Remakes: Black Caesar

While researching last month's theme, we learned that Larry Cohen's Black Caesar was a remake of a pre-code gangster film staring Edward G. Robinson called Little Caesar.

Why remake a fairly obscure gangster film from the 30s?: Cohen had been commissioned by Sammy Davis Jr. to write a film that would star Davis, and Cohen decided to base his script on a gangster film he'd obsessed over when he was young. Unfortunately, by the time the script was finished, Davis was unable to pay for it, leaving Cohen with a movie burning a hole in his pocket. Luckily it wasn't too long before he was approached by Samuel Z. Arkoff to direct something featuring a Black cast. Cohen showed him Black Caesar, and they signed a deal before their first meeting was through.

The plot unfolds something like this: A young Tommy Gibbs (Fred Williamson) crosses paths with a punch-happy, racist and on-the-take cop who sends Tommy to the hospital and juvie in short order. When Tommy gets out, he positions himself to be at the local (also racist) mob's disposal, dutifully doing their dirty work and lulling them into trusting him. He eventually uses this trust to take control of Harlem for himself. But his lust for power becomes entirely unquenchable and he quickly alienates everyone he cares about as his grabs for power become more bloody and impulsive. He's left with two choices: examine why he started down this path in the first place, or die trying to avoid the reality of who he's become.

The overt similarities: Both Black Caesar and Little Caesar are about the rise of a small-time criminal, and their subsequent undoings.











Different subtexts: The undoing of each of these characters is rooted in their limited understanding of themselves, but where Rico (Edward G. Robinson) in Little Caesar seems to be incapable of letting his "friend" (who is more probably his unrequited love interest) leave the life of crime Rico has built for the two of them; Williamson's Tommy can't seem to understand why his revenge fueled climb to the top has failed to make him (and everyone around him) happy.

Misogyny in place of homosexuality: There aren't homosexual undertones prevalent in Black Caesar, but there is a fair amount of misogyny. Tommy treats his love interest poorly from the moment she's introduced, to the point that we couldn't understand why she was drawn to him in the first place, never mind why she marries him (though she does leave him eventually, him raping her is what pushes her to make that decision). It seems that Cohen was aware of the homosexual themes of the original, but opted to replace them with misogynistic themes. But even with different subtexts, both of these films are an exploration of the problems that arise when men don't properly address their feelings.

And the soundtrack: Speaking of misogynists, this was James Brown's first soundtrack effort, and he unintentionally made life very difficult for the filmmakers. Every track he turned in was upwards of 30 seconds longer than it needed to be, making it impossible to use the songs for the scenes they were written for. As a result, the tracks are used in sometimes jarring and down right odd ways throughout the film. But on their own, they're fantastic James Brown songs. (And even though Brown made life harder for the production, when the time came for the sequel to be scored Cohen reached out to Brown again. This time Brown turned in something of a masterpiece. A masterpiece that American International Pictures passed on, and Brown ended up releasing himself as The Payback. That's right, one of James Brown very best albums, was a rejected soundtrack. Go figure.)

Our feelings on this film: This was one of our favorite blacksploitation films we watched while researching last month's theme (and if it hadn't been for that completely unnecessary and violent rape scene, we would have found a way to screen it). It's one of the few blacksploitation films that's considered a tragedy, but it's also one where racism is illustrated in many lights, where poverty and crime aren't shown through a two-dimensional lens, and the only one we watched where the female lead was portrayed as both strong and vulnerable. There's an impressive layering of nuance in this film from start to finish (which is unusual for a mob movie), and we highly recommend it.

It's Alive III: Island of the Alive

Oh boy. Larry Cohen and Michael Moriarty don't let us down in this one. Moriarty carries this movie (whether by design or by force is unclear) which is always a good time, and we're talking about a movie franchise that revolves around killer babies, how can you go wrong? The title tells you know how much they intend to amp up the crazy in this installment, but what it doesn't tell you is how gleefully they overshoot that mark...

The plot unfolds something like this: The parents of mutant babies are tired of seeing their children murdered in cold blood so, they form a class action suit against the city. The demand? For the city to make reasonable accommodations for the baby-monsters in an effort to end the killing. The parents win and the city ships the baby-monsters to a remote island where they'll be free to live out a natural life. Everyone's happy! Well, everyone but the babies...

Sounds straightforward enough right? But then... : The island is a former testing ground for nuclear devices and the radiation accelerates the baby-monster's growth. Five years after they're left on the island a group of scientists lead an expedition to make contact with the babies (who are now adults) to see how they're developing without human interference... or something. The group insists Stephen Jarvis (Moriarty's character) come along even though he totally does not want to. This causes the already unstable Jarvis to become extra erratic. He breaks into song, sings over dialogue, says nasty stuff to the scientist crew but plays it off as joking, and he laughs while delivering lines. (It's kinda hard to tell if Moriarty's acting, or just reacting to negative interactions with people on set.)

More insanity with some SPOILERS: The adult-monsters force Jarvis to take them to Florida on the boat the scientists came on. (Never mind that Jarvis only knows how to operated the boat because he asked the crew a few questions during the sailing montage.) But as they near land, Jarvis' kid throws him overboard seemingly in an attempt to save him from the other monsters. [GIANT SPOILER AHEAD!] Lucky for Jarvis some Cuban militants find him adrift in the ocean and take him to Cuba! Yes that's right, now he's in Cuba and has to convince the militants to take him to Florida.

Oh yeah! Karen Black is in this movie: Karen plays Jarvis' ex-wife and mother of their monster-son. She's changed her identity and started a new life in an effort to run from her past, but somehow the monsters know exactly where she is.

Things to watch for: Asinine stop motion baby effects. Moriarty breaking into song at the most inappropriate times. The flimsiest excuse to end an expedition ever (“Someone's already been here? Back to the ship everyone!” might be the actual line). Moriarty having to act as though the monsters are present when there wasn't enough money in the budget to have them on set. Asinine adult-monster costumes.

Things to look away for: For some reason the filmmakers (or script writers) didn't feel there was enough violence in this franchise installment, so there are two separate sexual assault attempts in the last third of the film. Both are out-of-the-clear-blue and neither fit into the larger plot by any stretch of the imagination.

The best movie to double-feature this with: Salem's Lot 2. It not only features the star and director pair, but Moriarty is another a dad with a problem kid.

A Return to Salem’s Lot

                 

              
























We love Larry Cohen (director) and Michael Moriarty (star), but this movie was a serious let down.  Moriarty is stiff, the plot is thin to say the least, and the action mostly bookends the movie. On the up side, the veteran actors and actresses steal the show; they deliver the best lines and bring levity to this bland horror movie.

The plot unfolds something like this:  Anthropologist Joe Weber moves to Salem’s Lot with his son for complicated and diluted reasons. The town is of course inhabited by vampires, and residents want Weber to write their “bible”. [Everybody knows anthropologists are MUCH better writers than vampires!] The son, meanwhile, becomes enchanted by the idea of becoming a vampire, having been seduced by one of the vampire children (Tara Reed). Only Nazi hunter Van Meer (Sam Fuller) can save the son, and rid Salem’s Lot of the vampire scourge, though it’s never clear why.

Things to watch for: Ever randomly changing footwear on the hero’s son. Rubber masked blue vampire inexplicably stalking the cast. The mom from A Nightmare on Elm Street. Elderly vampires feeding on live cows. Moriarty’s shirtless love scene…actually, you should turn away for that one.

What the filmmakers might have been thinking: Rubber masks work like make-up right?

What we learned: Vampires have a reflection, tolerate garlic, are terrible writers and can transform shoes. (Also; cows are immune to vampirism.)

Yep that’s: Sam Fuller

Some “That lady!” moments with:  Ronee Blakley (A Nightmare on Elm Street) and Tara Reed (The Big Lebowski).

Specs:

Previews: none

Tag line:  none

Choice line from the synopsis:  “Now get ready for A Return to Salem’s Lot---by quadrupling your life insurance.”

VHS release company:  Warner Home Video

VHS release:  1988

Original release:  1987

Our rating: Better with a loud group.

                                      (from left to right, top to bottom) 
                                1.    Our anthropological hero.
                                2.    Sam Fuller ladies and gentlemen!
                                3.    Our hero’s offspring
                                4.    Rubber vampire!
                                5.    Tara Reed.
                                6.    Rubber mask vampire, very scary.
                                7.    Some of our better cast members and a boom mike.
                                8.    Ronee Blakley and another boom mike.
                                9.    Some of the only action in the film.
                              10.  Good times had by some, melting had by others.
                              11.  Oh dang, I’ve been shot in the head!
                              12.  Well I may have bullets in my head, but my new tie makes it all better
                              13-15.  The sound guy on this movie really must have been short, or drunk.

The Stuff

We love this movie, it’s satirical, it’s funny, and its got really good special effects. Knowing little going into this one, it was a very pleasant surprise. Michael Moriarty (star) and Larry Cohen (director) are at their best, the action is non-stop and the story is unique. Don’t get us wrong, it’s still seriously flawed, and that makes this movie all the more enjoyable. It opens with a coal miner stumbling across a bubbling white patch in the snow that he MUCH too quickly decides to taste. After discovering how delicious it is he tell his buddy “if this stuff keeps bubbling out of the ground like this, there might be enough of it here that we could sell to people.” Immediately we cut to a young boy getting up in the middle of the night for a snack, and crawling around inside his fridge is The Stuff…

The plot unfolds something like this: The Stuff, a delicious frozen yogurt like dessert, is being very successfully marketed to the masses in a series of slick ad campaigns. Our heroes one by one discover that The Stuff is somehow changing people, and may have a mind of it’s own. Our heroes race from one elaborate location to the next, trying to uncover the secret of The Stuff.

Things to watch for: An uninhibited taste test of white stuff bubbling up from the ground. Use of the same effects set built for the infamous Jonny Depp scene in A Nightmare on Elm Street. A product in a carton that must be frozen or refrigerated but is also shelf stable. Our cast entering a post office around noon, hanging around for about five minutes, and leaving into the darkness of midnight.

Hey was that…: Clara “Where’s the Beef?” Peller and Abe Pagoda in that The Stuff commercial?

“That guy!” moments with: Danny Aiello (The Professional), Paul Sorvino (The Rocketeer), Garrett Morris (SNL), and Patrick O’Neal (Silent Night, Bloody Night).

Memorable quote: “Everybody has to eat shaving cream once in a while.”

What the filmmakers might have been thinking: Man, the American public will buy anything if it has a slick enough advertising campaign behind it…

What we learned: When you see thick white stuff bubbling out of the ground, you should immediately reach down and taste it.


Specs:

Previews: Transylvania 6-5000

Tag line: “Are you eating it or is it eating you?”

Choice line from the synopsis: “It’s taken the country by storm…and it KILLS!”

VHS release company: New World Video

Running time: 93 min

VHS release date: 1985

Original release:  1985

Our rating: Definitely watchable

                                                          

                (from left to right, top to bottom)                                       

                      1.    Danny Aiello

                      2.    The Stuff’s slick marketing campaign.

                      3.    5-second rule! (If you find it coming out of the ground you have to eat it 

                             with in 5 seconds!)

                      4.    Look out! The Stuff is going to come off the green screen and get you

                      5.    Paul Sorvino

                      6.    That looks like so much fun! 

                      7.    Garrett Morris gettin’ ready to blow.

                      8.    Our creepy hero kid.

                      9.    Patrick O’Neal lookin’ like Richard Dawson

                     10.    So much fun…

                     11.     The very same set used to kill Jonny Depp!

                     12.     Sex sells, especially when it’s wearing a unitard.