Poor Man's Hitchcock

Hi, Mom! (1970) - De Palma

Brian De Palma's take on fame and upper class in the backdrop of sleazy New York in the 70s is hilarious romp. Young De Niro plays Jon, an aspiring pornographer pitching his idea for peeping with a long lens on the inhabitants of a highrise across the street. He then takes advantage of a ditsy lonely girl after spying on her for a while. Then there is a experimental theater group doing an interactive piece called 'Be Black Baby' where well intentioned rich white patrons go through some horrendous ordeal- putting on black faces and getting physically assaulted, only to rave it as life-changing experience.

Maniacally spastic and energetic in its playfulness, this might be my favorite De Palma.

All Dogs Go To Heaven

Plague Dogs (1982) - Rosen






A black retriever named Rowf and a fox terrier, Snitter escape from a top secret laboratory in a mountainous English town by the lake. After many water endurance test where many fellow lab dogs drown, Rowf has issues with water. Snitter has been subjected to brain surgery and has a hole in his skull and also has a lousy luck with humans (his masters die). To avoid starvation, they stalk sheep with the help of a snarky fox named Todd. The body count rises. The towns people are after them, the labcoats are after them. Soon the Defense Ministry is called in with paratroopers to smoke the dogs out and destroy them for fear of them carrying bubonic plague.

No less devastating than Rosen's Watership Down, Plague Dogs is nevertheless beautifully drawn animation with a strong anti-animal lab testing message. The ending will break your heart.

The Lamest. Motorcycle Gang. Ever.

Psychomania (1973) - Sharp




The devil (frog god) worshiping motorcycle gang, 'The Living Dead' roams the English countryside, wrecking bloodless, Monty Python skit resembling havoc- cruising through supermarket and terrorizing old ladies by ripping off sideview mirrors and breaking windshieldsof their cars. Their leader, a suave young man believes, with the approval from his ghost channeling medium mother, that they will come back as invincible after they kill themselves. All the members follow his suit in very comical ways and leaving dry corpses everywhere (they just fall down), but our heroine Abby is still undecided because she loves life!

Not hokey enough to be a cult classic and bike stunts are pretty lame. There is a disclaimer about the film's original negative being lost that they had to transfer from 'the best available sources'. Picture quality wasn't too bad though. And the film is chuckleworthy.