at each other – Laurie bathes like every 10 minutes, but we don’t get to see her naked, sigh… – This is a rather slow burn – Oh, the stone minotaur has a penis – This should have been called Land of the talking Minotaur – 5 more minutes left, yay – Bullets won’t stop these cultist, but a cross does the job
Favorite Badass or Badass Moment: Sorry kids, no badasses in this one Favorite Boobs or Boobs in a Scene: Sorry kids, no boobs in this one Favorite Death Scene: While there are deaths in the film, they’re nothing to write home about
Boob Count: 0 pair Body Count: 9
IMDB Rating: 4.0 / 10 My Rating: 3.5 / 10
Final Thoughts: Land of the Minotaur might be of interest for fans of Donald Pleasence or Peter Cushing. However, and aside from this, Land of the Minotaur is a rather dull outing as there are far better cultist sub-genre horror films to be had.
The Plot: The Pom Pom Girls begins on the beach where several girls practice cheer-leading routines. Once this scene breaks, a couple of the gals hop into a red 55 Chevy to go for a spin with a couple of guys. Back at high school, we see that the school is having cheer-leading tryouts.
While back in school, we learn that there’s some sort of rivalry with another school as there’s a big upcoming football game and the kids from one school are pranking the kids at the other and vice versa. One such prank is a fire truck being stolen to wet down the opposing football team as they practice.
As The Pom Pom Girls progresses, kids from both schools continue to prank each other in a fun, harmless fashion. At this point during the film, a prep-rally speech from the principle tells the kids that under cover police officers will be at all of the upcoming football games looking for kids smoking pot.
The Takeaway: The Pom Pom Girls is a fun, yet somewhat slow film to watch. There’s little to no nudity up to the 65 minute mark, but honestly, the film isn’t about naked girls, it’s about the football rivalry between two schools and the pranks that ensue between each school. In that regard, the film works well as each prank is fun and harmless in nature. Despite its slow pace, direction from Ruben is serviceable and the chemistry and performances between the guys and girls make the film worth watching. It’s good fun!
Film Facts: The Pom Pom Girls was written, produced and directed by Joseph Ruben. The film was distributed by Crown International Pictures and was released in May of 1976 and grossed nearly $18,000,000, making it a massive success considering the films low budget. Joseph Ruben went on to direct films such as Dreamscape (1984), The Stepfather (1987), Sleeping With The Enemy (1991) and The Good Son (1993). Robert Carradine’s career sprouted legs after The Pom Pom Girls as he went on to appear in The Big Red One (1980), Revenge of the Nerds (1984), The Tommyknockers (1993) and can be seen in Quentin Tarantino’s upcoming film Django Unchained (2012) as Tracker Lex.
Thoughts In My Head: – I miss the 70s and all that camel-toe – Boobies (took long enough, 15 min mark) – Robert Carradine looks so young, that’s because he is… – I think one of these kids is gonna plug the teacher – For some reason I was under the impression there where naked girls in this film – I smell a food fight, jeez, really – More boobs… – These silly boys are always fighting – OK, boob time (girls locker room scene) – I’m happy the boys shower scene didn’t turn into a sausage-fest – Shit, is the football coach a cop? – Oh fuck, did Johnny go over the edge – LOL, guess not…
Favorite Badass or Badass Moment: Sorry kids, no badass in this one Favorite Boobs or Boobs in a Scene: The shower scene, after all, this is where the boobs are Favorite Death Scene: Sorry kids, no deaths in this one
Boob Count: 7 pair Body Count: 0
IMDB Rating: 5.0 / 10 My Rating: 5.5 / 10
Final Thoughts: The Pom Pom Girls turns out to be a somewhat slow, yet fun teenage sex comedy from the mid 70’s with little to no sex in the comedy. And while I give it just an above average score, it’s a fun drive-in romp worth watching.
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Podcast Listening Portals Recent Posts EP161 – Best of 2015 Upcoming Top and Bottom 5 of 2015 EP160 – Game Show Models EP159 – Pieces EP158 – Pick-Up EP157 – Snuff EP156 – The Children EP155 – Porno Holocaust EP154 – The Astro-Zombies EP153 – Erotic Nights of the Living Dead EP152 – Miami Connection EPB02 – Dinosaur Island EP151 – Contamination EP150 – The Legend of Boggy Creek EP149 – Sugar Hill EP148 – The Strange Colour of Your Body’s Tears EP147 – Bikini Drive-In EP146 – Hey Slappy (Jason X) EP145 – Savage Vengeance EP144 – Westworld EP143 – Gila! EP142 – The Killer EP141 – The Hamburger Pimp EP140 – Detroit 9000 EP139 – Viva Knievel! EP138 – Night of the Comet EP137 – The Amazing Transplant EP136 – Night of the Bloody Rapes EP135 – Virgin Witch EP134 – Hideout in the Sun Follow BB&BCs via Email Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. Join 1,091 other followers Blog at WordPress.com. The Parament Theme . Follow Follow “Badasses, Boobs and Body Counts” Get every new post delivered to your Inbox. Join 1,091 other followers Build a website with WordPress.com Send to Email Address Your Name Your Email Address Cancel Post was not sent - check your email addresses! Email check failed, please try again Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email. %d bloggers like this:
Recent Posts EP161 – Best of 2015 Upcoming Top and Bottom 5 of 2015 EP160 – Game Show Models EP159 – Pieces EP158 – Pick-Up EP157 – Snuff EP156 – The Children EP155 – Porno Holocaust EP154 – The Astro-Zombies EP153 – Erotic Nights of the Living Dead EP152 – Miami Connection EPB02 – Dinosaur Island EP151 – Contamination EP150 – The Legend of Boggy Creek EP149 – Sugar Hill EP148 – The Strange Colour of Your Body’s Tears EP147 – Bikini Drive-In EP146 – Hey Slappy (Jason X) EP145 – Savage Vengeance EP144 – Westworld EP143 – Gila! EP142 – The Killer EP141 – The Hamburger Pimp EP140 – Detroit 9000 EP139 – Viva Knievel! EP138 – Night of the Comet EP137 – The Amazing Transplant EP136 – Night of the Bloody Rapes EP135 – Virgin Witch EP134 – Hideout in the Sun
EP161 – Best of 2015
Upcoming Top and Bottom 5 of 2015
EP160 – Game Show Models
EP159 – Pieces
EP158 – Pick-Up
EP157 – Snuff
EP156 – The Children
EP155 – Porno Holocaust
EP154 – The Astro-Zombies
EP153 – Erotic Nights of the Living Dead
EP152 – Miami Connection
EPB02 – Dinosaur Island
EP151 – Contamination
EP150 – The Legend of Boggy Creek
EP149 – Sugar Hill
EP148 – The Strange Colour of Your Body’s Tears
EP147 – Bikini Drive-In
EP146 – Hey Slappy (Jason X)
EP145 – Savage Vengeance
EP144 – Westworld
EP143 – Gila!
EP142 – The Killer
EP141 – The Hamburger Pimp
EP140 – Detroit 9000
EP139 – Viva Knievel!
EP138 – Night of the Comet
EP137 – The Amazing Transplant
EP136 – Night of the Bloody Rapes
EP135 – Virgin Witch
EP134 – Hideout in the Sun
Follow BB&BCs via Email Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. Join 1,091 other followers
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Join 1,091 other followers
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