PSYCHOTRONIC NETFLIX VOL. 18

HEY BASTARDS. Welcome to another edition of PSYCHOTRONIC NETFLIX! This week we’ve got a variety of flicks that should fill up at least two-thirds of a 24-hour movie marathon!

10. The Visitors (1972)

One of the more unjustly obscure entries in the history of director Elia Kazan, this dramatic thriller stars a young James Woods as a Vietnam vet who is placed in an uncomfortable position when his former platoon mates (Steve Railsback and Chico Martinez) stop in for a visit to his family.

9. Zero to Sixty (1976)

Darren McGavin wrote the screenplay for his starring role in Don Weis’ tale of a guy who gets involved with being a repo man, but the emphasis is more on car chases and the weird relationship between McGavin’s character and a young girl, played by Denise Nickerson, WILLY WONKA AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY’s Violet. With Sylvia Miles, Lorraine Gary, Dick Martin, Lyle Waggoner, Joan Collins(!) and The Hudson Brothers(!!).

8. Witchfinder General (1968)

Vincent Price is at his best as the title traveler, who goes from town to town with his accomplice (Robert Russell) offering to get confessions from witches in exchange from money or sex. One of the only films directed by Michael Reeves before his death at the age of 25, this is period horror at its’ best. With Ian Ogilvy and Rupert Davies.

7. Last Embrace (1979)

It’s a puzzler how this early Jonathan Demme thriller, starring Roy Scheider as a government agent whose wife is killed on assignment and soon finds himself being hunted by an unknown assailant, has never been issued on DVD, but it’s a solid thriller that deserves more notice. With John Glover, Janet Margolin, Charles Napier, Christopher Walken, David Margulies and (briefly) Mandy Patinkin, “Alf” dad Max Wright, Joe Spinell and director Jim McBride.

6. Revolution (1968)

Click “Play” and step into a real timepiece – an oddly scattered portrait of the hippie scene shot in 1967, featuring light shows, interviews and loads of musical performances from the likes of Country Joe and the Fish, the Steve Miller Band, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Ace of Cups and Dan Hicks. As a film, it’s a mess, but as a document of the era, it’s pretty fascinating stuff.

5. Them (2007)

This Romanian-set, French-made horror flick about a couple in their isolated country house being terrorized by a group of unknown creeps hidden by hoods is an amazingly tense experience if you don’t mind the minimalist plot. It also knows not to wear out its’ welcome, clocking in at a brief 77 minutes.

4. Marat/Sade (1967)

Probably the best depiction of the Marquis de Sade on film, Peter Brook’s ambitious, multi-layered 1967 feature concerns the production of a play in an asylum, directed by the Marquis (Patrick Magee) about the French Revolution, an event also depicted in the more recent QUILLS. With Ian Richardson, Glenda Jackson, W. Morgan Sheppard and Freddie Jones.

3. Snow White: A Tale of Terror (1997)

With all of the “re-imaginings” of fairy tales that have been hitting theaters and TV screens as of late, it might be time to check out one of the better examples in Michael Cohn’s horror fantasy starring Signourney Weaver as the evil stepmother envious of her new step-daughter’s beauty. With Monica Keena, Sam Neill, Brian Glover and Gil Bellows. What happened to Cohn, anyway?

2. For Those Who Think Young (1964)

Of course, if you want some lighter fare, there’s always a good a beach party movie! Sadly, this isn’t a good beach party movie, but it’s got some entertaining moments with a cast that includes Paul Lynde, Tina Louise, Nancy Sinatra, a really young Ellen Burstyn and a bizarre musical sequence involving the bottom of Bob Denver’s face. It’s a shame so much time is spent with Woody Woodbury’s “zany” comedy antics.

1. Centurion (2010)

Neil Marshall is slowly becoming one of the new masters of genre films, with works like DOG SOLDIERS, THE DESCENT and DOOMSDAY delivering the goods to new audiences of exploitation fans, but his brutal CENTURION seemed to be ignored as a 300 rip-off when released in the U.S. two years ago. It’s a much grittier film, showing a group of Roman soldiers headed by Michael Fassbender fighting behind enemy lines with enough blood and action to satisfy all but the most hardened of historical epic fans.