Yeti Hideout

Let's talk about a great movie that I don't think many people are aware of. The recipe for it is really quite simple: Take a heaping spoonful of Fatal Attraction (which was actually released a month LATER), a few dollops of The Collector , sprinkles of Mannequin and wrap it up in a nice, cozy layer of " Skinemax ". Bake at a million degrees, and you have: Lady Beware . I won't bore you with a synopsis. You can always look that up yourself....and, actually, the less you know about it, the better. Lady Beware is a lot of fun and Diane Lane really gets into her role. She's not always great, and at times, she's pretty terrible (her smoking is TOO obvious) but she has some great freak-out moments (the mirror scene) and she reaches a point of defiance that is really quite impressive - why aren't more drag queens inspired by this film? Visually, everything is perfect - from the atmospheric Pittsburgh locations to the memorable production...

I'm still reading through all of the old diaries and journals that I kept as a teenager - I have stacks of spiral-bound notebooks that range from the years 1987 to the early 1990s. There are some interesting sketches and drawings, a lot of angst and some wild fantasies. For a long time I wanted to be a film director. A filmmaker that specialized in horror films. Even at such a young age I was already becoming obsessed with character actors and influenced by 1970s horror films, John Waters and Tim Burton. I would get so bored and impatient with myself that I would write reviews for the films that I hadn't even made yet. I found a few of those capsule reviews. Sadly, most of my "stars" have since passed away. Another sad thought is the fact that these excited aspirations have since died as well.

Not only was yesterday (February 26) William Frawley's birthday, but it was also the 97th birthday of another favorite curmudgeon - Jackie Gleason! I'll share with you an article I wrote devoted to Jackie from 2010 that originally appeared on my friend Less Lee Moore's terrific website, Popshifter . My Heart Belongs to Jackie

This article on Mixed Blood (1985) originally appeared on tcm.com and is reprinted with permission. "...you must always do what your mother tells you, you hear? Always." - Rita (Marília Pêra) to her son, Thiago (Richard Ulacia). Director Paul Morrissey returns to the same territory he chronicled in his earlier films Flesh (1968) and Trash (1970) - the squalid existence of criminals, drug users and various low-lifes living in New York City. Mixed Blood (1985) is a new chapter focusing on the drug dealers and subsequent drug war between two rival gangs in NYC's Alphabet City (the Lower East Side); The "Master Dancers" led by Juan the "Bullet" and the "Maceteros" led by the indomitable and feisty Rita La Punta. The character driven film centers primarily on Rita's "family", one which consists of her beautiful and devoted son, Thiago, and a large group of underage boys that she recruits to do her criminal bidding. She enlist...

This article on Flesh (1968) and Trash (1970) originally appeared on tcm.com and is reprinted with permission. Between 1968 and 1972 director Paul Morrissey wrote, shot and directed three influential films that were later to become known as the "Flesh" trilogy. The first, Flesh , in 1968 was an early attempt of Morrissey to break away from his previous experimental film work with Andy Warhol during the heyday of the "Factory" years. Though his name is often credited in the titles, such as Andy Warhol's Flesh  or Andy Warhol's Trash , Warhol merely financed the films and had little or no actual creative development with them. Flesh was a film that, compared to the other Warhol films of the time, actually followed some sort of a plot, albeit a very loose one. Prior to the "Flesh" trilogy, the majority of the films being released were experimental, with titles like Sleep (1963) (six hours of footage of a man sleeping) and The Chelse...

This article on The Freakmaker (1974) originally appeared on tcm.com and is reprinted with permission. Someone (or some-THING!) is kidnapping the young (and incredibly stylish) students from the local university. A few days later, the visiting carnival showcases some "new additions" to their "Freak Show" attraction. What's the connection? This 1970s oddball curiosity stars horror icon Donald Pleasance as the creepy and super-serious Professor Nolter, a teacher who has bizarre theories of combining plant and animal life through mutation and metamorphosis. He's so serious about his teaching that when a snarky student makes some jokes during one of his lectures, he deadpans in his weird accent, "We are interested in cloning...not in clowning." Sheesh. Now enter, Mr. Lynch (played by an unrecognizable Tom Baker, made famous to cult audiences as the most popular incarnation of Dr. Who and, most recently, as the wry narrator...

This article on Private Parts (1972) originally appeared on tcm.com and is reprinted with permission. Years ago while thumbing through the Leonard Maltin Movie & Video Guide , I came across this review: "If Andy Warhol's Chelsea Girls had been co-directed by Alfred Hitchcock and John Waters it would come close to this directorial debut by Bartel."   Whoa. I stopped dead in my tracks and thought, "I have GOT to see this movie!" As a connoisseur of cult and trash films, this sounded like a long-lost gem that I needed to find. The name of the film? Paul Bartel's  Private Parts  from 1972. Boy, was I not disappointed! A few words to describe it? Creepy. Kinky. Gross. All of the things I look for in a film! Ann Ruymen (whose other memorable acting credit is the 1973 TV movie,  Go Ask Alice ) plays Cheryl, a young, bored and curious teenager who has run away from home and decides to stay with her mysterious Aunt...