A motley crew work in space aboard the dilapidated vessel, Dark Star as they destroy unstable planets to make way for future colonisation. John Carpenter’s debut is ripe with stoner humour, perceptive insight (yes, even in space you can hate your job) and a delightfully minuscule budget. Whatever they were partaking in whilst making this …
Continue reading John Carpenter Reviewed- Day 1- Dark Star (1974)
It's 1990. I'm tuning into the excellent Moviedrome series of films on BBC2 with each cult film in the series being introduced by director Alex Cox. The film being shown that night was John Carpenter's second feature film Assault on Precinct 13, his reworking of Howard Hawks' Rio Bravo and my mind was blown. I …
Continue reading John Carpenter Reviewed- Day 2- Assault on Precinct 13 (1976)
A Dirty Shame concerns Sylvia Stickles, a sexually repressed and frigid woman. That's until she sustains a concussion during an accident and becomes horny beyond all expectations. I hated A Dirty Shame when I saw it on its first release. Twenty years later and I find a DVD copy of the film selling for 50 …
Continue reading John Waters Reviewed- Day 11- A Dirty Shame (2004)
What happens when an amateur photographer is ‘discovered’ by the New York elites and becomes an overnight sensation? Pecker feels like a more (don’t take this the wrong way) adult John Waters film. This doesn’t mean that he’s suddenly become Woody Allen, but instead of the most extreme shock elements being exploited to the hilt, …
Continue reading John Waters Reviewed- Day 10- Pecker (1998)
From Google- ‘Beverly Sutphin, a suburban housewife, is the perfect example of an ideal mother. Unbeknownst to her family, Beverly is a psychopathic killer who murders all those who slight her family in any manner’. When Serial Mom was first released, I went to see it three times. Then I left to go and live …
Continue reading John Waters Reviewed- Day 9- Serial Mom (1994)
What happens when a ‘drape’ (a juvenile delinquent) falls in love with a ‘square’? This is the basis for this John Waters movie, his first in the 90’s. After the success of Hairspray, everything was thrown at Cry Baby which boasted the highest budget for one of Waters’ films so far, a subject matter that …
Continue reading John Waters Reviewed- Day 8- Cry Baby (1990)
‘Pleasantly plump’ teenager Tracy Turnblad auditions for a spot on the local Baltimore dance show, The Corny Collins Show. But she’s horrified to see that the show is racially segregated and plans to remedy this. There’s a reason for the gap of 7 years since 1981’s Polyester- Waters was trying (and failing) to secure funding …
Continue reading John Waters Reviewed- Day 7- Hairspray (1988)
Francine Fishpaw just wants to live a ‘normal’ life but finds this impossible because of her p*rno cinema owning husband, her son who may or may not be a notorious Baltimore criminal, her lewd daughter and her delinquent boyfriend. Thank God she has her friend, Cuddles who used to be her cleaner but is now …
Continue reading John Waters Reviewed- Day 6- Polyester (1981)
From Google- ‘A housewife (Mink Stole) murders her husband, runs away and ends up in a town ruled by an evil queen who wants to infect her kingdom with rabies.’ Desperate Living feels like quintessential Waters…but with significant differences. Firstly, Divine doesn’t feature. He was actually appearing on stage and so couldn’t appear. Susan Lowe …
Continue reading John Waters Reviewed- Day 5- Desperate Living (1977)
Once again, the hilarious Google plot outline- ‘An obese woman (Divine) gives birth to an obnoxious child and embarks upon a bizarre and violent life of crime.’ Get ready for your jaw to ache with this John Waters film. Every single line of dialogue is comedy gold as we chart the criminal career of glamour …
Continue reading John Waters Reviewed- Day 4- Female Trouble (1974)
Meathook Cinema 