July 31, 2018

New York-sploitation: Basket Case

Basket Case is a movie I forever thought I had seen, but it turns out there are two movies about men being followed around NYC by little murderous monsters from this time period. This one is more of a family hardships sort of murderous-monster movie, and it's got some twists you really don't see coming.


The plot unfolds something like this: Duane Bradley is a man with a secret, a secret that he carries in a wicker basket with a lock on it. He's made his way to a flophouse hotel in NYC where he hopes to blend into the scenery. (Sadly a young man lugging a gigantic wicker trunk everywhere he goes seems to be one of the few things that will turn the head of a New Yorker.) Bradley's on a mission: find the doctors responsible for separating him and his brother Belial, and make them pay the ultimate price for their sins...




The city: NYC is portrayed in full scum-tastic splendor. The flophouse where he rents a room is held together by grime and is run by the exact stereotype you're imagining. His hotel neighbors range from the shifty petty thief to the sex worker with a heart of gold. Bradley takes an iconic walk through Times Square, drinks in a seedy nightclub, takes in a film in a filthy porno theater, creeps through back alleys and up fire escapes, and throws in a dash of touristy sight seeing, just to round things out.

Beverly Bonner: This movie features Beverly Bonner, who appeared in all three of the Basket Case movies, sometimes as the same character and sometimes as someone else entirely.

The effects: Though the effects in this film are as low-budget as everything else, the filmmakers sort of lean into that rather than attempt to hide it making the cheapness of the effects come off as intentionally cheeky. That (on top of the voice actor's choices for Belial) brings the comedy up a level, but it's very hard to tell if it was done intentionally or not.

Unexpected darkness: There are a few moments that set this movie's tone on the dark end of comedy, but that darkness is well balanced considering how goofy the main character is (and that he carries around gigantic wicker basket with a lock on it for the first act of the film). But you could argue that this is one of the few horror-comedy-tragedy movies in the world, because it gets pretty bleak.

Under appreciated classic: This little bag of weirdness is full of fleshed out characters, unique story elements, classic trashy NYC, and some unexpectedly delightful performances from a myriad of background characters.


July 27, 2018

August's Mystery Movie: Second Clue

Clue #2: The director of this month's movie didn't direct much, but what little he did was almost exclusively in the New York exploitation genre.

Tape Freaks Presents: August's Mystery Movie at the Trylon CinemaWednesday, August 1st @ 7:00pm, only $5!


July 25, 2018

August's Mystery Movie: First Clue

Clue #1: This month's movie is a campy monster/horror movie from the early 90s, featuring NYC at the beginning of the end of the scum-city glory days. 



Tape Freaks Presents: August's Mystery Movie at the Trylon CinemaWednesday, August 1st @ 7:00pm, only $5!

July 4, 2018

July's Mystery Move: Third Clue

Clue #3: This month's movie was suggested by our projectionist Nikki when our original pick turned out to be not as awesome as we remembered. Once we realized what holiday this screening lands on, we couldn't think of a more fitting movie for the holiday. It's 100% American from the setting to the bad guy, but it's also a shining example of what immigrants bring to our culture.

But that's not all! 
This month's screening falls on the 4th of July, so starting at 5pm we'll be hosting a potluck-grilling party outside the lobby of the Trylon! Bring something to grill/share, and then watch our carefully selected JCVD flick! (See our Facebook event page for more info.)



Tape Freaks Presents: July's Mystery Movie at the Trylon CinemaWednesday, July 4th, BBQ @ 5:00-7:00pm, movie starts @ 7:00pm, only $5!


July 2, 2018

July's Mystery Move: Second Clue

Clue #2: Two of the producers of this month's movie are responsible for a healthy amount of our favorite horror movies.
But that's not all! 
This month's screening falls on the 4th of July, so starting at 5pm we'll be hosting a potluck-grilling party outside the lobby of the Trylon! Bring something to grill/share, and then watch our carefully selected JCVD flick! (See our Facebook event page for more info.)


Tape Freaks Presents: July's Mystery Movie at the Trylon CinemaWednesday, July 4th, BBQ @ 5:00-7:00pm (movie starts @ 7:00), only $5!


July 1, 2018

Van Dammage: Expendables 2

We saw the first Expendables in the theater and enjoyed it pretty well, but our excitement for the second installment was much higher due to the inclusion of Van Damme! The first one is a fairly perfect embodiment of 80/90s action movies, in all the best, and worst ways. The sequel is just more of that with some lovely Jean-Claude Van Damme bad-guy acting in the mix.


The plot unfolds something like this: The Expendables are hired to do something that runs them up against Vilain (Van Damme). Lots of explosions and gunfights ensue.

Mindless action: There is truly only one reason to watch these movies, nonstop over the top action. And they deliver on that front handily.

JCVD as the villain: Van Damme's goofiness actually translates well to the hammy villain role, but the filmmakers didn't seem to know how to work his character into the plot, leaving us wishing there had been more of him in the film.

Other Expendables in the news: Terry Crews just testified for the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the Sexual Assault Survivors' Bill of Rights. While answering question from Senators, Crews brought up being pressured by Expendables' producer Avi Lerner (who's been accused of sexual harassment himself) to drop his suit against Adam Venit (who also happens to be Sylvester Stallone's agent (Stallone who's more recently been accused of rape by two women)). Crews pointed out to the Senators that predators protect each other and he realized had to make a choice: continue to work with men who prey on other people, or take a stand. We're really glad he chose the latter.

Too bad: We won't be watching any more of the Expendables movies (though we also haven't seen the 3rd), but I am really excited to see what kind of action movies come out of Hollywood after all this scumbag ousting. Maybe we'll even get to see more JCVD. (But those odds aren't really in his favor...)