Movie Night: Let's Get Harry (1986)

Harry (Mark Harmon) is an engineer on loan to Colombia building a water plant when during a visit from a U.S. diplomat for the unveiling rebels attack and kidnap the diplomat and Harry. News of the kidnapping reach his brothers and the U.S. government's insistence that they do not make deals with terrorists leads the brothers to organize their own rescue mission.

Despite director Stuart Rosenburg having hidden behind the pseudonym of Alan Smithee* suggesting this might be a dud I found this to actually be entertaining. Yes, it's a ridiculous premise of a seasoned soldier of fortune accepting a job to take green troops into a dangerous rescue mission, but then we don't watch action movies for their logic.

*Alan Smithee was a pseudonym directors would hide behind if they were dissatisfied with the outcome of a film, usually claiming it was out of their control, as a way not to be associated with it. The use of the pseudonym seems at least a little gutless to me as the actors are front and center in a film no matter how bad the film is in the end result. The pseudonym originally came into being for a legitimate reason for a film that was directed by two different directors and neither wanted to take full credit for another director's work; and interestingly that film was praised by critics as was its new director Alan Smithee.

With a recognizable cast that includes Robert Duvall, Gary Busey, and Glenn Frey in main roles, Elpidia Carrillo in a supporting role, plus Jerry Hardin and David Hess in bit parts it is not lacking in talent. It is actually one of the better of the pure mercenary movies; independent soldiers rather than commandos.

Certainly it is not the best of the pure mercenary movies, The Wild Geese and The Dogs of War occupy those spots, but beyond those most mercenary movies are duplicitous and not very good and Let's Get Harry is at the least a notch above those by not going the usual route of a mercenary film and having some plot twists along the way, as well some decent pacing.

Let's Get Harry is hosted on Internet Archive. You can stream it here.

If you would prefer to download it, here is a direct link to the mp4 file (444 Mb).

Movie Night: A Double Dose of Good Head

The saying 'someone has a good head on their shoulders' takes its most literal cinematic turn in these two movies starring, well... heads.

First up is the classic b-movie schlocker, and one of my favorite cult films, The Brain That Wouldn't Die. A gifted surgeon and his dutiful nurse/girlfriend are off for a getaway to his home away from the hospital when a car wreck literally severs their relationship. Conveniently in his basement he has all the workings of a mad scientist's lab where he keeps her head alive while trying to find her a new body.

Next up is the German film The Head. Dr. Abel has created a serum that can keep dead tissue alive, having used this very serum to keep a dog's severed head alive. Ideally Dr. Abel plans to use the serum for his own heart transplant, performed by another doctor of course, but when things go wrong with the transplant his assistant removes Abel's head and keeps it alive with the same contraption they used for the dog's head. I guess you can say at this point he's no longer... Abel bodied!

Bwhahahaha

This is a drive-in double feature put together by Shocker Internet Drive-In and hosted by Internet Archive. It features refreshment stand ads, coming attractions, a cartoon and intermission for that complete drive-in experience. 

You can watch the program here: Good Head Double Feature

If you would rather download it, and your browser supports video downloading (see the page Download Movies for browsers that do), here is a direct link to the MP4 File

And please.. please mind your manners at the theater and let's have no ticket... 'scalping'!

I'm sorry. I just couldn't resist a... 'parting' shot!

Bwhahahahaha

Movie Night: Grave of the Vampire

Grave of the Vampire (1972) Drive-In Feature

William Smith, a notable movie bad guy, particularly during the 1970s, sinks his teeth (bwhahahaha) into this role as the vampire Kroft (oh, does that just sound... cheesy). Kroft attacks a couple in a graveyard and rapes the woman, from which a baby is produced that only feeds on blood from its mother's breast.

This is a single feature drive-in special featuring lots of vampire film trailers, drive-in advertisements and a Bugs Bunny cartoon (I apologize up front for this cartoon) before the movie. This Shocker Internet Drive-In feature was put together by Shocker Internet Drive-In and is hosted by Internet Archive.

You can stream this just by clicking on the link which will take you to the Internet Archive page (it is an mp4 file; 488Mb and it is 2 hours long).

Watch: Grave of the Vampire

There are other file formats and direct links to them on the Internet Archive page. You can click on 'all files' to see the different files. Only certain browsers will be able to download video files on Android (yes, doing normal things on Android sucks). If you want to test your browser to see if it can download the file directly, here is a direct link to the MP4 file: Grave of the Vampire MP4

I will test downloading on my Android phone and if I find a suitable way to do it I'll let you know.