Mini Review
Day 27: Albert Pyun!
Omega Doom (1996)
What a wonderful prompt for Day 27 with ‘Albert Pyun’ as Junesploitation nears the end. Personally I very much enjoy Albert Pyun films and this was a great opportunity to fill in a gap with his filmography. There aren’t too many I have not seen over the years and I decided to pick Omega Doom (1996), one I was actually surprised I had not seen before.
Going with a take on Akira Kurosawa’s Yojimbo (1961), Omega Doom takes place in a post apocalyptic Earth, where Robots have taken over and there are very few humans left. There are warring factions and Omega Doom (Rutger Hauer) a robot soldier finds himself caught up in the middle of.
This really is a very solid film, with some fantastic ideas that are intriguing and certainly holds interest. The pacing is a little off, the budget is low and at times it can be slightly confusing. However, those flaws aside, Pyun and crew make the most of what they have and Rutger Hauer makes for a great lead. The music score adds another layer to the film and at times is haunting during certain scenes. It may not be one of Pyun’s best, however it is quite enjoyable and worth watching for fans of his work.
Rating:
Mini Review
Day 28: 80s Horror!
Party Line (1988)
Day 28 of Junesploitation heads back to the 80s with the prompt ‘80s Slasher’ and this sub-genre is one I am quite familiar with and have seen many. It isn’t easy to find one I haven’t seen and I checked out a list of more obscure films and I chose to watch Party Line (1988) based solely on the very eye-catching poster.
A brother and sister duo Seth (Leif Garrett) and Angelina (Greta Blackburn) trick men into meeting up with the purpose of murdering them using a ‘party line’ to find their victims. A detective (Richard Hatch) who plays by his own rules teams up with an investigator (Shawn Weatherly) from the DA’s office to investigate the murders. A high school girl gets caught up in all the trouble as she sneakily uses the party line for her own thrills.
This is a very weird film, the brother and sister characters are the main focus and they are not characters you generally want to spend any time with. They have a complex relationship with the brother having a very obvious Oedipus complex and sexual feelings for his sister. They kill for no real reason other than the thrill, which makes things feel very empty. The police side of things isn’t terribly interesting either, the Detective isn’t very likeable either, however Richard Hatch gives a solid performance as does Shawn Weatherly as the DA investigator. I honestly have no idea what Leif Garrett was doing as Seth, it’s an odd performance and it goes into some weird places that seem very Psycho (1960) like. There is a bit of sleaze in the film, average scares and horror scenes and the main appeal of Party Line is just how weird it all ends up being.
Rating:
Reviews written by Marcella Papandrea
Please check out FThisMovie.net, with many thanks to the crew for the concept of Junesploitation and some excellent prompts for 2022!
The Super Network 