Loners, Dreamers and Lost Souls.....

B.J. LANG PRESENTS (THE MANIPULATOR) 1971 stars Mickey Rooney as Mr. Lang, an insane washed-up Hollywood makeup man, who kidnaps and mentally tortures a young woman as he prepares her for his latest "movie." This is a real jawdropper, with Rooney going through some type of R.D. Laing (inspiration for title?)-style "freakout as therapy." Watch in horror as he sweats, screams, and wears lipstick-n-rogue in a fisheye lens world of strobe lights, electronic noise, and sides of beef. This is the most insane film I've ever seen! Mandatory viewing. THE PSYCHOPATH 1972 is an amazing '70s artifact. Mr. Rabbey is a creepy Mr. Rogers-like kiddie show host who, after discovering the abuse of his audience, takes revenge on their parents. Tom Basham's performance as Mr. Rabbey is what makes this a classic. One man's love for the holidays is taken to homicidal extremes in CHRISTMAS EVIL 1980 the best of the controversial early '80s "psycho Santa" sub-genre. In THE LOVE BUTCHER 1975 we meet Caleb a nearsighted, psychically-handicapped and socially-awkward gardener. He's continually mocked by the snooty rich women who employ his services. Lately, a suave ladies man has been killing these women. Caleb seems to know this psycho. What is their connection?

"I'm Just Trying to Find Myself".....

The setting for GIRLS ON THE ROAD 1972 is the flaky, "encounter group" scene of early 70's California. Two teen girls pick up a psycho 'nam vet on PCH and they all wind up at an Esalen-type institute. Pretty soon bodies are washing up on the beach. Could the killer be one of the role-playing group members? In A NAME FOR EVIL 1972 Robert Culp drops out of the rat race and flips out with hippies and ghosts. In INSIDE AMY (SWINGER'S MASSACRE) 1975, George tries to spice up his married life by taking his reluctant wife to a wife swapping party only to find she's really digs the action while he has trouble getting it up. What ensues is a sexual inadequacy-fueled rampage.

Mama's Boys.....

The popularity of Hitchcock's PSYCHO 1960 spawned innumberable films about men obssessed with their mothers. THE BABY 1974 is a sick flick classic. A woman and her daughters keep a grown man like a baby in a crib, feeding him, changing him, etc. Truly twisted. In RIVALS 1972 precocious preteen Jamie has an unhealthy relationship with his neurotic mother in the obsessive, psychoanalytical world of Uptown Manhattan. This momma's boy is intellectually grown up, but emotionally he's in bad shape. Dad has recently died and mom's just starting to date, but Jamie feels threatened and scares off her suitors. She winds up marrying a fun-loving guy who doesn't know what he's in for. Jamie resents him and begins plotting against their relationship. A subtle uneasiness lies under the surface throughout and creepy hints of an Oedipal theme are present. For example, when he eavesdrops on mom discussing how childbirth was a sexual experience for her and possibly even the baby. Despite all this despair, there are some fun moments - Jamie's Sesame Street-like student film with kids running around in Nixon and JFK masks and a party around NYC with hippies, street musicians, and a rabbi all passing a joint around. The lightness of these earlier scenes give way to ever increasing brittle conflict and finally tragedy. Directed by Krishna Shah (who?) and starring Scott Jacoby who later portrayed a teen psycho in the TV movie classic BAD RONALD 1973. If a soap opera-like treatment of necrophilia is your bag, LOVE ME DEADLY 1972 is for you. Starring Lyle Waggoner from the Carol Burnett Show, it tells of a troubled woman obsessed with her dead father who discovers a corpse-loving cult.

Bye, Bye Miss American Pie.....

Mid-life crisis and the breakdown of the American dream were addressed in various flicks some like fantasies, others like melodramas. One of my favorites is Larry Cohen's BONE (HOUSEWIFE) 1972 where in Yaphett Koto invades the fractured world of an uphappily married couple. He a swindling used car lot owner, she an alcoholic shrew.
Attempting to cash-in on the generation gap phenomenon, THE PEOPLE NEXT DOOR 1970 proports to be an expose of the of the typical modern American family. The dark underbelly behind the hypocritical facade is revealed. Mom and dad find their virginal teen daughter tripping in her closet and running away to ball her biker boyfriend. The neighbors wife is a total boozer and their Ivy league-bound son is the local pill pusher. "Who are The People Next Door? They are you, they are me." Generation gap cheese.
At about the same time he was making JOE, John Alvidson helmed GUESS WHAT WE LEARNED IN SCHOOL TODAY 1970 social satire about a small suburban town's reaction to sex education coming to their school. It's presented as a production made in cooperation with the "Institute for Interpersonal Relationships." Throughout we see the well adjusted, articulate Dr. Lily Whitehorn, the Institute's director and the school's prospective sex ed teacher, frankly explaining "the birds & the bees" to some grade school kids like a Mother Goose of all things reproductive. On the other hand, we get broadly drawn archetypes of the Silent Majority, led by a sexist cop and a boozy military guy, who are shown to be hypocritical perverts. Hence many surprises ensue, as when a morning cup of coffee between their wives turns into a lesbo pot party. Things also take a twist when horny teen son Robbie gets a hand job from his foxy baby-sitter as she reads him a dirty bedtime story. Later that night, the wives get stoned again leading to mom and dad fucking while watching their Robbie make it with the neighbor's wife. Weird sequences are peppered throughout to illustrate everybody's fantasies including mom's oedipa longings and the macho cop's phallic gun visions. Something of a precursor to Alvidson's later suburban black comedy NEIGHBORS 1981, this pic takes some chances giving it an edge even 30 years later.
America's coming apart at the seams, in THE SPORTING CLUB 1972 an uneven, forgotten social satire. Between his career high with PRETTY POISON and lows like the '76 KING KONG remake, Lorenzo Semple Jr. wrote the screenplay based on the Thomas MacGuane novel. Set at a rich man's hunting lodge steeped in honky tradition whose members are celebrating the club's centennial by digging up it's founding father's time capsule. Trouble starts when a sociopathic member takes pranking too far almost killing the pot smoking, down to earth caretaker played with gusto by Jack Warden. The average joe responds by dynamiting the snob's cabins. This leads to a stand off between the heavily armed haves and Warden's biker buddy have-nots. Shit gets heavy when one of the club's elders gets tarred and feathered. Man, that looks fucking painful! Eventually, the capsule's unearthed revealing a shocking surprise exposing the hypocrisy of their stuffy institution. Immediately everyone gets naked, gropes and fucks each other. This has got to be the most unappealing cinematic bacchanal of all time with pasty, lumpy middle aged flesh everywhere. Imagine Nixon and Agnew hosting an orgy. A film that truly reflects it's time, and although it's trying to make a statement it never quite hits it's marks. END OF THE ROAD 1969 is one of those movies that could only have been made during that VERY brief period when Hollywood studios financed "difficult" projects. Based on John Barth's novel, this black (bleak) comedy finds Stacey Keach in a state of catatonia as he's rescued by an experimental psychologist portrayed, in an inspired performance, by James Earl Jones. The good doctor's style is an R.D. Laing-like approach; to lose their neurosis, let the patient do what they want even if it means fucking chickens or hanging all day from a crucifix. With shocking images projected on the walls and loud sirens blaring, Jones uses confrontational sensory overload to rouse Keach from his slumber. And the ending is about as depressing as any you'll ever see.