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Amor Bandido (1979)
Sleaze with a heart and soul?
"It's like I told you: If you stall, you die. There's not a place in this world for everybody."
There is so much to this film, that as I was typing up a review, it began to resemble some college student's dissertation. So instead, I will discuss the scenes that I loved most. Fair enough?
First of all, I figured this was a little film that went by with no notice; that it was released in the U.S. Halloween of 1982, most likely limited to the art-house circuit. But to my surprise, there are many glowing reviews for Amor Bandido! Playboy, Village Voice, L.A. Times, and even Rex Reed all praised it. By all appearances and internet searches, Amor Bandido comes off as a bit of late 1970s Brazilian sleaze, when it's anything but!
The VHS print is a tad grimy, which actually enhances the film, making it feel like a hidden camera is documenting these separate-yet-connected people living in desperation, just trying to get by. Sandra is built like a tooth-pick, which I actually find refreshing. When I think of Brazilian women, I think of, well, not her. She's really quite striking, and with her swarthy skin, 1930s styled curls and thin frame, she resembles P.J. Harvey by way of flapper girl. Toninho is boyishly adorable (his voice and smile are very charming) and though he's clad in those very late '70s fashions of bell-bottomed slacks and polyester, large-collared shirts, all's right with the world when he strips them off (which is quite often). As lovely as he is, it is Sandra who is more sympathetic, as this is really her story. Toninho is fittingly a sociopath, coming off as an absolute bastard in scenes, wherein others with Sandra, he is sweet and loving.
Together, they're equal parts passionate and vitriolic. In fact, when they first meet, Toninho strips down and Sandra, clad only in a towel start physically and verbally brawling, which then leads to them going at each other passionately. There are plenty of sex scenes, all raw and extremely erotic. Again, as stated with the picture quality making it feel like a documentary, it feels as though you're watching two lovers in highly intimate acts together. They claw and bite each other, clinging as if the other will go away if they let go. When one is upset with the other, they fight and hit each other, but it always ends with Toninho desperately coming back to Sandra, and the two of them rutting like animals.
I greatly enjoyed the scenes of the two of them doing the most simplistic things that most normal couples do; such as going to the movies and shopping at an outdoor market for tangerines. Sandra comes alive, talking about the simple joys such things bring her, and Toninho listens intently, genuinely interested. After buying tangerines, they sit by the beach and watch the ocean, discussing how they could go to Japan or Hawaii some day.
The theater scene was particularly touching, as Sandra watches her favorite singer/actor, Roberto Carlos, perched at the edge of her seat and singing along with him. Later on, they both sit in bed with tangerine peels scattered all over the bedspread, watching an old black and white film on television, Sandra wide-eyed with wonder. Together, they share a beautifully passionate love and happiness neither had experienced before.
The scenes of Sandra's father, Galvão, were just as heart-breaking. This is a broken man, one of many broken characters, wanting to reach out to the now adult child he rejected. He rambles on about how much a good student Sandra once was, how proud she made her parents. But at the age of 13, she fell into a bad crowd and began to act out sexually; feeling that Sandra was bringing great shame upon them, she was thrown out. Galvão had not seen her since, until now. Her mother and his wife died, her last request that the rest of the family overcome their past. Besides this great burden Galvão carries upon his heavy, tired frame, he and the rest of his police precinct are on the hunt for someone who is murdering and robbing cab drivers. Between these two issues, Galvão can find no rest or comfort, determined to catch the killer and repair his relationship with Sandra.
The film takes a heart-breaking turn (of course!) when Galvão finds out about Sandra and Toninho. He wants to get information out of her so the precinct can set up a sting outside of the club she works at, but she refuses. Galvão is pained by this, as his fellow officers wait impatiently by the wayside to beat the information out of her. Galvão is then seen inside the police van, jaw clenched, eyes squeezed shut, sweating profusely, with his hands clamped over his ears, trying to drown out his daughter's pained screams.
Sandra is all too familiar with loss and personal tragedy, and now she has given in; she is anticipating the inevitable end. Soon, the only reason Sandra has for going on will be taken from her; she will hold him broken and bloody in her arms.
My attraction to this film was because of the inevitable tragic ending; my favorite love stories all involve tragic ends, everything leading up to it with a two-against-the-world mentality. Amor Bandido would make a great triple feature with Bonnie and Clyde and Sid and Nancy.
If you find a copy of this film, whether to rent or buy, do so. It's worth it.
And a bit of trivia: -In a scene wherein Sandra and Toninho run away from a bit of trouble, they pass a theater featuring the actors' names (Cristina Aché and Paulo Guarnieri) on the marquee.
Murder: Ultimate Grounds for Divorce (1984)
The Kids Aren't Alright
Har har. Might as well cram a joke (no matter how played out and hackneyed) into this review somewhere.
See, I have this habit of buying out of print films. My collection ranges from the absurd, to the moving, to wonderful little films that were cruelly overlooked, and to the altogether forgotten.
I suppose this film falls in one of those categories, and no long forgotten gem, Murder: Ultimate Grounds For Divorce, is definitely absurd.
So why did I add this one to my collection? Well, seeing as how the source of my film collection takes about an hour to get to, I don't have much time to dilly-dally with "should I or shouldn't I buy this?" once I arrive there. So most of the time, I just seek out out of print films I've been searching for, and will then also spontaneously buy others for the hell of it (namely based on box art, who's in it, the decade it was made, etc.). Living dangerously with VHS doesn't always pay off. Roger Daltrey's striking, sweaty face on the cover is what made me buy it. I figured that hey, it's long forgotten and stars the handsome and talented Roger Daltrey of the amazing The Who. If anything, it could be a real laugh with friends of mine (who have come to expect me showing them some VHS oddity).
Now after having seen it, I'm not sure I want to share it with anyone else. Class of 1984, Night Children, Terrorvision, Tokyo Pop, C.H.U.D. 2...all films I gladly shared with others who enjoyed them. But this one? I'm sure that I'd rather share old David Carradine films and leave it at that.
So yeah. What is this one about? Well, Roger plays (get ready) Roger (he joins the ranks of Tony Danza for having a character named after himself). He's married to one of the unpleasant women of whom I forgot her character's name, though played by Toyah Willcox. Then there's Raven, who plays Edward (though on occasion Edwina), who is married to Philippa (Leslie Ash). All have been married to each other for 7 years, and in that time, they have had outings with each other every weekend. On a camping trip into the woods, their mode of transport breaks down, the keys are lost, and they are stranded. At first they try to make the best of it, until Roger starts with the verbal jabs and accusations of affairs start to fly. Arguments arise, and soon they come to blows. Secrets come out in the course of the film, accusations of affairs, marriages of convenience, and homosexuality fly; and all are shown in flashbacks (which involve Roger fooling around with some more unpleasant looking women). But the question arises: is any of it true? The answers to these questions are discovered through the course of the film, but really, why bother watching middle aged Brits scream at each other until they're blue in the face? Sure, cross dressing and explosions occur, but what's the use? Roger Daltrey gives a great performance, as does the rest of the cast (though Toyah exclaims "Bloody!" far too much for my taste. The little git grated my nerves something fierce), but I dare say it's all wasted. Certainly with their talent, something better and more substantial could've been created?
Thankfully though, Roger has quite a musical and acting legacy to be remembered by, and Murder: Ultimate Grounds for Divorce, will be shuffled away and forgotten by all, save for the few who have seen it or own it. This one will be filed away as one of the oddities I own and nothing more.
C.H.U.D. II: Bud the Chud (1989)
Zombies + Tricia Leigh Fisher = I like it
I was fortunate enough to catch this oddity at 5:30 am whilst toiling away on a project for my Typography class. Yeah, yeah, yeah..so it's not exactly a mind blowing masterpiece, no cinematic tour-de-force.
But so what? Neither was the original C.H.U.D. Granted, C.H.U.D. isn't that bad of a film, but it's not that great either (with the exception of Daniel Stern and John Goodman, no matter how limited his screen time was)But C.H.U.D. is good for what it is.
And the same goes for C.H.U.D. 2. It stars Robert Vaughn, that kid from Head of the Class (otherwise known as Brian Robbins), Tricia Leigh Fisher, Larry Linville, Bianca Jagger, Norman Fell, June Lockhart, Robert Englund in cameos and the hilarious Gerrit Graham as a zombie?! Well hot damn, sounds like a fun little time waster to me!
As our story goes, in a nutshell, the C.H.U.D. experiments have nearly been perfected--except that the mutated test subject (enter Bud) still craves human flesh (or in this sequel, brains). So the experiment is scrapped, and Bud is to be terminated. But he escapes, is frozen, and is then transported to the Winterhaven Disease Control center for safe keeping. If he's ever needed, an electrical jolt to the brain will do the trick to wake him.
Enter the high school kids: Kevin, Katie (Fisher), and Steve (Robbins). Due to science project malfunctions, Kevin & Steve must stay after school in the loading dock of the school, preparing things for tomorrow's science class. Incidentally, the next class project involves a corpse, which Steve loses. In typical '80s fashion, he decides (much to Kevin's chagrin) to steal a replacement corpse.
Take a guess as to the whereabouts of where & who this replacement is. Har har. Now take a guess as to what happens next. Yes, dear Bud awakens and hijinks and "chudification" ensue. Along the way, he falls in love with Katie (re-animated corpse or not, I would do the same), and forms an alliance of C.H.U.D.s (including June Lockhart and Norman Fell!) Where the government falls short, the kids come in and they must stop this epidemic of C.H.U.D.s before they can wreak ("I think it's Latin.") havoc upon the entire nation!
And yes, the best part is when Katie wears her bathing suit. And my reaction was not one of amusement over the look of it, or how lowcut it was. Oh, and Bud reacts in a way that many emo boys would cringe with painful identification at.
This is an amusing film, filled with stumbling, comical actors slapped with gray paint, explosions, various one liners ("This CHUD's for you!"), references to other films (loved the shades of Day of the Dead and the Charlie Brown reference, as well as the close up on the marquee showing John Huston's The Dead), and general absurdity.
Bud even has his own theme song, which never ceases to repeat over and over in my head (and is almost as entertaining as the theme to Terrorvision), along with songs by Wall of Voodoo.
All in all, C.H.U.D. 2 is harmless, enjoyable fluff. Just take it for what it is--a mind numbing horror comedy.