THE MAJORETTES

Kevin Kindlin

THE MAJORETTES (1986). Director: Bill Hinzman. Screenplay by John Russo, based on his novel of the same name. 

Vicki (Terrie Godfrey) belongs to a high school cheerleading squad called the Majorettes. She lives her with elderly grandmother, Elvira, a stroke victim who is being taken care of by nurse Helga (Denise Huot), who has sinister ulterior motives for helping her. Helga's son, Harry (Harold K. Keller), is a creep who secretly takes photos of the majorettes while they're showering. One day he captures a killer on his camera, a figure who is working his way through the majorettes by assaulting them and slicing their throats. One of the victims is the girlfriend of football star Jeff Halloway (Kevin Kindlin), who gets revenge on a gang of drug dealers after one of them is responsible for another girl's death.

Denise Huot as Nurse Helga

One thing you have to say about The Majorettes is that it's unpredictable. There are about three plot lines going on here, and the main plot of the killer-on-the-loose is sort of jettisoned midstream so that Jeff can play Rambo in a violent protracted sequence. Kevin Kindlin, who acquits himself nicely in this (and made a few more movies), does well in these scenes, but viewers may wonder about the sudden switch in storyline. The actual maniac is revealed about halfway through the movie. Tom E. Desrocher has some effective moments as head drug dealer and suspect, Mace Jackson, and Denise Huot makes a good impression as the hateful Helga. This was her only film. Some of the kill scenes are well-handled. The director, who only helmed one other movie, plays Sgt. Sanders and screenwriter John Russo plays the coroner. The priest is played by Russell Streiner, who was Johnny ("They're coming to get you, Barbara") in Night of the Living Dead. The cast, apparently culled from local Philly talent, is better than expected for a low-budget slasher flick. The effective musical scoring and sound FX help a lot.

Verdict: Has enough good things in it that you wish it were better. **1/2. 

THE KILLER IS ONE OF 13

Ramiro Oliveros and Patty Shepard

THE KILLER IS ONE OF 13 (aka El asesino esta entre los trece/1973). Director: Javier Aguirre.  

"They killed him savagely with a knitting needle."

Lisa (Patty Shepard) is convinced that her late husband, who played around on her and died in a plane crash -- he was the pilot -- was murdered. Apparently someone he knew paid a call on him and doctored his coffee just before his flight. Was revenge for his adulterous behavior -- a jealous husband or discarded mistress -- the motive, or did Lisa's husband know too much about illegal financial affairs? She invites all of the suspects to her rambling home in the country and confronts them. Then the murders begin ...

Paloma Cela and Simon Andreu

There are plenty of suspects for both the murder of Lisa's husband and of his assembled "friends:" Playboy Harry (Simon Andreu), who has a wandering eye, especially for married ladies; Francis (Eusebio Poncela), a creepy guy who can't keep his hands off women; his hateful, domineering mother, Bertha (Trini Alonso); grumpy Jorge (Alberto Fernandez), who may have had some unsavory business practices, and his horny wife (Paloma Cela), who is rejected by Harry. Then we mustn't forget the servants: the driver Ernest (Paul Naschy of A Dragonfly for Each Corpse), who's boffing maid Elena (Rosa de Alba), and handsome Harry (Ramiro Oliveros), who's boffing Lisa in addition to his other duties.

The Killer is One of 13 takes its time in getting there, and a good hour has gone by before the murders occur in rapid succession. This Spanish film is almost more of an Agatha Christie-type murder mystery than a horror film, but it's somewhat entertaining and fun on that level. Some of the sleazy characters and some more-than-adequate acting help put it over, and the ending is perfectly rational and satisfying, if not entirely unexpected. 

Verdict: More suspects than murders! **1/2. 

THE HARDY BOYS: THE GHOST AT SKELETON ROCK

THE HARDY BOYS: THE GHOST AT SKELETON ROCK. Franklin W. Dixon. Grosset and Dunlap; 1957.

In this classic Hardy Boys tale they get involved with more intrigue when their rotund pal Chet Morton develops an interest in ventriloquism. He buys a famous "Hugo" dummy with a purple turban that some desperadoes try to steal because the dummy's eyes supposedly hold diamonds. In one exciting scene the boys are shot at in their plane -- causing the engine to burn as depicted on the cover -- by a confederate of a crooked psychic also known as Hugo and who also wears a turban (coincidences abound in the Hardy Boys stories)! It isn't long before the action switches to Puerto Rico, where the boys have to contend with Abdul with the Big Head, as well as a gang member who looks just like Joe Hardy and causes a lot of mischief. At one point the fellows nearly fall into some sugar-crushing machinery. There are sequences at the fort called El Morro and at pineapple plantations, as well as a climax at a sinister island which has a spit of land known as Skeleton Rock, where natives worship a giant god that comes out from below and hovers over the rock. The Boys and Chet are guests at a fancy estate on this island, but aren't certain if their pleasant, corpulent host is part of the gang or not. Before this adventure is over, they'll get their answer and also learn the secret of the god -- or ghost -- of Skeleton Rock. 

Verdict: Dig out your old Hardy Boys books and dig in! You know you want to! ***. 

THE YOUNG SWINGERS

Molly Bee and Rod Lauren

THE YOUNG SWINGERS (1963). Director: Maury Dexter.

Mel Hudson (Rod Lauren) manages a Hootenanny club called the Vanguard. The owner of the building, a witch named Roberta Crawford (Jo Helton), wants the club out of there and employs dirty tricks to get them gone, using her lawyer Bruce Webster (Justin Smith) to do most of the work for her. Her granddaughter, Vicki (Molly Bee), takes over while Roberta is out of town, and strikes up an acquaintanceship -- and more -- with Mel. Can they get her aunt to change her mind? Meanwhile everyone, including Mel, Vicki, Fred (Gene McDaniels), Pete (Larrs Jackson, who also does impressions), and the Sherwood Singers perform some perfectly pleasant numbers. 

Gene McDaniels

The Young Swingers is not a good movie, but at least everyone in it has a more than decent voice, and most sound much better than the pop singers of today, most of whom sound alike (and are auto-tuned on top of it). Rod Lauren sings better than he acts in this -- he seems tranquilized most of the time -- but he was to become more expressive in such films as Black Zoo (in which he played a mute character). Years later he was accused of hiring someone to murder his Filipino wife. Molly Bee first came to fame at 13 warbling "I Saw Daddy Kissing Santa Claus" and had a respectable vocal career with only a few film credits. Larrs Jackson (aka Jack Larson), who does a lousy impression of Groucho but isn't bad at Ed Sullivan and Walter Brennan, had quite a number of credits after this. Of all the singers in this perhaps the most impressive is Gene McDaniels, who sings two snappy numbers and sings them really well. He should have become as famous as Johnny Mathis and others. 

Verdict: Good songs, good singing, but no real story. **1/4. 

ARIZONA TERRITORY

Whip Wilson

ARIZONA TERRITORY (1950). Director: Wallace Fox. 

Prospector Jeff Molloy (Whip Wilson) comes across a pretty gal, Doris (Nancy Saunders), in a runaway wagon and rescues her. Along with her ex-con Uncle Otis (John Merton of Radar Patrol vs Spy King), Doris runs a trading post in the wild territory of Arizona. Suspecting Otis of going back to his old ways of counterfeiting, Jeff teams up with an undercover U.S., Marshall named Luke Watson (Andy Clyde). Another player in this undistinguished oater is Greg Lance (Dennis Moore) who wants to marry Nancy but is secretly in cahoots with her uncle. Meanwhile Jeff is hoping that Nancy is on the up and up. 

Dennis Moore

Although he made a couple more films than Lash Larue, Monogram's Whip Wilson was probably the least of the western cowboy stars and isn't much remembered today. His comic book for Atlas/Marvel only lasted three issues. This is one of the very few films in which he didn't play himself, but it scarcely makes a difference. Handy with a whip, Wilson proves to be an amiable if minor-league screen presence, although he handles the dialogue and action scenes professionally enough. Veteran character actor Andy Clyde, who supported Whip in several films, was 58 but looked quite a bit older. There was a forty-year gap in the acting career of Nancy Saunders, who stopped acting in the late fifties and took it up again in the nineties! Dennis Moore of The Purple Monster Strikes -- he had 264 other credits! -- gives the best performance. 

Verdict: Nothing special in this B western, but it's always nice to see Moore! **. 

INDIANA JONES AND THE DIAL OF DESTINY

Indiana Jones in flashback

INDIANA JONES AND THE DIAL OF DESTINY (2023). Director: James Mangold. 

Professor "Indiana" Jones (Harrison Ford) is retiring when who should show up but his god-daughter, Helena (Phoebe Waller-Bridge), who hopes that he didn't keep his promise to her father to dispose of an ancient relic that is supposed to be able to mess with the time-space continuum-- because she wants it -- badly. Someone else who wants it is an old adversary of Jones' named Dr. Voller (Mads Mikkelsen), a Nazi who wants to kill Hitler back in the past because in his opinion the German leader screwed up so badly. Helena seems quite amoral, although she may have other reasons for wanting the "Dial of Destiny" aside from avarice. As the good guys and bad guys go through car chases and gun fights in various locations, Indiana and the others do indeed wind up back in time -- although not exactly in the decade that Voller might have wished for. 

Indy at 81

The cast is enthusiastic, James Mangold's direction seems a bit better than Spielberg's on the last Indiana Jones film, and the plot is a little more interesting than the last time, although this can't be called any kind of classic. In flashback scenes during which Jones first meets Voller, Ford's face is digitally made young again through artificial intelligence -- it's quite effective if a little weird. Ford was actually eighty-one when he made this film and although he doesn't look too much younger, he hasn't lost any of his charisma and screen presence. The action sequences are generally well-done -- a business with eels near a wreck in the ocean falls flat, however -- and the underground cavern scenes are especially convincing. 

Verdict: Fun enough if you're not too demanding. **3/4. 

A DRAGONFLY FOR EACH CORPSE

Paul Naschy and Mariano Vidal Molina

A DRAGONFLY FOR EACH CORPSE (aka Una libelula para cada muerto/1975). Director: Leon Klimovsky. 

In Milan Inspector Paolo Scaparelli (Paul Naschy, who also co-wrote the screenplay) has been assigned to catch a serial killer who goes after people he believes to be immoral and always leaves a plastic dragonfly on top of each corpse. As the bodies pile up -- and there are quite a few -- Paolo's girlfriend, Silvana (Erkia Blanc of So Sweet ... So Perverse), thinks she's come up with an important clue, which he, unfortunately, dismisses. 

Erika Blanc with Naschy

Dragonfly is a Spanish imitation of an Italian giallo film and it's better than a lot of them. While Leon Klimovsky's direction doesn't have much style to it, the film does work up a lot of suspense, and has many flavorful aspects to it. Naschy, who many consider the King of Spanish horror films, is a unique and unusual-looking leading man. Angel Aranda of Planet of the Vampires is one of the suspects and Mariano Vidal Molina is Naschy's boss, the police commissioner. One odd thing is that the police never seem to try to find out where the plastic dragonflies were manufactured or sold. Otherwise, this is quite interesting.

 Verdict: Absorbing murder mystery from Spain. ***.  

THE SLASHER ... IS THE SEX MANIAC

THE SLASHER ... IS THE SEX MANIAC (aka Rivelazioni di un maniaco sessuale al capo della squadra mobile/1972). Director: Roberto Bianchi Montero. 

"I may be homosexual but I am not homicidal!" -- "Cleopatra." 

An unknown killer is running around murdering women who are having affairs. The maniac leaves photos of the women and their lovers, although the latter's faces are scratched off. (Which begs the question: how can the police be so certain that the man in the photo is the lover and not the husband? At least we know that the killer gets the photos while stalking his victims.) In any case Inspector Capuana (Farley Granger) is assigned to track down the killer and pursues a number of leads before getting distressing information about the extracurricular activities of his own wife (Sylva Koscina of Hercules Unchained). Along the way he consults with Professor Casali (Chris Avram of The Killer Reserved Nine Seats), stumbles over a number of corpses, and interviews the lawyer Santangeli (Silvano Tranguilli), who's having an affair with a neighbor even as his own wife goes off for a dalliance. (You need a scorecard to count the affairs as well as the corpses.) Farley Granger, Koscina, and the other cast members acquit themselves professionally and the film is undeniably suspenseful, with a satisfying climax. Luciano Rossi plays the weird Gastone and Nieves Navarro is another victim. 

NOTE: New hardcore footage with porn star Harry Reems was inserted -- no pun intended -- into this film under the title Penetration. It was taken out of release in the U.S. after Farley Granger threatened a lawsuit. 

Verdict: Definitely one of the better giallo films. ***

THE FRENCH SEX MURDERS

Anita Ekberg

THE FRENCH SEX MURDERS (Casa d'appuntaento/1972). Director: Ferdinando Merighi. 

In Paris Madame Colette (Anita Ekberg) runs an exclusive brothel. One night Francine (Barbara Bouchet of Agent for H.A.R.M.) is murdered and her jealous suitor, Antoine (Peter Martell), is the main suspect. Escaping from custody after being convicted and vowing revenge on everyone, Antoine is beheaded in an accident. For unaccountable reasons Professor Waldermar (Howard Vernon) wants the severed head for "experiments" and is granted its disposition by his friend, the Judge on the case, George Teschi (William Alexander). In the meantime a sinister figure is running about violently killing people involved in the case while Inspector Fontaine (Robert Sacchi) pursues all leads, investigating not just Madame Colette but Pepi (Rolf Eden), owner of a nightclub and his associates, including sometime girlfriend Marianne (Rosalba Neri). While all this is going on the professor's assistant, Roger (Franco Borelli), tries to pursue a relationship with the man's daughter, Eleonora (Evelyne Kraft). Another suspect/potential victim is Dick Randall (Renato Romano), a reporter who is doing a story on French prostitutes. 

Robert Sacchi and Rosalba Neri

Robert Sacchi not only resembles Humphrey Bogart, but whoever dubbed his voice makes sure he sounds a lot like Bogie as well, including the trademark lisp. French Sex Murders is reasonably absorbing and intriguing, although the many murder sequences are not handled with any particular elan. Director Merighi simply repeats the same shot of a throat being slashed, head lopped off and so on five times, as if he has no clue of how to stage an effective kill scene. Filmed on Paris locations, including the Eiffel Tower, this is a true International production: Italy-France-West Germany. Sacchi was born in Italy, raised in the Bronx, and starred as The Man with Bogart's Face. This film was his first credit. 

Verdict: So-so giallo with some interesting aspects. **1/2. 

NINE GUESTS FOR A CRIME

Arthur Kennedy at the wheel 

NINE GUESTS FOR A CRIME (aka Nove espiti per un delitto/1977). Director: Ferdinando Baldi.

Liberto (Arthur Kennedy of Impulse) takes members of his family for a two-week vacation on his private island. His guests include his young, unfaithful wife, Giulia (Caroline Laurence), who only married him for his money; his sons Lorenzo (John Richardson of Torso) and Michele (Massimo Foschi); their wives Greta (Rita Silva) and Carla (Sofia Dionisio); psychic Patrizia (Loretta Persichetti); son-in-law Walter (Venantino Venantini); and Aunt Elisabetta (Dana Ghia). For the first few hours they spend their time on the island berating each other and cheating on their spouses. Then one of the members of the party drowns. A killer begins stalking the others, and Elisabetta talks hysterically of how her lover Charles was murdered and buried on the island twenty years before ... 

John Richardson

Nine Guests keeps you watching, but the film has absolutely no style and very little tension. Characterization only consists of people being bitchy with each other and talking about how much they all hate each other -- to say these people are unsympathetic is an understatement. The gore is minimal, and a severed head that tumbles off a bed looks just like the phony prop it is. Some of the murder scenes are actually comical, and when the killer is revealed you can't quite imagine that this particular person could be responsible for all of these deaths. 

Verdict: Mediocre giallo. **1/4.