THE DANMAN CAN

George Pavlou 's first two (of three) feature films were based on Clive Barker screenplays. While  Rawhead Rex  (1986) ( review ) (the second of those two) is a better film overall, 1985's  Underworld , though deeply flawed, is an interesting precursor to Barker's  Nightbreed  (1990) ( review ).  Jacob Knigh t aptly stated in his  review  of UW  that it's "the  L.A. Takedown  (1989 ( review ) to  Nightbreed 's  Heat   (1995) ( review) ," exploring a lot of the same territory. This neon-drenched neo-noir, released in the U.S. in a longer version known as Transmutations (which is included on the Blu-ray copy of  Kino Lorber 's  4K UHD  release that I picked up, so I'll have to watch that next time), was not what I expected based on the poster (thanks Charles Band ). Admittedly, it's uneven, underdeveloped, and not terribly exciting, but it's visually quite striking (particularly for a clearly low budget effort) and has a cool new wave synth-

After watching RoboDoc: The Creation Of RoboCop (2023) (which is awesome and comprehensive) recently, I was in the mood to revisit the classic.  RoboCop   (1987)   is a perfect film and one of my  Top 100 Films . While there is certainly a cursory level of nostalgia involved in that assessment,  RoboCop  holds up, not just as a top notch genre film—along with that other perfect sci-fi actioner of 1987,  Predator   ( review )—but also as a commentary on ‘80s excess: capitalism, corrupt corporatism, and consumerism. Peter Weller , as Murphy/RoboCop, brings an emotional weight absent from most other macho ‘80s action movies. He does an exceptional job of conveying gravitas while in heavy makeup and primarily obscured by his costume for the majority of the film.  Nancy Allen , as Lewis, provides a uniquely androgynous and tough charm but also heart—which is pivotal to her relationship with Murphy.  In addition, the film is populated by an all-star cast of supporting character actors— Dan

1983's The Deadly Spawn , a homegrown rural NJ sci-fi horror film that could, is a micro-budget  Alien   (1979)  ( review ) rip-off with a clear love of the genre. With its poor pacing, stilted dialogue, amateur filmmaking, slow as molasses monster, shots that linger too long, and padded runtime (it's an 80-minute movie that feels like 100), it's a big of a slog to sit through. But I did enjoy this second viewing more with an audience to laugh with. The resourceful  Monster kid  in the lead (a  Tommy Jarvis precursor) is amusing, the playful synth score by Michael Peril stein (ha) is fun, and the gore and effects—though cheesy—are creative and a blast. The old biddy veggie party that gets overrun by the titular creatures is definitely the highlight. Recommended for fans of  Piranha   (1978) ( review ),  The Evil Dead   (1981) ( review ),  Basket Case   (1982) ( review ), and  Gremlins   (1984) ( review ).

Ethan Coen 's solo narrative feature debut is an odd one—truly the yin to his brother Joel 's yang, 2021's  The Tragedy Of Macbeth   ( review ). Drive-Away Dolls   (2024) is a horny lesbian road movie crime caper. It's goofy, wacky, and pretty silly. It's got some perplexing filmmaking choices, but it's not without a plenty of Ethan's signatures (including some hilarious dialogue). I laughed a lot (my two friends and I might have been the only ones laughing in the theater, in fact) and I can't complain when that happens in a comedy. I thought it was a lot of fun.

There's dream logic and then there's  The Church  (1989). Of the four narrative horror feature films that  Michele Soavi  directed in his prime (1987–1994),  The Church  is my least favorite (and doesn't make a whole lot of sense), though it's far from a failure.  Soavi's trademark surrealistic style is all over the film and it's easy to spot that his mentor  Dario Argento  co-wrote and produced the film. There is beautiful, atmospheric production design and practical effects/makeup, and the synthesized score by  Keith Emerson / Goblin / Philip Glass  creates an appropriate environment.  Unfortunately, the poor dubbing stands out like a sore thumb (a common practice in Italian films of the '70s and '80s, though it's particularly distracting in this film), rendering some of the performances laughable. Overall, the film just feels less cohesive than Soavi's other three great horror films, but it's still very enjoyable. Recommended for fans of