WEBVTT - Weirdhouse Cinema: The Return 0:00:03.000 --> 0:00:05.280 Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of 0:00:05.320 --> 0:00:15.120 My Heart Radio. Hey, welcome to Weird House Cinema. This 0:00:15.200 --> 0:00:18.320 is Rob Lamb and this is Joe McCormick. We just 0:00:18.480 --> 0:00:20.840 finished an episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind on 0:00:21.040 --> 0:00:25.720 cattle mutilation phenomenon on cattle mutilation, the cattle mutilation panic 0:00:25.760 --> 0:00:28.560 of the nineteen seventies. So I thought it made sense 0:00:28.840 --> 0:00:33.440 to dive into a little muto exploitation cinema here. As 0:00:33.479 --> 0:00:36.280 we discussed in the Suftable Your Mind episode, the cattle 0:00:36.360 --> 0:00:41.760 mutilation panic hit a peak around n And while exploitation 0:00:41.840 --> 0:00:44.479 and B cinema are generally pretty quick to get in 0:00:44.520 --> 0:00:48.720 there and uh comment on or exploit something like this 0:00:48.840 --> 0:00:52.320 for entertainment, uh, it seems like most of the pictures 0:00:52.320 --> 0:00:56.000 attempting to cash in on cattle mutilation panic didn't really 0:00:56.240 --> 0:00:58.440 come out until around nineteen eighty, which I guess maybe 0:00:58.480 --> 0:01:00.840 makes sense given, like you, how long it takes to 0:01:00.840 --> 0:01:03.480 get a film project together. Uh, and there may have 0:01:03.520 --> 0:01:05.479 been some earlier ones that I just couldn't come across. 0:01:05.600 --> 0:01:08.800 But uh, yeah, we're gonna be talking about a prime 0:01:08.880 --> 0:01:12.440 example of cattle mutilation exploitation cinema here. We're gonna be 0:01:12.480 --> 0:01:16.880 talking about Graden Clark's nineteen eighty film The Return. Now, 0:01:16.920 --> 0:01:20.640 fans of Weird House Cinema may well recall that the 0:01:20.880 --> 0:01:25.160 very first episode of Weird House Cinema was another Graden 0:01:25.240 --> 0:01:29.040 Clark movie. It was also a Graden Clark alien movie 0:01:29.319 --> 0:01:33.119 called Without Warning, which in many ways prefigured the plot 0:01:33.160 --> 0:01:37.440 of Predator, except with a would you say, a less 0:01:37.520 --> 0:01:41.319 gritty looking alien, a little more kind of a a 0:01:41.400 --> 0:01:45.560 classic big head alien. Yeah, very outer limits the alien 0:01:45.600 --> 0:01:47.800 in that one. That was also a film that came 0:01:47.800 --> 0:01:50.080 out of nineteen eighty. That was also a film that 0:01:50.120 --> 0:01:52.560 had Martin Landau and and it was also a film 0:01:52.600 --> 0:01:56.600 that had a lot of shots that including like terror 0:01:56.680 --> 0:01:59.880 shots and horror scenes that take place broad daylight. Some 0:02:00.000 --> 0:02:02.520 were in the California countryside. This movie is supposed The 0:02:02.520 --> 0:02:04.720 Return is supposed to take place in New Mexico, but 0:02:04.760 --> 0:02:07.520 I believe they filmed everything in California, So you're looking 0:02:07.560 --> 0:02:10.119 at California in this film. Now, I'd say there's one 0:02:10.240 --> 0:02:14.080 major difference for me between Without Warning and The Return, 0:02:14.400 --> 0:02:18.280 and it's that Without Warning had Dean Cundy doing cinematography, 0:02:18.320 --> 0:02:21.280 which is always a treat for me. I you know, 0:02:21.360 --> 0:02:24.280 I I love his style, even in rather mundane shots. 0:02:24.440 --> 0:02:26.440 You know, you don't have to get into the real 0:02:26.600 --> 0:02:30.200 art house framing. Dean Cundy has a really punchy way 0:02:30.240 --> 0:02:34.560 of like establishing ambient locations and stuff, and so, uh 0:02:34.639 --> 0:02:36.880 so that was a great thing about Without Warning. He 0:02:37.000 --> 0:02:41.800 was not doing cinematography for the Return, but the cinematography 0:02:41.840 --> 0:02:46.160 is still pretty good for for a cattle mutilation alien flick. Yeah, 0:02:46.240 --> 0:02:49.400 and and it also makes sense given how successful the 0:02:49.520 --> 0:02:52.320 cinematographer for this film will go one to be. Uh 0:02:52.360 --> 0:02:55.880 And we'll get to that in a bit. But yeah. Oh, 0:02:56.000 --> 0:02:59.600 the other thing about this film about the Return versus 0:02:59.639 --> 0:03:02.720 Without Warning is Without Warning was the pilot episode and 0:03:02.919 --> 0:03:06.680 first episode of Weird House Cinema back in October. So 0:03:07.240 --> 0:03:09.960 this is kind of uh it makes it it's extra 0:03:10.000 --> 0:03:13.160 special that we're doing a return to the work of 0:03:13.200 --> 0:03:17.160 Grad and Clark bringing it all back home. Now, speaking 0:03:17.320 --> 0:03:22.360 of the cattle mutilation subgenre of of motion pictures, I 0:03:22.400 --> 0:03:24.360 do want to at least briefly mentioned I'll probably come 0:03:24.360 --> 0:03:26.080 back to it a few times as well that Another 0:03:26.160 --> 0:03:31.639 notable film in this subgenre is Alan Rudolph's film Endangered Species, 0:03:32.120 --> 0:03:36.200 which I also watched recently. It's a pretty solid conspiracy thriller. 0:03:36.720 --> 0:03:40.760 It starred Robert Urich in featured performances by Paul Dooley, 0:03:41.040 --> 0:03:47.160 Peter Coyote, Hohyit Acton, and Dan Hedeia Dan. All right, Yeah, 0:03:47.200 --> 0:03:49.160 it's not a big not a big role for Hedaya, 0:03:49.240 --> 0:03:51.800 but but he gets in there and and does Hedaya things, 0:03:51.960 --> 0:03:55.000 so it's, uh, it's pretty good. It's a film that 0:03:55.040 --> 0:03:58.040 falls very much on the government conspiracy end of things 0:03:58.040 --> 0:04:01.120 with cattle mutilation betrays it and I think it's about 0:04:01.160 --> 0:04:04.240 as believable terms as possible for the most part, Like 0:04:04.280 --> 0:04:07.440 it might be the most logical cattle mutilation movie you 0:04:07.480 --> 0:04:11.240 could ask for, and I think that's a big ask. Okay, 0:04:11.280 --> 0:04:14.200 so yeah, I can see that. So the Return, I 0:04:14.200 --> 0:04:16.839 guess we will spoil the ending of this movie eventually, 0:04:16.880 --> 0:04:19.480 so warning spoilers to come if if you're planning on 0:04:19.520 --> 0:04:22.880 seeing it and haven't. But the Return ends up more 0:04:22.920 --> 0:04:26.480 on the aliens side, and uh and that that that 0:04:26.560 --> 0:04:29.039 other one does the government conspiracy side. So there's a 0:04:29.120 --> 0:04:33.560 little bit of government conspiracy flare thrown into this one, 0:04:33.640 --> 0:04:35.880 though it's only it's only a hint. You never really 0:04:36.560 --> 0:04:40.200 know exactly how much government conspiracy there is in the 0:04:40.200 --> 0:04:43.080 return because we have like suits showing up in the 0:04:43.160 --> 0:04:46.080 third act and it has never explained how much they 0:04:46.120 --> 0:04:49.200 know or what they're trying to do. They're just sort 0:04:49.240 --> 0:04:52.200 of like there to start shooting at the protagonist. Yeah, 0:04:52.240 --> 0:04:54.839 they're not really sewn into the fabric all that well, 0:04:54.839 --> 0:04:56.080 but then that can be said for a number of 0:04:56.080 --> 0:04:59.000 things in this field. Um, I will say one more 0:04:59.040 --> 0:05:03.599 thing about Endangered Species is that it, as with Alan 0:05:03.680 --> 0:05:07.040 Rudolph's Trouble in Mind, we also have some issues surrounding 0:05:07.040 --> 0:05:09.560 the male protagonist, and that the lead character played by 0:05:09.880 --> 0:05:13.200 Robert Uric is um he isn't as sketchy as the 0:05:13.279 --> 0:05:15.080 lead character in Trouble in Mind, but there's a fair 0:05:15.080 --> 0:05:19.840 amount of like noir esque masculine toxicity to the character 0:05:19.920 --> 0:05:22.440 that I do not think has aged well, So be 0:05:22.520 --> 0:05:25.160 advised to that if you check out Endangered Species. But again, 0:05:25.240 --> 0:05:29.600 still it's a pretty solid conspiracy thriller and if you 0:05:29.839 --> 0:05:33.040 want to watch a decent movie about cattle mutilation, it's 0:05:33.040 --> 0:05:35.360 a pretty good one to pick up. All right. Now, 0:05:35.360 --> 0:05:37.760 there are a couple other few other entries in the 0:05:38.160 --> 0:05:43.320 CMP cinema subgenre, but uh, let's see that most of 0:05:43.360 --> 0:05:45.200 them didn't really pop out at me. It looks like 0:05:45.200 --> 0:05:47.960 there's a movie from nineteen seventy nine titled night Wing 0:05:48.360 --> 0:05:50.640 that has David Warner and Stephen Mocked in it, so 0:05:50.760 --> 0:05:53.880 that sounds pretty good. And there's a low budget film 0:05:53.880 --> 0:05:57.120 called Mutilations, which looks like it has has developed sort 0:05:57.160 --> 0:06:00.440 of a following of due to it's like low budget. 0:06:00.680 --> 0:06:04.160 Uh you know, z grade goodness. I've not seen any 0:06:04.200 --> 0:06:07.040 of these other movies. So the Return is my first 0:06:07.560 --> 0:06:10.520 within this sub genre, and in a way, it's kind 0:06:10.520 --> 0:06:13.880 of hard for me to imagine improving upon this formula 0:06:13.960 --> 0:06:16.120 because it's just like, what if we just take a 0:06:16.200 --> 0:06:20.200 great cast, take the premise of cattle mutilation without actually 0:06:20.200 --> 0:06:23.680 making the movie all that Gorrian grows like this, This 0:06:23.760 --> 0:06:27.839 is not a bloody splatterfest for the most part. Yeah. Now, 0:06:28.760 --> 0:06:30.880 if you like movies where people walk up to a 0:06:30.920 --> 0:06:35.600 dead cow and talk about it in and direct sunlight, uh, 0:06:35.680 --> 0:06:37.520 this is the movie for you because we have multiple 0:06:37.520 --> 0:06:40.520 scenes like that. I think it also sort of blunts 0:06:40.680 --> 0:06:45.800 the squeamishness and grotesquery of the cattle mutilation when we 0:06:45.880 --> 0:06:50.240 discover that it is basically being performed by a small lightsaber. 0:06:50.640 --> 0:06:55.039 Oh yes, yes, essentially a small surgical lightsaber. Uh. Yeah, 0:06:55.080 --> 0:06:58.839 it becomes clear that that is the the instrument being used, 0:06:59.040 --> 0:07:00.479 which I think is an This is one of the 0:07:00.480 --> 0:07:02.680 things I loved about the film, and once I realized 0:07:02.680 --> 0:07:04.360 that was going to be an element, and I was like, oh, well, 0:07:04.400 --> 0:07:07.800 I am in especially when you see who's wielding the lightsaber. 0:07:07.920 --> 0:07:10.560 Uh it's pretty great and I think it's almost kind 0:07:10.560 --> 0:07:12.560 of surprising nobody's come back and done that again, like 0:07:12.760 --> 0:07:17.320 rural slasher film with alien surgical lightsaber. That's a great premise, 0:07:17.680 --> 0:07:20.640 Like it is weird. I love it. Well, it is 0:07:21.320 --> 0:07:25.120 here's something I'm psychologically curious about. Uh. I assumed that 0:07:25.160 --> 0:07:28.400 other people would probably feel the same way, but certainly, 0:07:28.440 --> 0:07:33.200 the way I reacted to this movie, the violence was 0:07:33.240 --> 0:07:37.520 a lot less icky and a lot less bothersome because 0:07:37.560 --> 0:07:40.720 it was being inflicted with a little lightsaber versus if 0:07:40.760 --> 0:07:43.040 it had just been done with like a knife or 0:07:43.320 --> 0:07:46.360 or you know, straightforward metal blade. Yeah, if nothing else, 0:07:46.400 --> 0:07:49.000 the limitations of effects and the effects are pretty good 0:07:49.000 --> 0:07:51.040 in this film, but the limitations of what you can 0:07:51.120 --> 0:07:53.000 do or should try to do with an effect like 0:07:53.040 --> 0:07:57.440 this in meant that you're not going to get big goopy, 0:07:58.160 --> 0:08:01.560 prolonged gore scenes like you would get potentially get in 0:08:01.560 --> 0:08:05.000 a slasher movie by other directors during this time period. 0:08:05.720 --> 0:08:08.920 Like it's not even really as gory as um as 0:08:08.960 --> 0:08:11.000 without warning. You know, we have lots of scenes of 0:08:11.440 --> 0:08:14.320 alien um you know, sucker weapons being pulled off of 0:08:14.320 --> 0:08:17.240 people's skin in that one. Oh yeah, alright. For so 0:08:17.280 --> 0:08:19.800 as far as elevator pitch for this one goes, um, 0:08:19.840 --> 0:08:21.440 I I had a hard time coming up with one 0:08:21.440 --> 0:08:23.640 that doesn't spoil the film. I was tempted to go 0:08:23.680 --> 0:08:26.280 with cattle mutilation the motion picture, but I also think 0:08:26.600 --> 0:08:32.760 upon reflection, it could be um, cattle mutilation colon uh misconnections, 0:08:33.000 --> 0:08:37.080 because ultimately it is about miss connections with cattle mutilation 0:08:37.080 --> 0:08:39.120 thrown in there. Well wait then, Robert, we're going to 0:08:39.160 --> 0:08:42.160 try not to spoil the film. Um. I mean I 0:08:42.200 --> 0:08:45.400 think at this point we could we could start spoiling it. Okay, okay, 0:08:45.440 --> 0:08:47.800 this is one that I would advise do not watch 0:08:47.960 --> 0:08:50.800 the trailer in full for because the trailer for this 0:08:50.840 --> 0:08:54.560 one is amusing, but it's like shows you everything, and 0:08:54.600 --> 0:08:56.200 I feel like it does. This film does have some 0:08:56.240 --> 0:08:59.440 twists and turns up its sleeve. Um. You know, that's 0:08:59.440 --> 0:09:03.200 not it's not dependent upon those twists, but they are 0:09:03.280 --> 0:09:06.600 kind of fun to to, uh to take in organically. Well, 0:09:06.640 --> 0:09:08.880 let me turn my hand at an elevator pitch. Here 0:09:09.000 --> 0:09:13.520 it is an unhinged alcoholic cop and an uptight city 0:09:13.760 --> 0:09:17.360 dwelling scientist find the meaning of love when they come 0:09:17.400 --> 0:09:21.319 together to investigate the mutilation of livestock. All right, let's 0:09:21.320 --> 0:09:23.240 go ahead and here just part of the trailer. I 0:09:23.240 --> 0:09:25.120 think we're only gonna play like a minute of it here, 0:09:25.760 --> 0:09:27.880 but it'll give you a taste of what it's all about. 0:09:32.760 --> 0:09:37.720 Who will have the right to live on Earth? The return? 0:09:55.920 --> 0:09:58.000 I've been looking at the cattle mutilations on my own 0:09:58.080 --> 0:10:01.640 for some time. I noticed didn't say as the precise 0:10:01.720 --> 0:10:04.920 surgical cuts. Let's freaking everybody out, and none of the 0:10:04.920 --> 0:10:08.000 other animals will even go near it. Hell, there's not 0:10:08.040 --> 0:10:14.520 even any flies or ants on it. I won't be 0:10:14.600 --> 0:10:25.320 threatened on my land to help us on these cattle mutilations, 0:10:25.320 --> 0:10:28.600 some damn scientists. I don't know that the difference between 0:10:28.600 --> 0:10:35.120 the tower and us stairs telling us our presidents. I 0:10:35.160 --> 0:10:38.560 believe this trailer began with a line like who like 0:10:38.640 --> 0:10:40.480 who will have the right to live on Earth or 0:10:40.520 --> 0:10:43.679 something like that, which which is amazing because it has 0:10:43.720 --> 0:10:45.840 nothing to do with the plot of the film. Um, 0:10:46.120 --> 0:10:51.640 who will own the title deed to Planet Earth? Uh? Now, 0:10:51.679 --> 0:10:53.840 if you want to watch this film as well, um, 0:10:53.880 --> 0:10:56.240 it's it's actually pretty easy to come by. I feel 0:10:56.240 --> 0:10:59.000 like when I was looking into this film months ago, 0:10:59.559 --> 0:11:01.920 it seems nobody had it streaming or I couldn't find 0:11:01.920 --> 0:11:03.880 it streaming. Video Drum didn't have a copy of it 0:11:03.920 --> 0:11:05.800 to rent here in Atlanta. So I bought the Blu 0:11:05.920 --> 0:11:09.520 ray from my believe Scorpion Entertainment. And it's a great disc, 0:11:09.559 --> 0:11:14.040 includes some extras and including a director's commentary. Uh. Great 0:11:14.040 --> 0:11:18.319 film quality, So it definitely looks good. But as of now, however, 0:11:18.559 --> 0:11:20.240 you can stream in lease in the United States, you 0:11:20.280 --> 0:11:22.920 can stream it on to b and Pluto TV. You 0:11:22.920 --> 0:11:26.080 can rent or purchase it digitally in most places. Uh 0:11:26.080 --> 0:11:27.560 and uh yeah. And if you do go to Video 0:11:27.640 --> 0:11:30.280 Drum in Atlanta, I'm probably gonna donate the disc to 0:11:30.480 --> 0:11:32.640 Video Drums so they can add it to their Grade 0:11:32.640 --> 0:11:36.600 and Clark collection. It belongs in a museum. Well, let's 0:11:36.600 --> 0:11:38.800 get into the people. Then let's talk briefly about Grade 0:11:38.800 --> 0:11:41.720 and Clark. We didn't talk about him in the previous 0:11:41.760 --> 0:11:44.920 episode of a Weird House that covered one of his films, 0:11:44.920 --> 0:11:50.360 But director borne Um also writer and early on an actor, 0:11:50.840 --> 0:11:55.280 best known for such films as Without Warning, The Return, 0:11:55.920 --> 0:12:00.959 Seven's Uninvited. That's a Killer Cat movies, durring George Kennedy, Oh, 0:12:01.080 --> 0:12:03.400 I don't think I realized that was great. And Clark, 0:12:03.480 --> 0:12:06.839 that's the one with the killer mutant cat on a yacht. Yeah, 0:12:06.880 --> 0:12:09.040 I haven't seen it yet, but I hear hear great 0:12:09.080 --> 0:12:13.920 things about it. Oh, my lord, Rob whoever had the 0:12:13.960 --> 0:12:18.000 idea to set a killer cat movie on the open 0:12:18.120 --> 0:12:24.640 sea like with water, It's just amazing. He also directed 0:12:24.720 --> 0:12:29.440 nineteen seventy nine Angels Revenge and Jodan Baker movie Final 0:12:29.520 --> 0:12:31.640 Justice that a lot of MST three K fans will 0:12:31.640 --> 0:12:35.480 be familiar with. That is not the movie Final Sacrifice, 0:12:35.520 --> 0:12:37.640 which I always confuse it with. Not the one set 0:12:37.679 --> 0:12:40.600 in Canada with roused Ower. It's the one set in 0:12:40.720 --> 0:12:45.560 Malta with Joe Don. Baker is a dyspeptic sheriff. On 0:12:45.600 --> 0:12:49.040 the acting front, you'll find Clark and Will cameos in 0:12:49.080 --> 0:12:51.800 his own films, but he also had parts in the 0:12:51.800 --> 0:12:54.640 I'll see the nineteen sixty nine biker film Satan Sadist 0:12:55.000 --> 0:12:59.480 starring Russ Tamblin and nineteen seventies Hell's Bloody Devils. Uh. 0:12:59.520 --> 0:13:03.439 He also the screenplay for Satan's Sadists. That sounds like 0:13:03.480 --> 0:13:07.760 a joke title. They're trying to create a tongue twisters 0:13:07.760 --> 0:13:12.200 Satan sells Sadist down by the same shore. Yeah, um, 0:13:12.640 --> 0:13:16.640 let's see. I he He had an interesting um filmography, 0:13:16.640 --> 0:13:19.920 working in various genres, and he directed his last film, 0:13:19.960 --> 0:13:25.040 Star Games in His autobiography was titled On the Cheap 0:13:25.320 --> 0:13:28.079 My Life in Low Budget Filmmaking. All right, well, I 0:13:28.120 --> 0:13:31.080 don't think I can vouch for the quality of Final Justice, 0:13:31.240 --> 0:13:36.400 but of his three earlier b horror movies, all three 0:13:36.520 --> 0:13:39.680 or a Fun Time, The Uninvited Without Warning and the 0:13:39.720 --> 0:13:43.520 Return thumbs up all around on those. Now, on the 0:13:43.520 --> 0:13:47.439 writing side of things, um, two of the prime writers 0:13:47.520 --> 0:13:50.920 on this we're Ken and Jim Wheat born nineteen fifty 0:13:50.920 --> 0:13:55.679 and nineteen fifty two, respectively, brothers who also wrote and 0:13:55.679 --> 0:13:59.000 directed five e Walks The Battle of Indoor, which we 0:13:59.120 --> 0:14:01.800 previously covered on the show. I don't know if that's 0:14:01.800 --> 0:14:03.720 a movie I would single out for the quality of 0:14:03.760 --> 0:14:07.240 its writing, but Uh, I mean, how can you hate 0:14:07.240 --> 0:14:09.840 on Battle for Indoor. Yeah, it's a it's a fun 0:14:09.920 --> 0:14:13.439 right as now on Disney. Plus. Other screenplays of theirs 0:14:13.480 --> 0:14:19.440 include The Fly too. Um, yeah, that's that's generally that's yeah, 0:14:19.480 --> 0:14:22.800 that's that's an interesting film. Um and not not as 0:14:22.840 --> 0:14:25.600 it's It's not as good as this cronenbergs The Fly obviously, 0:14:26.000 --> 0:14:28.800 but it takes it fully embraces just being a monster movie, 0:14:28.800 --> 0:14:32.080 being like a really goopy, gross monster movie. Uh. They 0:14:32.120 --> 0:14:34.960 also wrote A Nightmare on Elm Street four. Oh yeah, 0:14:34.960 --> 0:14:38.680 I remember that being the last arguably good one until 0:14:39.120 --> 0:14:42.880 a New Nightmare. Okay. They also did The Birds Too 0:14:43.000 --> 0:14:47.000 and two thousands Pitch Black. As such, you'll see their 0:14:47.080 --> 0:14:49.440 name on all the various Riddeck movies that have come out, 0:14:49.520 --> 0:14:53.240 like Chronicles of Riddeck, because they they wrote the screenplay 0:14:53.280 --> 0:14:57.680 for Pitch Black. Characters created by Yeah. Another writer credited 0:14:57.680 --> 0:15:00.080 on this one is Curtis birch Um, and he as 0:15:00.000 --> 0:15:03.280 an editor and producer who worked on various Clark films. 0:15:03.600 --> 0:15:06.720 But okay, this thriller film needs its own dashing hero. 0:15:06.880 --> 0:15:09.840 Who's going to be the cop who comes in to 0:15:09.880 --> 0:15:11.920 save the day. Well, it is of course going to 0:15:12.000 --> 0:15:16.400 be Jan Michael Vincent playing Wayne the Cop Jan Michael Vincent. 0:15:16.600 --> 0:15:21.320 I'm gonna say strange casting choice. Uh something about him 0:15:21.440 --> 0:15:26.240 felt a little too handsome to play this this character 0:15:26.320 --> 0:15:29.120 who again is supposed to be a an out of 0:15:29.160 --> 0:15:33.120 control alcoholic cop. But I liked him anyway. Yeah, yeah, 0:15:33.160 --> 0:15:36.880 I think I think it's a solid performance. Um. You know, 0:15:36.960 --> 0:15:40.120 you can see why a lot of people wanted to 0:15:40.160 --> 0:15:43.640 be in the in the Jan Michael Vincent business, uh 0:15:43.720 --> 0:15:48.240 for a while there. Uh he live through nineteen handsome, 0:15:48.840 --> 0:15:52.000 very competent star actor of the seventies and eighties, known 0:15:52.040 --> 0:15:54.280 for such films as Bite the Bullet from seventy five, 0:15:54.360 --> 0:15:57.520 The Mechanic from seventy two, Vigilante Force from seventy six, 0:15:57.920 --> 0:16:00.960 and for the Airwolf TV movie and series spin off. 0:16:01.520 --> 0:16:03.280 He's a guy who who seems to have had his 0:16:03.320 --> 0:16:06.200 share of personal problems and later in life he had 0:16:06.200 --> 0:16:09.720 health problems as well. His last film was in two 0:16:09.720 --> 0:16:12.560 thousand and two. But but yeah, in this one, in 0:16:12.600 --> 0:16:14.520 some ways, it's a little the casting is a little 0:16:14.520 --> 0:16:16.200 bit odd, but you know, you buy him in every 0:16:16.240 --> 0:16:20.160 scene that he's in, so it uh, you know, he's 0:16:20.200 --> 0:16:21.840 one of there are a lot of performances in this 0:16:22.000 --> 0:16:24.920 in this movie where I would easily say, and this 0:16:25.000 --> 0:16:27.840 is not their best work. These people did better work 0:16:27.920 --> 0:16:30.560 outside of The Return. I haven't seen a lot of 0:16:30.600 --> 0:16:34.400 Jen Jen Michael Vincent's filmography, but it's a solid performance here. 0:16:34.440 --> 0:16:37.360 I can't follow him at all for the performance. I mean, 0:16:37.400 --> 0:16:40.720 he really sells. The scene where he shoots a guy's 0:16:40.760 --> 0:16:45.640 cassette tape player in a rage, Yeah, I mean that's 0:16:45.680 --> 0:16:47.600 the That's a good scene to bring up, because, yeah, 0:16:47.640 --> 0:16:50.000 this is a movie that I think presents various scenes 0:16:50.040 --> 0:16:52.600 that are are perhaps a challenge for actors like how 0:16:52.640 --> 0:16:56.560 do you how do you pull that scene off believably? Um? 0:16:56.680 --> 0:16:59.040 And he does it for the most part, and not 0:16:59.080 --> 0:17:02.720 everybody maybe is uh was able to pull off scenes 0:17:02.800 --> 0:17:06.040 like that in The Return? Now the Uh. The The 0:17:06.080 --> 0:17:09.760 other main character in this is Jennifer. She is the 0:17:10.320 --> 0:17:14.720 scientist and she's played by Civil Shepherd Born. I'm torn 0:17:14.760 --> 0:17:17.439 on what to say about this performance because on one hand, 0:17:17.720 --> 0:17:21.840 it does not feel like she's really uh. It does 0:17:21.840 --> 0:17:25.159 not feel like a super effortful performance like she's you know, 0:17:25.280 --> 0:17:28.880 really reaching down to pull out every emotion to put 0:17:28.880 --> 0:17:31.480 in this character. On the other hand, a simple. Shepherd 0:17:31.560 --> 0:17:34.760 has a has a very easy going charm, and even 0:17:34.800 --> 0:17:38.080 in scenes where she's not really doing much except kind 0:17:38.119 --> 0:17:42.800 of like looking bemuse at a cop who's acting weirdly. Uh, 0:17:43.000 --> 0:17:46.200 she she's very likable. Yeah, yeah, she's very likable. And 0:17:46.040 --> 0:17:49.320 I guess I wanted to like her performance more. I 0:17:49.320 --> 0:17:52.000 feel like the picture maybe just gives her fewer moments 0:17:52.040 --> 0:17:56.240 to really allow her her talents and her her natural 0:17:56.320 --> 0:17:59.399 charisma to shine through. I mean, there's nothing I have 0:17:59.440 --> 0:18:02.480 nothing to about her performance in this but um, you know, 0:18:02.520 --> 0:18:05.560 we just we know that that there are better examples 0:18:05.560 --> 0:18:07.639 of her work out there. And I like how she 0:18:07.680 --> 0:18:10.120 has her as you know, has her her fun Tennessee 0:18:10.200 --> 0:18:14.480 accent out she's playing a scientist. But you know, there's 0:18:14.480 --> 0:18:16.520 just it doesn't feel like it's like quite up there 0:18:16.520 --> 0:18:18.520 on the level you expected to be. Well, I mean, 0:18:18.600 --> 0:18:21.199 the way her character is written, I think she's supposed 0:18:21.240 --> 0:18:23.760 to be somebody who never really gets ruffled, like she 0:18:23.760 --> 0:18:27.879 she just sort of like observes everything with a raised eyebrow, 0:18:28.000 --> 0:18:32.000 even when it's quite weird what she's observing. Yeah, So 0:18:32.240 --> 0:18:33.720 I have to know when I when I think of 0:18:33.720 --> 0:18:36.800 simpile Shepherd, I generally My mind goes instantly to TV's 0:18:36.840 --> 0:18:40.879 Moonlighting from the nine eighties during Bruce Bruce Willis or 0:18:41.760 --> 0:18:43.320 you know, I think about I think she had a 0:18:43.400 --> 0:18:47.200 nineties TV series called Sybil, And I never watched any 0:18:47.240 --> 0:18:50.640 of these shows, but I just remember, especially Moonlighting being on. 0:18:50.760 --> 0:18:52.199 It was a move, was a show that came on 0:18:52.320 --> 0:18:55.680 and I knew who was in it. But she has 0:18:55.800 --> 0:18:59.119 has some far more impressive movies in her filmography. Her 0:18:59.240 --> 0:19:02.560 Her first film was Peter Bogdanovich's V one movie The 0:19:02.600 --> 0:19:06.560 Last Picture Show, alongside of great cast of actress such 0:19:06.560 --> 0:19:10.159 as Timothy Bottoms, Jeff Bridges, Chloris Leachman, Ellen Burston, and 0:19:10.240 --> 0:19:13.399 Randy Quaid, with a screenplay by Larry McMurtry based on 0:19:13.480 --> 0:19:16.840 his own novel. I also either I didn't realize I 0:19:16.840 --> 0:19:19.560 had forgotten that she was in Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver 0:19:19.640 --> 0:19:24.600 from Oh Yeah. She plays the campaign worker for Senator Palatine, 0:19:24.640 --> 0:19:28.720 who Travis Pickele is is trying to romance in a 0:19:28.800 --> 0:19:31.960 in a very awkward way. Yeah, it does not go well, 0:19:32.680 --> 0:19:45.200 as nothing goes well? Is that movie all right? Now? 0:19:45.240 --> 0:19:47.520 Someone who does give a great performance in this I 0:19:47.560 --> 0:19:52.800 thought anyway, is Martin Landau, who was was also in 0:19:53.359 --> 0:19:56.840 Without Warning, and in this he plays Niles Buchanan, the 0:19:56.880 --> 0:20:00.400 other local law enforcement agent. I think Technico c he's 0:20:00.440 --> 0:20:04.560 Jan Michael Vincent's boss. I think Buchanan. He goes by Buck. 0:20:04.720 --> 0:20:07.399 So his character Niles Buchanan, I think the Buck is 0:20:07.440 --> 0:20:12.160 the buque in Buchanan. So Buck is the marshal and 0:20:12.280 --> 0:20:16.040 Jan Michael Vincent is the deputy marshal. Yeah. He he 0:20:16.119 --> 0:20:17.600 seems to be having the time of his life in 0:20:17.640 --> 0:20:20.399 this row, or at least it seems that way it was. 0:20:20.720 --> 0:20:24.840 It's a very fun performance. In Without Warning, he plays 0:20:24.920 --> 0:20:29.280 a like a deranged recluse. Uh and uh and and 0:20:29.359 --> 0:20:31.199 it's fun in that picture as well. But in this 0:20:31.440 --> 0:20:34.400 he plays a character that is um a lot more 0:20:34.480 --> 0:20:38.120 comedic without being just to throwaway comedic character. Like there's 0:20:38.119 --> 0:20:40.400 a lot of One thing you can say about Martin 0:20:40.440 --> 0:20:43.080 Landau has always had a very expressive face, and he 0:20:43.160 --> 0:20:45.440 really gets to use that face in this film. There 0:20:45.440 --> 0:20:48.800 are a couple of funny scenes in this movie between 0:20:48.840 --> 0:20:52.520 like Martin Landau and Jan Michael Vincent that are are 0:20:52.640 --> 0:20:56.679 so are funny in such a naturalistic way. I wonder 0:20:56.760 --> 0:20:59.199 if they were improvised by the actors or if they 0:20:59.200 --> 0:21:01.960 were actually on page, I would just say that's unusually 0:21:02.000 --> 0:21:05.240 good writing in those scenes in particular, like the the 0:21:05.440 --> 0:21:10.000 hilarious doughnut beer monologue scene or the uh or the 0:21:10.320 --> 0:21:12.359 you know, we're just a couple of Yahoo cops in 0:21:12.400 --> 0:21:16.040 a jerkwater town scene like those are good. Yeah, Yeah, 0:21:16.040 --> 0:21:18.000 there's some good little scenes between the two of them. 0:21:18.000 --> 0:21:20.280 And and again I think I think these two actors, 0:21:20.760 --> 0:21:22.760 jam Michael Vincent and Martin Landau are the ones that 0:21:22.920 --> 0:21:26.040 did really come off the best in this film. Like 0:21:26.040 --> 0:21:28.560 if this was your only example of these actors and 0:21:28.600 --> 0:21:30.320 what they were capable of, you'd be like, well, these 0:21:30.359 --> 0:21:32.960 guys are great. I want more buddy cop movies with 0:21:32.960 --> 0:21:35.800 with these two. Now, we talked about Martin Landau on 0:21:36.040 --> 0:21:38.800 the previous episode A good but of course uh. He's 0:21:38.840 --> 0:21:41.919 perhaps best remembered for his Academy Award winning performance as 0:21:41.960 --> 0:21:44.760 Bella Llegosti and Tim Burton's ed Wood from ninety four. 0:21:45.320 --> 0:21:47.880 He also had memorable roles in north By Northwest from 0:21:47.880 --> 0:21:51.240 fifty nine, Cleopatra from sixty three, and he did a 0:21:51.280 --> 0:21:54.440 lot of TV work, including roles on the original Outer Limits, 0:21:54.680 --> 0:21:59.560 the Twilight Zone mission, Impossible and of course space. I 0:21:59.680 --> 0:22:02.400 love of Martin Landau. I remember there's a really great 0:22:02.400 --> 0:22:06.600 classic Twilight Zone episode where he plays like a I think, 0:22:06.640 --> 0:22:10.360 like a defect or in a hotel room and he's 0:22:10.400 --> 0:22:13.320 been told that there's a secret bomb planet somewhere in 0:22:13.320 --> 0:22:15.480 his hotel room and he has to find it. I 0:22:15.560 --> 0:22:18.480 remember that episode really stuck out at me. But yeah, 0:22:18.720 --> 0:22:23.439 he's also just unforgettable as Bella Legosie and Edwood. Now 0:22:23.480 --> 0:22:27.440 playing Jennifer's dad, Dr Kramer is Raymond Burr, who lived 0:22:27.520 --> 0:22:31.720 nineteen seventeen through. Uh yeah, he's he's her boss at 0:22:31.720 --> 0:22:36.560 the at SSR, the Science Place. Um he is. Burr 0:22:36.880 --> 0:22:40.120 is best known for roles in Rear Window, Godzilla, Godzilla 0:22:40.160 --> 0:22:44.919 nine eight five, and TV's Ironside and Perry Mason. But uh, 0:22:45.240 --> 0:22:46.639 I don't know. I would say this is probably not 0:22:46.680 --> 0:22:48.919 his best work. It's a it's a very dry performance, 0:22:49.080 --> 0:22:53.280 nothing bad about it. But it's uh yeah, it's it's there. 0:22:53.720 --> 0:22:58.360 Uh it's it's it's, it's it's I don't really don't 0:22:58.359 --> 0:23:01.160 know what to say about it. He shows up, he 0:23:01.280 --> 0:23:04.760 lays down some plot, lays down some technobabble, and then 0:23:04.800 --> 0:23:08.760 kind of wanders off. I found him amusing. His character 0:23:08.840 --> 0:23:12.040 in this movie reminds me of the psychiatrist who does 0:23:12.119 --> 0:23:15.919