Films From The Cable Afterlife: 10/10/-10/16
Posted at 9:00 AM Oct 10, 2008
By Doug Mosurock
Back at it with the exhumed remnants of the late night/early morning tele-ghetto … movies made to blow your mind, and a few that actually succeed. Films From The Cable Afterlife dives forth into more cinematic mayhem as we sink deeper into Shocktober (and as usual, times based on EST).
8. The Beast Within (1982)
IFC, Saturday, October 11, 12am, 3am
This one hails from back when rape was, sadly, more commonly exploited in movies, and the story of this one is actually driven by the act itself. A teenage boy, raised from a sexual assault between a newlywed and some bug monster, starts the molting process himself, lookin’ for somewhere to stow his seed. I cringe at the thought of the pitch meeting for this one, but it’s a rough and nasty gore film that’ll stick with you, perhaps a bit longer than you’d like. Ronny Cox, Bibi Besch and a bunch of Sam Peckinpah’s players star.
7. The Midnight Meat Train (2008)
FearNET, Free On-Demand
Its trailer got jeered before Rambo and its fate was sealed from there on. The latest adaptation of a Clive Barker story (this one culled from The Books Of Blood) got dumped by its distributor, Lionsgate, into 100 theaters back in August, and is bypassing DVD to make its premiere on FearNET, free to cable subscribers with on-demand service. You’ll have to endure an intermission while the studio shoves Saw V trailers down your throat, but the content of the movie is uncut. Bradley Cooper stars as a wannbee-Weegie style photographer who tracks Vinnie Jones as he hacks up passengers on the subway. Significant amounts of gore and some of the best praise in years from horror fanatics should entice you to stick through leaden acting by Brooke Shields. Japan’s Ryuhei Kitamura (Versus) directs.
6. 99 & 44/100% Dead (1974)
Fox Movie Channel, Wednesday, October 15, 4am
Considered at the time to be a low point for manly director John Frankenheimer (The Manchurian Candidate, 52 Pick-Up, Ronin), 99 & 44/100% Dead has aged oh-so-well. Think of it as day-glo noir, a pop-art explosion of gunfire and fantasy, helmed by Richard Harris as dapper gangster Harry Crown, out to get his girl and avenge louche street lord Big Eddie (Bradford Dillman). There’s a lot of eye-searing color, screaming lounge music, and Chuck Connors as a hitman named Marvin “Claw” Zuckerman, complete with JJ Arms-style killing attachments. (The title sequence has even been deemed one of the top 25 of all time, as seen in the below clip.)
5. Death Hunt (1981)
Cinemax, Saturday, October 11, 4:40am
Charles Bronson and Lee Marvin, together in the same movie. Find the toughest chewable substance in your place – a spatula, a leather coat, a rawhide dog toy, a stress ball, a Rubbermaid container. This movie is tougher than all of them. These two indestructible piles of brawn square off in the Yukon, when a trapper’s gesture of peace forces him to murder anyone who crosses his path. That’s hair growing out of your chest, just from thinking about this movie.
