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My movie year (so far)

1) Revenge of Billy the Kid (1991 - UK), directed by Jim Groom. A sick little story of a disgusting farm family and its patriarch's love for his prize goat. The vengeful title character is the hybrid love-child of that affair. Many scenes made me wince as I laughed, or vice versa, always a sign of a good gross-out horror comedy. And speaking of gross . . .

2) Dreams of the Rarebit Fiend: The Pet (1921) by Winsor McCay. McCay's pioneering comics and cartoons are great fun today, and Milestone Video has the best-ever collection of his animation work. This cartoon is one in the series he did based on his comic strip about a middle-aged guy's rarebit-induced nightmares, this one about a "monster pet" (the alternate title) that grows huge and eats everything in the house, including furniture. The Missus loves it, but The Mister asks the pharmacist for something that might "murder" it. The pharmacist suggests a barrel of poison called "Rough on Rats," and the scene where the pet eats it is surprisingly grim: the animal (it could be a dog, pony, pig, or all three) bloats and breaks out in weeping blisters!

3) Samson in the Wax Museum (1963 - Mexico), starring Santo. Santo-- played by Santo, or as his American billing has it, Samson-- was a masked wrestler who solved crimes involving vampires, werewolves, mad scientists and their hammy ilk. The cops always call him in when it looks like the supernatural is at work again, although he often cuts the conference short by saying, "Sorry, but I hafta go wrestle now." You can laugh yourself sick at Santo movies at their best, and this one has an hilarious evil mastermind who gives great tirade. (And see if, at the end, he doesn't sound a little like a certain president.)

Posted by Steve Monaco at April 10, 2006 3:08 PM

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