Holocaust 2000 (aka The Chosen) (1977) – Nothing makes The Omen (1976) look better than some of the other Antichrist-themed media of the time. Here, Kirk Douglas (sixty years old but looking pretty good, except for that cosmetic surgery scar along his jawline) is an industrialist working hard on a nuclear power plant project in the Middle East… one designed with SEVEN globes, each with TWELVE pipe-vent things. Gasp! Could it be… that his own adult SON is the Antichrist???
As is normal with these movies, there has to be a lot of Antichrist “lore” invented for someone to feed the protagonist, because there ain’t really a lot in the Bible itself.
But unlike most horror movies, where the audience is ready to accept supernatural plot elements while the protagonist is still muttering, “There has to be a rational explanation” (mostly because the audience knows it’s watching a horror movie while the protagonist does know he’s in one), I watched Douglas slowly be persuaded of the apocalyptical folderol and said, “Wait — you’re swallowing this? Honestly, it seems like the most irrational, arbitrary bilge…”
On the other hand, if you wanted to find out how Kirk Douglas’ ass looks at age sixty, this is definitely the movie for you.
True Grit (1969) – “Mr. Wayne — can I call you John? — we’ve got a great new movie for you to star in. After the last couple of war movies, it’s time to get you back into a classic Western!”
“Tell me more!”
“You play a guy named ‘Rooster Cogburn,’ the toughest sonofagun in the U.S. Marshals. You’re so tough, you’ve only only got one eye and you can still take on a whole gang of outlaws singlehanded while drunk.”
“I like it!”
“And your chain will be yanked for the whole movie by a teenage girl with a bad haircut.”
[crickets]
“I’m in!”
I always love watching movies or TV shows from the late ’60s and recognizing faces from classic Star Trek episodes:
- Kim Darby (from “Miri”) as the heroine Mattie Ross
- Alfred Ryder (from “The Man Trap”) as lawyer Goudy
- Jeff Corey (from “The Cloud Minders” — don’t judge me, I had just watched it the night before) as Tom Chaney
- John Fiedler (murderous Piglet from “Devil in the Dark”) as lawyer Daggett
Plus singer Glen Campbell playing a Texas Ranger so smug you continuously wanted to slap him, and supporting roles for Robert Duvall and Dennis Hopper before they were famous.
The Monster Squad (1987) – Yup, still holds up. And the one odd note is still the shot of Scary German Guy’s wrist, showing the tattoo from the Nazi camps. It makes you remember that the “monsters” in this movie are fun — not at all like the actual ones who exist.
Abandoned movies:
The Last Warriors (2016) – A thousand years from now, after the apocalypse, everybody speaks at length without actually saying anything.
Alpha Code (2020) – This movie thought it was about alien abductions, but it was really mostly about playing keepaway with the plot from the audience.
Nice to see the return of “Actors Who’ve Appeared on Star Trek” from the old reviews.
I don’t intend to do it frequently, but in this case I just couldn’t ignore it.