Tourist Trap (1979)

So here’s a movie that goes way back to my early education of horror.

I’m sure I’ve mentioned this before, but I’m the youngest of four boys.  Not just am I the baby of the family, but I’m the youngest by a bunch.  My brothers are 15 and 12  years older than me.  I great up in the 80s, and they grew up in the 70s.  My brothers who are 12 years older than me are twins and grew up on some classic 70s slasher flicks.  By the time the 80s classics came along, they were seeing those movies as much as possible, but I was also heavily exposed to a couple decades of movies.  Better yet, like with this week’s movie, Tourist Trap, I was exposed to what my brothers were nostalgic about as well as the new stuff.

If you think that upbringing was strange and kinda sad, I’ll have you know that I have my very own blog where I write every week about horror and exploitation movies.  So…  Who’s a sad weirdo now?

The Diabolical Dr. Z (1966)

Hey!  This week has something pretty special on B-Movie Enema.  So, when I was trying to think about what movies I wanted to watch for October, I couldn’t really think of a theme for the month.  However, I had some movies I’ve always wanted to do that are either somewhat popular, or have a cult following, or this week’s movie, The Diabolical Dr. Z, which features a returning director – Jess Franco.

As I explained last week, October is kind of a big month for B-Movie Enema.  In fact, it was the month I started writing the blog way back in 2014.  One of those movies was Oasis of the Zombies.  That was also directed by Jess Franco.  Unfortunately, that movie sucked.  Hard.

Since then, ol’ Uncle Jessie bounced back with an Ilsa movie and a “Black” Emanuelle movie.  And this week, Dr. Z will take him back to his earlier days of filmmaking and is a surprisingly stylish and atmospheric movie.  On top of that, it’s been a very long time, almost 2 years to be exact, since I covered a movie from the 60s.  Additionally, it was also the last time I looked at a black and white movie on this site.

Zombie Holocaust (aka Doctor Butcher M.D., 1980)

Yay October!

In years past, B-Movie Enema had always celebrated the month with some sort of spooky theme.  In 2016, it was vampires.  In 2017, we had slashers from the 80s.  2018 actually had a real theme title – Nights of Demons.  What’s this year’s theme?  Well…

Um…  It…

Hmmmm…

Shit.  Well, I got nothing this year.  But I remember back to a simpler time that set the precedent of no October theme.  Way, way, waaaaay back at the very beginning of B-Movie Enema (October 3, 2014 to be exact), I did a string of scary movies because the first five of six enemas came out in October.  So, I’ll do that theme.  The no theme Halloween.  Just some good ol’ horror movies.  To kick things off, let’s check out an Italian ripoff – 1980’s Zombie Holocaust, also known as Doctor Butcher M.D.

Brain Twisters (1991)

The 1990s saw a leap in technology.  From 1990 to 1999, the leaps in percentages in the number of households that had computers or word processors of some sort year over year showed that advancements in computer technology took it from the magical boxes that movies told us could almost do anything in previous decades to something that might show up in dens of every house on any street in America.  By the mid-90s, the internet would connect people all over the world which, thanks to its capabilities to gather information, at the very least, changed the way students would work on homework and term papers.  Either way, with each slight advancement from word processing power to internet to faster internet to shopping, etc., computers started taking over our every day lives.

With the computer industry making those leaps and bounds, naturally Hollywood wanted to cash in on the hype, or the potential terror, of advanced technology at everyone’s fingertips.  That’s where this week’s B-Movie Enema, Brain Twisters, comes in.

Cutting Class (1988)

One of the big announcements from Vinegar Syndrome last year came as they were prepping for their big Black Friday Sale.  This sale is big time stuff for people who are in more forgotten, deep cut horror and sleaze.  They like to make sure they have one big title they can bring people to the site for.  It makes sense, right?  Your biggest event of the year, you better have something big to make it worth while.

Well, the movie they were putting all their hopes on to get that attention for their event is what I’m gonna talk about today – 1988’s Cutting Class.  By all accounts, this is a tongue-in-cheek take on the common tropes of 80s slashers.  It’s self-aware while not claiming to be a comedy.  It came out at an interesting time too…  1988 is getting pretty late in the popularity of the horror subgenre that is the slasher.  It’s not long before the 90s came in and effectively killed the “dumb kids doing dumb things and get murdered by some guy with a schtick” vibe of the routine, but fun, weekend video store rental.

What’s more, this movie happens to star a super massive, giant, Hollywood celebrity…

Rush Week (1989)

Welcome to Rush Week, all you frat boys and sorority girls!  I’m guessing if you are in college, you’re probably charting out which Greek organizations you want to join, based mostly on exactly which houses and which people will help you get a leg up in life later in business, social status, or even politics…

Or you are just judging it based on your class, one of your parent’s memberships, how much beer is in the house’s multiple kegs at any one time, or which house will help you score with the hotness in that sorority with all the hotness.

Maybe you’re like me and never part of a frat or sorority.  You’re living vicariously through movies from the 80s, like Rush Week or Revenge of the Nerds.  Maybe you were in a frat, but a loser one like Revenge of the Nerds.  Or you were part of a sorority, but mostly just, I dunno…  Didn’t do sexy nightie sleepovers or do constant lingerie fashion shows on a nightly basis.  The point I’m trying to make is – I know women.

Prime Evil (1988)

It’s been a bit since I covered a movie from our friends at Vinegar Syndrome.  So, let’s solve that with some good ol’ fashioned exploitation sleaze!

This week’s movie, Prime Evil, comes to us from director Roberta Findlay.  In fact, this is part of a two-movie set from Vinegar Syndrome.  The other movie, Lurkers, also comes from 1988 which also marks near the end of her directing career.  Findlay is still alive today despite finishing her movie making career over 30 years ago.  Interestingly enough, she really got her start in making adult films before getting into exploitation.  Her first film, Take Me Naked, was made under the pseudonym Anna Riva when she was only 18 years old!

From the late 60s through the 70s and into the mid 80s, Findlay worked mostly in adult films, though she’d often team up with her husband in the 70s, Michael Findlay, for some more sleazy exploitation flicks like Snuff, a movie actually marketed as a for real snuff flick.  I’m not sure you can get much sleazier than that.

The Clones of Bruce Lee (1980)

Here’s a first for B-Movie Enema…  I’ve been personally asked to cover a movie.  More on that shortly.

I’m returning to the realm of Bruceploitation with The Clones of Bruce Lee from 1980.  Now…  I was burned previously, but I have a good feeling about this one.  I mean take a look at the trailer!  It’s got a whole mess of Bruce Lee wannabes.  Heh…  Say that out loud – “Bruce Lee wannabe”.  It’s fun.

Sigh…  I do have fun.

Anyway, I’m getting distracted.  Let me get back on track here.  Much like all other Bruceploitation flicks, this centers heavily around the tragic, real life death of Bruce Lee in 1973.  After he died, science did some stuff and now there’s a trio of Bruces to fuck up the world… because… erm… SCIENCE!