Flickers from the Cave

Rutger Hauer  was one of our favorites, from  Nighthawks , to  Blade Runner , to  Wedlock , to  Flesh+Blood , to  Hobo with a Shotgun  and countless other films, he left a huge mark on world cinema. We decided to look at two of his films on the show, starting off with 1986's  Wanted Dead or Alive , from one of our favorite directors  Gary Sherman . It's an action packed tale of a terrorist, played...

We are back with more oddball movies from the dustiest shelf in the video store! This time we start with 1980's " Defiance ", from director  John Flynn . It has a star-studded cast lead by  Jan-Michael Vincent . He plays a sailor who finds himself staying in an apartment in a neighborhood that is being terrorized by a gang called the "Souls". It's the story of how he comes to think of this neighbo...

As we attempt to get back into a more regular schedule, we turn to something that is almost always reliable...the movies that seem at least slightly inspired by the epic  Mad Max . We start off with 1988's  Future Hunters  which mixes the Bible, mythology, Nazis, Amazon warriors, kung fu and everything else you can imagine. All these crazy elements should not work together, but somehow director  C...

After a VERY long and unplanned break, we are finally returning with episode 193. We had technical issues the first time we tried to record this one, but we succeeded the second time! Our focus for the second attempt was the actor  Wings Hauser , who always seems to rise to the top in any film he's in. We start off with 1983's  Deadly Force , from director  Paul Aaron , where Wings plays Stoney Co...

In honor of Pride month, we looked at two films that we felt were interesting celebrations of different aspects of the LGBTQ+ world. We don't think these movies are going to necessarily change anyone or make the world a better place, but they are both excellent, thoughtful, and most-of-all FUN! We start off with 1982's  Liquid Sky , from director  Slava Tsukerman  and featuring an amazing dual-lea...

We love  Fred Williamson  so we went back to his filmography for this episode. We look at the first 2 of the " Black Cobra " films. The first from 1987 is a boilerplate actioner with a typically cool performance from Williamson. The sequel " Black Cobra 2 " from 1989 ups the ante by adding TV's  Spiderman   Nicholas Hammond  as a sidekick when Williamson's character is sent to the Phillipines wher...

We bring out the Hellman's on this episode of the podcast as we look at two from  Monte Hellman . We start off with the controversial 1974 movie " Cockfighter " and follow it up with the metaphorical masterpiece " Two Lane Blacktop " from 1971. Both films feature  Warren Oates ,  Laurie Bird  and  Harry Dean Stanton , all turning in strong performances. Cockfighter follows a deliberately mute Oate...

We decided to return to the work of Canadian director  William Fruet  this time for the podcast. We start off with " The House By the Lake " from 1976 ( also known as "Death Weekend" ). Starring one of our favorites,  Don Stroud , and with a great performance from  Brenda Vaccaro , it is a very well-told tale of home invasion which does NOT disappoint. We follow that up with " Baker County U.S.A....

We turn our attention to director  Jackie Kong  in the cave this week by looking at two films from her career. We start off with her third film, 1987's " Blood Diner " which was originally planned as a follow-up to  H.G. Lewis ' " Blood Feast ". It tells the story of two brothers who have the brain of their uncle in a jar and are being directed, by the brain, to perform a variety of rituals to res...

We return to one of our favorite subjects, the "Regional Filmmaker", focusing on Mr.  William Grefe , He produced most of his films in Florida and we had covered another of his films "Mako, the Jaws of Death" back on  episode 90  of the podcast. We start off with 1977's " Whiskey Mountain " which stars one of our favorite actors,  Christopher George . It follows 4 people on a bit of a treasure hun...

We look at two films that feature the martial arts legend  Joe Lewis  this time on the podcast. We were not familiar with him but he popped up on our radar and seemed perfect for the show. We start off with his debut starring role in 1979's " Jaguar Lives " which also features a sizeable cast of legendary actors. It's a fun combination of martial arts and James Bond, with globe-trotting, intrigue...

We recorded this episode on  Valentine's Day , with love and romance filling our hearts and minds as we looked at two disparate films where sex and demons are connected. We start off with the light hearted goofiness of 1987's " My Demon Lover " where a woman in New York City is struggling to find the right man until she meets a weirdo who's possessed with a demon that presents itself any time he b...

We turn our attention back to one of our favorite genres, the big dumb action-movie!  We talk about two obscure flicks from the 80s that have had a bit of a renaissance lately. We start off with 1982's " Kill Squad " where a team of martial artists team up to find out who attacked their leader. It's fantastic low-budget fun. We follow that up with " Action USA " from 1989 which recently got a blu-...

Welcome to 2021! We kick off the new year with a look at a dark side of human behavior...road rage! First up is 2004's " Highwaymen ", from the director of the 80's classic " The Hitcher "  Robert Harmon . Starring  Jim Caviezel  and  Rhona Mitra , it's a big, noisy action movie, that tells a story of revenge between two men who have fast, dangerous cars. There is smashing, crashing, flipping and...

We wrap up this shitty year with two VERY entertaining action films from the 90's that both feature the always-fun  Robert Davi  and also have plots that remind us VERY much of our favorite Christmas movie...a little flick called " Die Hard ". We start off with " The Taking of Beverly Hills " from 1991, directed by  Sidney J. Furie  and starring  Ken Wahl  and  Matt Frewer , with several good peop...

We had REALLY high hopes for our two movies this time on the podcast, but to say that they both weren't winners would be a HUGE understatement. Both films are directed by  Dimitri Logothetis  and feature enormous dudes beating the crap out of each other. We start off with 2018's " Kickboxer: Retaliation " which continues the story that started with  Jean-Claude Van Damme 's hit film from 1989. Van...

This time, in the cave, we take a look at two films from VERY manly men. We start off with 1972's " The Getaway " from iconic director  Sam Peckinpah . It stars another icon,  Steve McQueen  as an ex-con who gets back into a life of crime, only to have everything go wrong and he's left trying to get away from everyone who's out to get him. The movie was written by show-favorite  Walter Hill , who...

On October 31st, we were deeply saddened to hear of the passing of the legendary actor  Sean Connery . He was someone that was held in high esteem by all of us in the cave. We decided to do a special show in his honor so we did a bit of a search for some less popular starring vehicles to look at for the podcast. We start off with 1966's " A Fine Madness ", from director  Irvin Kershner , which int...

It's another sausage party on the podcast as we look at two  Disney  movies from our childhoods that meant a lot to us. Featuring  psychic power ,  gangs of children ,  flying saucers  and more than a few screen legends, these two films left very large marks in our young, malleable brains! We start off with 1975's " Escape to Witch Mountain " where the villains are played by  Donald Pleasance  and...

We continue our Halloween tradition of looking at films that hit our personal phobias...this time, it's the idea of " eye trauma ". We start off with 1975's appropriately titled " Eyeball " from Italian director  Umberto Lenzi . A fairly boilerplate  giallo  with a gloved killer and tons of misdirects, but it is fun and moves along quickly. It also features a number of off-camera eye gouging incid...

We've all missed  Gene Hackman  since he stopped acting with 2004's  Welcome to Mooseport . On this episode of the podcast we look at two of his films from the early 70's and then proceed to dissect them bit by bit. Starting off, we look at 1971's  The Hunting Party  with a brutal game of cat and mouse between the impossibly rich Hackman and the scoundrel  Oliver Reed  who has inadvertently kidnap...

The cave is filled, once again, with the furious sounds of martial arts as we are joined by Eli to look at two movies from the 1990s that star Mr.  Tae bo  himself,  Billy Blanks ! We start off with 1993's " TC 2000 " where Blanks plays part of a "Tracker-Communicator" team in a  dystopian future where the elite live underground in secure facilities, while the surface of the earth is populated wit...

We go deep on this episode of the podcast and get soaked in the process. We start off with 1998's " Deep Rising " from director  Stephen Sommers , which stars  Treat Williams  and several other notable big-name Hollywood stars in a tale of a heist gone horribly wrong. It takes place on an ocean liner that meets up with a horrific beastie from the depths with teeth in places you don't expect. It is...

We fight our way back into the 90's action-movie world for this episode of the podcast. Starting off, we look at " Universal Soldier " from 1992. Directed by the typically lousy  Roland Emmerich , it stars two genre favorites,  Jean-Claude Van Damme  and  Dolph Lundgren . It tells the story of a group of resurrected soldiers, equipped with high-tech equipment who fix problems that seem to have no...

Fred "The Hammer" Williamson  starred in some great films throughout his still-continuing career. We look at a great one, and a...not so great one. We start with a film from 1983 that  goes by a handful of names, but we watched it as " The New Gladiators ". Directed by show-favorite  Lucio Fulci , it is a clunky, goofy, slow-moving slog that is representative of Fulci's worst films. We survived it...