70's American Horror Part Fifty-Seven

SOYLENT GREEN

(1973)

Dir - Richard Fleischer

Overall: GOOD

Arguably the most famous of the 1970's environmental thrillers, Soylent Green's depiction of an overpopulated dystopian future is bleakly realized while cruising along at a popcorn-munching pace.  Director Richard Fleischer had a list of commercial science fiction films under his belt by the time that he adapted Harry Harrison's novel Make Room! Make Room! for the big screen and though the author was allegedly displeased with his non-involvement in the project as well as certain emphases being put on what he considered to be unimportant elements to his source material, Fleischer maintains a grimy, morally-dubious tone with what is utilized.  Charlton Heston is ideally cast as the working class police detective who makes the best out of his downtrodden line of work, even when it means stealing sought-after items from the recently dead/rich or indulging in their attractive, live-in companion female pieces of "furniture".  Completed two weeks before his death from bladder cancer, Edward G. Robinson delivers the most commendable performance as a weathered man who agonizingly remembers when the world had winter, meat, and vegetable life for the taking.

GRIZZLY

(1976)
Dir - William Girdler/David Sheldon
Overall: WOOF

One of the more boring Jaws knock-offs that came in the immediate wake of Steven Spielberg's seminal blockbuster, Grizzly is top-to-bottom dull.  Producer/co-writer Harvey Flaxman came up with the initial idea that on paper should have been idiot-proof to pull-off as far as catering to an audience that was chomping at the bit for more ferocious animal mayhem. In this respect, the movie was a success in that it was commercially profitable upon release, but any honest assessment of its merits or lack-thereof cannot deny its clunky presentation.  An eleven-foot tall Kodiak bear stands in for the grizzly of the title, but not only is the beast's screen time detrimentally limited, but every kill scene is edited to smithereens with awkard, lighting-fast close-ups, ADRed roars, and a couple of severed limbs tossed about to try and make up for the fact that the actors had to logically be as far away from the actual animal during filming as possible.  Much more of a problem is the fact that so, so, so, so much time is dedicated to completely uninteresting bumpkin characters squabbling with or casually trading anecdotes with each other that barely provide enough drama to lackadaisically move things along.  Anyone who can make it to the final five minutes where the bear is quickly done away with by way of bazooka blast, (which again, should be much more fun than it is), clearly has at least three cups of coffee keeping them awake until then.

 

LEGACY OF BLOOD

(1978)

Dir - Andy Milligan

Overall: WOOF

 

For actors that no one has ever heard of or would hear from again, Andy Milligan movies were a tour de force of prattling dialog for them to sink their would-be respectable thespian claws into.  His quasi-remake of his own The Ghastly Ones is 1978's Legacy of Blood, not be be confused with the same year's supernatural horror film, (and actual real movie), The Legacy from the same year OR Blood Legacy from 1971 which had a shoehorned in performance from John Carradine and is also equally terrible.  When it comes to bottom-barrel cinema's steadfast trope of "too much talking, too little action", Milligan seems hellbent on perfecting such a faux pas.  Nothing happens, (seriously though, nothing), for nearly an hour here besides unphotogenic actors sitting down and prattling on and on and goddamn on about inconsequential nonsense that has little to no bearing on when the murders finally take place in the final act.  The results are staggeringly boring, even by regional, non-filmmaking standards and with over twenty directorial features on his resume at the time, it is no wonder when viewing this insultingly dull travesty why Milligan never went anywhere substantial in his persistently lackluster career.