Dollar Store Cinema Returns from the Dead!

It's been awhile since I did a review of a movie, so I thought I'd start out with a little train wreck originally titled "Grasslands," but later, most likely to protect the guilty, changed its name to "Hex!" In this 1973 Western horror disasterpiece, two sisters, Oriole & Acacia (Cristina Raines & Hilarie Thompson) living alone in the back country of Nebraska cross paths with a group of wayward motorcyclists on their way to California. I'm pretty sure this movie was supposed to take place shortly after WWI as this bunch of "bikers" are WW I flyers riding their motorcycles across America in search of what they believe their generation lost during the war. California is their destination, but a pit stop in Nebraska proves to be a bad idea. For all of us! Among the notable bunch of wackos are Keith Carradine (Whizzer) and Scott Glenn (Jimbang). One last notable role is that of Billy, played by Dan "Grizzly Adams" Haggerty. Apparently Oriole uses Indian "magic" to...do something. I really didn't pay much attention to what was going on when she was on screen as she's pretty easy on the eyes.

I think she was trying to protect them from the hoodlums, but they really weren't what you'd expect. They weren't killers or rapist or anything, just a bunch of whack jobs. At some point, the film tried to make Oriole out to be the "real monster," but even that didn't work because in the end (SPOILER ALERT!) she ends up riding off with Whizzer. And, if that wasn't enough of a WTF? ending, there's a Twilight Zone "twist" at the end that literally left me asking "W-T-Fuck?!" As a whole, this movie was nearly unwatchable, except for Miss Raines, of course. Most everyone in this movie went on to make bigger and better films. Cristina Raines, for instance, went on to make "The Sentinel," one of my favorite horror movies. I don't actually own this movie, I found it on YouTube. It's an hour and a half of your life you'll never get back, so you've been warned. One final thing about the dialog in "Hex" is that it's pretty well written...just poorly delivered. I think it's entirely possible to get a contact buzz off of this movie as it left me feeling a little dizzy and full of remorse. Ah, well, watch it anyway, what the hell do I know?

(Above) Miss Raines in "The Sentinel," a much better but nearly forgotten movie.

It's occurred to me that I need to revamp my list of links to your right as most of them are now defunct. Of course, I have to remember how to do it first. So, if you want to be linked, send me your link. I'll get to them as they come in and as soon as I can figure this bloggy stuff out. Now, onto much more interesting news... Awhile back, my friend Nik Havert of Pickle Press wrote a script for a couple of our characters called "The Question of Truth." I think my only two suggestions for it was zombies and a cameo from Mike Indovina's Chimera. Well, in what seemed like a day later, Nik handed over an amazing script. Not surprising as Nik is one of the finest, hardest-working writers in the indie comics scene. Once the script was done, it was a matter of finding an artist who could make the comic look like a strip from the 1930s & 40s. It wasn't easy, but I think we found an artist. I won't reveal his name just yet in the spirit of keeping things mysterious. Below are the image references I sent our mystery artist of the script's two main characters, Question Mark & The Truth.

For awhile, one of the main features in my lil ol' blog was "Dollar Store Cinema." A few years ago, the local dollar stores carried a pretty good collection of bad horror movies. I reviewed the best of the worst of them, but they've since stopped carrying them, except for around Halloween, and it's always the same handful of movies. So, I stopped, which ultimately lead to the end of updating this blog (that and facebook). So, what to do? I've decided to continue the feature, but feature movies that I've found one way or another, movies that are "so bad they're good," for one reason or another. After all, my pile of "awfully good" movies continues to grow. So, keep it here, gang, for The Return of Dollar Store Cinema...coming soon. You've been warned!

Wow, they have made things so much easier haven't they? This is like finding twenty bucks in a jacket you haven't worn all year.

Holy crap! Has it been two years since I last posted on this thing?! Damn you, facebook! It's all your fault! I guess I should probably change that.

Well, then, just for the hell of it, a random image from "Werewolves on Wheels," one of my favorite cult classics.