Blood Thirst - 1971 - Philippines

Blood Thirst - 1971 - 5/10

 
One might think the girls would not walk home alone.
Middle of the night, deserted streets, with a serial killer stalking.
Corpses are drained of blood, arms sliced open.
Baffled Manila police chief contacts a Stateside buddy.
Who then spends most of his time inside a club, watching Serena.
Predictable Horror outing, albeit interesting for the Philippines locale.
English subs = https://sub-scene.com/subtitle/3372135

Growing Up Female - 1971 - USA

Growing Up Female - 1971 - 6/10

 
Time capsule of what it was like to be a US female at the start of the 1970’s.
From an early age, roles are defined, futures narrowed.
Girls interviewed are children, teens, early twenties, a 40-year-old mother.
The unspoken desire is freedom, equality, the chance of self-actualization.
Not necessarily mandatory viewing, yet current females surrendering equality ought to watch.
English subs = https://sub-scene.com/subtitle/3370774

Vampira - 1971 - Germany

Vampira - 1971 - 5/10

 
Experimental Docu Horror conjoins vampire legends with succubus.
Predator of lifeforce, as well as essence.
The recently deceased is soon initiated into an older coven.
No dialogue, aside from an intermittent narrator.
“It is not just the existence or the influence of other people.”
Sin and evil are inherent.

Shaft - 1971 / 2019 - USA

Shaft - 2019 - 6/10

 
Private eye John Shaft survived a hit from drug lord Gordito decades earlier.
He hasn’t forgotten.
His son, JJ, an FBI agent, is now on the trail of something illicit.
Will Dad be there?
Action formula is slick, professional, well-delivered.
Samuel Jackson fits the role.  Acceptable reboot, just lacks a little spark.

Shaft - 1971 - 6/10

 
Harlem gang boss hires Shaft to find and rescue his daughter, kidnapped by the Mafia.
Shaft relies on informants, a militant, street talk, as well as police.
Of the latter, he is wary.  Some inside the department are reliable, others two-faced.
Roundtree’s Shaft is a classic loner, close-mouthed, calculating.
Film mixes detective work with street vibe, and features a classic Isaac Hayes score.
Influential film kicked Blaxploitation into overdrive.  Followed by good sequels and a poor TV run.

The Devil Came From Akasava - 1971 - Germany

The Devil Came From Akasava - 1971 - 5/10
AKA - Der Teufel kam aus Akasava

After discovering a powerful, magical rock, the professor goes missing in Mambasa.
The Brits send agent Jane Morgan to find out what-where-how-why.

 
She soon encounters slew of counteragents, assassins, deceivers and charmers.
This rolls like a late Krimi spoof of Eurospy flicks.
Soledad Miranda compels viewing, but the story is silly and incoherent.
English subs = https://sub-scene.com/download/3365674

A New Leaf - 1971 - USA

A New Leaf - 1971 - 6/10

 
Snob-to-the-max Henry discovers he has squandered his wealth on a lifestyle.
Choices are now: poverty – get a job – suicide – marry a rich girl.
Suicide is the choice until he meets Henrietta, clueless and gauche.
Never mind, Henrietta has cash without end.
Henry opts for marriage, followed by a quick murder.
Elaine May’s first directorial outing seems a loose connection of scenes.
The humor is deliberately awkward and forced, screwball, often skin crawly.
It is sweet, however.  Her next film, Heartbreak Kid would deliver a more savage bite.

In Blind Daylight - 1971 - USA

In Blind Daylight - 1971 - 5/10

 
Famed actor Anthony leaves the doctor's office, still blind, yet now capable of navigating the world at large.
He quietly returns home to announce his progress.
And overhears his wife and best friend making bedroom noises.
From there, he plots murder, which, step by step, we follow.
Sluggish thriller seems patterned after Blind Corner (1963), albeit with less snap.
Suzanne Pleshette and Stella Stevens wasted.

Nights Of Iemanjá - 1971 - Brazil

Nights Of Iemanjá - 1971 - 5/10
AKA - Noites de Iemanjá

 
She snubs her husband, who seems unable to satisfy her needs.
Instead, she prowls the docks, the wharves, open beaches.
Seeking younger, fitter men.  Whom she seduces and drains.
Not the vampire, succubus, femme fatale trope, but closer to a destroying siren.
The pace is languid and the female’s impulses are vague.
Even to herself.
Copy I viewed seemed from a nth generation VHS.
English subs = https://sub-scene.com/download/3365673

Glass Ceiling - 1971 - Spain

Glass Ceiling - 1971 - 6/10
AKA - El Techo de Cristal

 
“And I’m telling you, I’m hearing footsteps upstairs.  I think she killed her husband.”
Marta, like the other women in the dwelling, has too much time on her hands.
The weather is hot, sultry, their husbands or boyfriends absent, and they are mad with desire.
Marta suffers the worst, while both Julia and Rosa roam with abandon.
Steamy Spanish thriller touches on Giallo, but not quite.
Plenty of cake with an undercurrent that never loosens.
Then there is the smell.  Everyone comments on the stench.

Necromancy - 1971 - USA

Necromancy - 1971 - 5/10

 
Frank accepts a job in isolated Lilith, dragging a reluctant Lori along.
The small town is a gated community, inhabitants mostly twenty-year-olds.
Well-garbed hippies, New Age occult dabblers.
Ruling all is Mr Cato (Orson Welles, why oh why?), pining for his dead son.
Lori it seems, has gifts, second sight along with visions.
In a town full of wannabe witches, she is the genuine article.
Promising concept, poorly executed.
“Witchcraft is the only honest religion, that makes things happen now, in this life.”

See No Evil - 1971 - UK

See No Evil - 1971 - 6/10

 
After an accident, Sarah is blind.
She returns to her aunt and uncle’s country estate and beings to navigate.
How to live sightless for the rest of her days.
Even when a psychopath invades the home, stealthily with deadly intent.
For the audience, all we see are the menacing boots, prized by the wearer.
Mia Farrow plays the blind Sarah.  Good use of rural locations and misdirection.
Slow pace, yet rewarding for patient fans of quiet thrillers.

Eye Of The Spider - 1971 - Italy

Eye Of The Spider - 1971 - 5/10
AKA - L'occhio del Ragno

 
Convict Paul is freed from a prison transport van.
He was part of a three-man jewel heist earlier, but abandoned by his mates.
The mastermind (a bored Van Johnson) gets him out to recover the jewels and loot.
Paul wants likewise, but also revenge, so he keeps getting sidetracked.
This one predates the era of Euro-Crime, so the violence, chases, energy are all pretty low.
Despite nudity and Kinski, this feels / looks like TV. The Sweeney or Starsky & Hutch.
There was one scene where Paul driving a Citroen was chased by baddies in a ‘64 Corvair.
One was a rally sports car, the other my grandmother drove.  I watched and laughed.

THX 1138 - 1971 - USA

THX 1138 - 1971 - 6/10

 
Embrace your Orwellian future, today!
Citizens bear the mark of the beast, numbers & letters.
Sex is forbidden, drugs are mandatory, clothes are monochrome white.
Our protagonist (Duvall) is obedient until his female mate messes with his drugs.
Sex and rebellion, followed by pursuit.
Dystopian SciFi is bare bones expansion of a George Lucas student film.
Star Wars resurrected this downer and gave it traction, yet it’s still a drag.

The Beguiled - 1971 - USA

The Beguiled - 1971 - 7/10

 
Wounded Union soldier, deep behind Confederate lines, is taken to an all-female school.
They - girls, teachers, headmistress, staff - they should turn him over to Confederate authorities.
Instead, they take a shine to the flattering, handsome man.
The school slowly tuns into a fox in the henhouse scene.
Jealousies, competition, as well as sexual shenanigans heat the pot to boiling.
Southern Gothic drama finds the soldier (Eastwood) in control and out of his depth.
He never quite grasps how dangerous the female can be.
Underrated Eastwood film, challenging fan-base expectations.

Requiem For A Vampire - 1971 - France

Requiem For A Vampire - 1971 - 6/10
AKA - Requiem Pour un Vampire

 
The opening resembles a heist gone bad.
A trio on the run.  Costumes, gunfights, death, footrace.
Surviving females flee into a “deserted” castle.
Per title, one realizes there lies the abode of the undead.
Jean Rollin film with his usual touches.
Attractive females, nudity, sensuality, sumptuous interiors, dreamlike proceedings.
The females, while dressed like innocent youngsters, are anything but.
Difficult choices also await, stemming from the weary head of the family.

If Footmen Tire You, What Will Horses Do? - 1971 - USA

If Footmen Tire You, What Will Horses Do? - 1971 - 4/10

 
Should America abandon God, so too shall God abandon America.
Alcohol, dancing, drug use, sex, ways of the flesh, even cartoons!
Bibles unread, teachings forsaken for lascivious behavior, lewd attire.
Until, without warning, Communists have overcome the nation.
Vast swathes of the populace are machine-gunned down, children indoctrinated, females raped.
Dire warnings!  Potentially camp film flawed by constant proselytizing by Rev. Estus Pirkle.
That, and ignoring the reality of gun-happy America where millions of citizen own firearms.

Celebration At Big Sur - 1971 - USA

Celebration At Big Sur - 1971 - 6/10

 
Filmed during the era of mass festival gatherings, this might have been one of the coffin nails.
Although the festival occurred a month after Woodstock, this waited a bit.
The groups are more Folk oriented.  Joan Baez, Joni Mitchell, CSNY, John Sebastian, Mimi Fariña.
All in all, low key throughout, lacking overall energy.
If curious, by all means watch this 80” film, but don’t expect too much.

Demons - 1971 - Japan

Demons - 1971 - 6/10
AKA - Shura

 
Ronin Gengobei has already squandered his money and heirlooms on a smiling geisha.
Friends and fellow samurai loan him 200 ryo so he can repay his debts and join them.
He is to be part of the 47 Ronin, except the geisha and her heartless friends see the money.
Slow tale, composed as if for a theatre, dark throughout.
A story of lies, multiple deceptions, destroyed honor, revenge.
Neither cheating nor vengeance bring release or satisfaction.
Classical Japanese cinema; may be excruciatingly slow for the impatient.

The Strange Vice Of Mrs. Wardh - 1971 - Italy

The Strange Vice Of Mrs. Wardh - 1971 - 7/10
AKA - Lo Strano  Vizio Della Signora Wardh

 
Even though Julie has married diplomat Neil, an ex-lover, the abusive Jean, provokes her.
Then, there is her friend’s handsome cousin, George, to whom she is attracted.
Meanwhile, Vienna is besieged by a razor blade serial killer!
More?  Yes, there is much more in this stylish and sex charged Giallo.
Edwige Fenech, as ever, is easy on the eyes.  Likewise, the eye-popping 1970’s Italian interiors.
Frequent nudity, hairpin plots packed with flashbacks and twists.
One of the better titles of this genre, and one that stitches together nicely.
Subs for COMMENTARY TRACK ONLY = https://subscene.cam/download/3352040

Love In The Afternoon - 1971 - France

Love In The Afternoon - 1971 - 6/10
AKA - L'amour l'après-Midi  //  Chloe in the Afternoon

 
Despite a pleasant marriage, Frédéric has a wandering eye.
He sizes up women on the street, in shops and cafes, on trains.
Are they single?  Intelligent?  Lonely, adventurous, stimulating?
Frédéric seems too young for a mid-life crisis; perhaps it is malaise.
Enter Chloe, ex-girlfriend of one of his old buddies.
Scornful, needy, dismissive, more than a little toxic.
Nevertheless, Frédéric sets aside afternoons to listen to her talk, or to assist in problems.
At once, the story goes “nowhere”, yet shows how slippery are morals, ethics and vows.