Film Reviews · Backpex

Title	Overview		Toggle columns Title Overview
Dealing: Or the Berkeley-to-Boston Forty-Brick Lost-Bag Blues	A Harvard graduate transports a load of marijuana from Boston to Berkeley, California.
The Gauntlet	Phoenix cop Ben Shockley is well on his way to becoming a derelict when he is assigned to transport a witness named Gus Mally from Vegas. Mally turns out to be a belligerent prostitute with mob ties and incriminating information regarding a high-placed figure.
The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane	Quiet, withdrawn 13-year-old Rynn Jacobs lives peacefully in her home in a New England beach town. Whenever the prying landlady inquires after Rynn's father, she politely claims that he's in the city on business. But when the landlady's creepy and increasingly persistent son, Frank, won't leave Rynn alone, she teams up with kindly neighbor boy Mario to maintain the dark family secret that she's been keeping to herself.
Hunt to Kill	A U.S. Border Patrol agent Jim Rhodes, a tough divorcée mourning the loss of his murdered partner while struggling to raise his rebellious daughter in the mountains of Montana. But when a crew of trigger-happy fugitives takes Rhodes and his daughter hostage, a rugged wilderness will explode in all-terrain vengeance. Is there any wounded animal more dangerous than a lawman left for dead? Daniels portrays one of the villains.
The Flame of New Orleans	In old New Orleans, a beautiful adventuress juggles the attentions of a rich banker and a dashing sea captain.
Get Ready	Found footage from a feature film. From an idyllic scene at the sea Tscherkassky moves to a speedy car driving by night. The radical movement of objects, bodies and senses illustrates the power of cinema. —Viennale
No Name on the Bullet	Cool, cultured John Gant rides into Lordsburg. Gant is a professional killer, and although no one knows who he is there to kill, they are all worried. Everyone has enemies, and maybe Gant is in town for them. While they wait for him to make his move, paranoia starts taking over... Written by Ken Yousten John Gant, hired assassin rides into town. No one is sure of the identity of his intended victim. Townsfolk have shady pasts that make each one believe that John Gant is there to kill them. While each townsperson is falling apart from guilt, Gant is waiting in the hotel but is still given the blame for the shootings and the suicide of the Banker. Written by Carol Johnson
Harper Valley P.T.A.	Stella Johnson is a single mother living in the town of Harper Valley. Most of the townsfolk, particularly those on the school PTA, think she is a little too liberal so they're making things tough for her and her daughter. So she runs for the position of PTA President, which infuriates them. Stella decides to get revenge with the help of her friends.
Bite Size	"Bite Size" follows the year long journey of four children struggling with obesity.
Sharktopus vs. Whalewolf	When a mad scientist mixes the genes of a killer whale and a wolf, it creates the Whalewolf, and it's up to Sharktopus to stop it.
First Light	Marco, a cynical and ambitious young lawyer, lives in Bari with his partner Martina and their eight-year-old son Mateo. Martina had left Chile and moved to Italy when she met Marco. Their relationship has run its course, however, and Martina longs to go back to her country with Mateo, but Marco, the loving father left out of the equation, is adamantly against the idea. The couple clash for weeks on end, until Martina abruptly leaves the country with their son, goes back to Chile and virtually vanishes. With no news of Mateo, time seems to stand still for Marco. Anguished and unable to cope, he finally rallies and sets off in search of his son.
Gloomy Sunday	Budapest in the thirties. The restaurant owner Laszlo hires the pianist András to play in his restaurant. Both men fall in love with the beautiful waitress Ilona who inspires András to his only composition. His song of Gloomy Sunday is, at first, loved and then feared, for its melancholic melody triggers off a chain of suicides. The fragile balance of the erotic ménage à trois is sent off kilter when the German Hans goes and falls in love with Ilona as well.
The Clairvoyant	A fake psychic suddenly turns into the real thing when he meets a young beauty. (TCM)
Second Fiddle to a Steel Guitar	In this musical gem, big-hearted Jubal Bristol (Arnold Stang) takes it upon himself to mount a country and western benefit concert after the opera company that his wife (Pamela Hayes) booked suddenly backs out. Along with country icons Minnie Pearl, Dottie West, Connie Smith and Faron Young, the film features great tunes such as "Born to Lose," "Abilene" and "Young Love." Huntz Hall and Leo Gorcey (of Bowery Boys fame) portray stagehands.
Colt 38 Special Squad	When his wife is kidnapped by a local crime lord (Ivan Rassimov), a determined police captain (Marcel Bozzuffi) forms his own squad of rogue cops, each of whom wields a .38 Colt revolver. The mission, of course, is to rescue the captain's wife -- but the conflict soon explodes into a citywide spree of violent crime. Italian giallo master Massimo Dallamano directs this rousing action-drama, the last film he ever made

Dealing: Or the Berkeley-to-Boston Forty-Brick Lost-Bag Blues

A Harvard graduate transports a load of marijuana from Boston to Berkeley, California.

The Gauntlet

Phoenix cop Ben Shockley is well on his way to becoming a derelict when he is assigned to transport a witness named Gus Mally from Vegas. Mally turns out to be a belligerent prostitute with mob ties and incriminating information regarding a high-placed figure.

The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane

Quiet, withdrawn 13-year-old Rynn Jacobs lives peacefully in her home in a New England beach town. Whenever the prying landlady inquires after Rynn's father, she politely claims that he's in the city on business. But when the landlady's creepy and increasingly persistent son, Frank, won't leave Rynn alone, she teams up with kindly neighbor boy Mario to maintain the dark family secret that she's been keeping to herself.

Hunt to Kill

A U.S. Border Patrol agent Jim Rhodes, a tough divorcée mourning the loss of his murdered partner while struggling to raise his rebellious daughter in the mountains of Montana. But when a crew of trigger-happy fugitives takes Rhodes and his daughter hostage, a rugged wilderness will explode in all-terrain vengeance. Is there any wounded animal more dangerous than a lawman left for dead? Daniels portrays one of the villains.

The Flame of New Orleans

In old New Orleans, a beautiful adventuress juggles the attentions of a rich banker and a dashing sea captain.

Get Ready

Found footage from a feature film. From an idyllic scene at the sea Tscherkassky moves to a speedy car driving by night. The radical movement of objects, bodies and senses illustrates the power of cinema. —Viennale

No Name on the Bullet

Cool, cultured John Gant rides into Lordsburg. Gant is a professional killer, and although no one knows who he is there to kill, they are all worried. Everyone has enemies, and maybe Gant is in town for them. While they wait for him to make his move, paranoia starts taking over... Written by Ken Yousten John Gant, hired assassin rides into town. No one is sure of the identity of his intended victim. Townsfolk have shady pasts that make each one believe that John Gant is there to kill them. While each townsperson is falling apart from guilt, Gant is waiting in the hotel but is still given the blame for the shootings and the suicide of the Banker. Written by Carol Johnson

Harper Valley P.T.A.

Stella Johnson is a single mother living in the town of Harper Valley. Most of the townsfolk, particularly those on the school PTA, think she is a little too liberal so they're making things tough for her and her daughter. So she runs for the position of PTA President, which infuriates them. Stella decides to get revenge with the help of her friends.

Bite Size

"Bite Size" follows the year long journey of four children struggling with obesity.

Sharktopus vs. Whalewolf

When a mad scientist mixes the genes of a killer whale and a wolf, it creates the Whalewolf, and it's up to Sharktopus to stop it.

First Light

Marco, a cynical and ambitious young lawyer, lives in Bari with his partner Martina and their eight-year-old son Mateo. Martina had left Chile and moved to Italy when she met Marco. Their relationship has run its course, however, and Martina longs to go back to her country with Mateo, but Marco, the loving father left out of the equation, is adamantly against the idea. The couple clash for weeks on end, until Martina abruptly leaves the country with their son, goes back to Chile and virtually vanishes. With no news of Mateo, time seems to stand still for Marco. Anguished and unable to cope, he finally rallies and sets off in search of his son.

Gloomy Sunday

Budapest in the thirties. The restaurant owner Laszlo hires the pianist András to play in his restaurant. Both men fall in love with the beautiful waitress Ilona who inspires András to his only composition. His song of Gloomy Sunday is, at first, loved and then feared, for its melancholic melody triggers off a chain of suicides. The fragile balance of the erotic ménage à trois is sent off kilter when the German Hans goes and falls in love with Ilona as well.

The Clairvoyant

A fake psychic suddenly turns into the real thing when he meets a young beauty. (TCM)

Second Fiddle to a Steel Guitar

In this musical gem, big-hearted Jubal Bristol (Arnold Stang) takes it upon himself to mount a country and western benefit concert after the opera company that his wife (Pamela Hayes) booked suddenly backs out. Along with country icons Minnie Pearl, Dottie West, Connie Smith and Faron Young, the film features great tunes such as "Born to Lose," "Abilene" and "Young Love." Huntz Hall and Leo Gorcey (of Bowery Boys fame) portray stagehands.

Colt 38 Special Squad

When his wife is kidnapped by a local crime lord (Ivan Rassimov), a determined police captain (Marcel Bozzuffi) forms his own squad of rogue cops, each of whom wields a .38 Colt revolver. The mission, of course, is to rescue the captain's wife -- but the conflict soon explodes into a citywide spree of violent crime. Italian giallo master Massimo Dallamano directs this rousing action-drama, the last film he ever made