#fred olen ray director

[cinemacentral666]

An Accidental Christmas (2007)

Movie #1,061 • WELL, HONG? CH. 4

I think this is the first Lifetime Original Movie that I watched intentionally? Folks, this is what happens when you dedicate one day every two weeks to watching a movie James Hong appeared in. I knew 'about' these 'films' of course, and what their general 'vibe' was (read: bad, and bad in very particular way). But sitting down to actually watch one was a different experience entirely. I'm a changed man now. There's no going back.

The logic of a Lifetime Original Movie (L.O.M.) exists outside of the stratosphere of a normal human mind. Every character embodies some variation of a stereotype of both different kinds of people and ideas, and sometimes these ways of being will shift on a dime from scene to scene. So the father character (a fascinating performance by David Millbern) is both the horny playboy and the sad cuck. Everyone is simply a pawn for various Middle America ideas and/or goofs, and the greater story as well as any individual arc is always secondary to the conveyance of a particular emotion in the current moment. James Hong plays a beachfront mansion caretaker named Rico who himself is secretly rich. He had more lines in this than all of the previous three entries in the series combined.

I have no idea how this fits in the greater L.O.M. canon. Is it more or less batshit than your average L.O.M.? Who's to say? (not me anyhow) I was strangely fascinating and, dare I say, even entertained, though. Not in any traditional way, but in the anthropological sense. Every decision mystified me, as did the aforementioned thespian stylings of one Mr. Millbern...

The plot is essentially a rehashed version of The Parent Trap for the middle 2000s normcore sect. It's not important. At least James had fun (I hope)...

Oh, also the actress who plays Danny McBride's wife on The Righteous Gemstones is in this, if you care to know about such things.

SCORE: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️¾

[esqueletosgays]

HOLLYWOOD CHAINSAW HOOKERS (1988)

Director: Fred Olen Ray Cinematography: Scott Ressler

[fitsofgloom]

I recently made a rare foray into a multiplex, and found myself wearily sighing at the sight of the row of promotional one-sheets in the lobby: a Nazarene-themed Biblical epic in which Joseph sports a wildly anachronistic haircut, an animated Trolls movie, a sports comedy, a "Hunger Games" sequel, and the eightieth Marvel entry this year. It left me thinking of the great Cult director Fred Olen Ray, whom I recall fondly remembering the days when you could hit the drive-in and see two to five flicks, all of them featuring "Blood" in their titles.

[yesterdanereviews]

Invisible Dad (1998)

Film review #623

Director: Fred Olen Ray

SYNOPSIS: Andrew Bailey often moves around the country thanks to his job, with his son Doug. Arriving in their new home, Doug finds a strange device in the garage left by the former occupant. Hooking it up to his computer, he finds it can grant his wishes whenever he wears the headset to communicate with it. When he inadvertently turns his dad invisible, chaos ensues as Doug has to find a way to turn him back.

THOUGHTS/ANALYSIS: Invisible Dad is a 1998 sci-fi children's film. It is somewhat a sequel to the 1996 film Invisible Mom by the same director, but features none of the original cast or settings. Invisible Mom II was released in 1999 (reviewed previously) is perhaps the true sequel, as it features the original cast and continues their story, so this film just exists in a strange void with no real continuity to the "franchise" (if we can call it that). Anyway, the plot this time concerns Andrew Bailey and his son Josh, who have to move around often due to Andrew's work as an architect. In their new house, Josh finds some strange inventions in the garage left by the former occupant, one of which he hooks up to his computer. It turns out that this computer can grant any wish by simply speaking into the headset. By anything, I mean anything: Josh manages to make food appear out of thin air, teleport a model directly to his bedroom, and even travel back in time. When Josh's Dad finds out about it, he tells him to destroy it because it causes too much trouble. Unfortunately, Josh wishes his dad would "just disappear" just before he destroys the device, and he turns invisible. With no way to turn back visible, they must find a way to fix the device.

There's inherently some issues with the story here: The most glaring one is that Josh finds a device that can do anything: time travel, make anything appear, the works. The fact that the film is just about one man turning invisible is a bit underwhelming when you've already established everything else. Josh tries to plead with his Dad that they could print infinite money or anything, but he simply says it is too much trouble, which is a very weak cop-out. The film goes through all the expected tribulations of being invisible, with no real surprises in that regard. There's a scene where Josh and his Dad are at a restaurant, with Andrew covered in clothes to hide the fact that he is invisible, and they are constantly interrupted by a man who cracks mean-spirited "jokes" after every line of dialogue; I mean, really nasty remarks about how ugly he probably he underneath all those clothes. It's really odd for a kid's film. Anyway, on top of the whole invisible thing, there's also the sub-plot concerning Andrew's job as an architect, and him needing to turn visible before his colleague steals his idea, and also before said colleague contracts a dodgy builder to build the project using sub-standard materials that will probably collapse and kill whoever is inside. Add in the romance sub-plot, and also the inventing partner of the guy who made the device, who now resides somewhere in the jungles of Africa, and you've got a film that is trying to do way too much. Lots of the plot elements get lost in the mix, and the whole invisible thing doesn't really get enough time or attention to be interesting.

The characters don't really have anything interesting about them: Josh is a typical lead whose Mom has passed away and he carries around a photo of her and such. It's not too traumatic for kid's. His Dad is a workaholic, and doesn't take kindly to being invisible. There's also Sandy's teacher, who he tries to set up with his Dad, who doesn't really have much of a role to play. However, Josh keeps constantly telling us how hot she is in his narration, which is a bit weird for a kid. Combine this with the pretty dire acting, and you've got nothing redeemable on this front.

Aside from the previously mentioned scene of the men-spirited harassment in the restaurant scene, there's other parts of the film which are morally dubious too. there's the dodgy contractor who is planning to kill Andrew to get his cheap material on the project he is working on, which never gets beyond meagre threats, but is still an odd addition. There's also a part of the film where Josh literally goes shoplifting for computer parts, and his caught and thrown in jail. His teacher then breaks him out, and Josh's Dad just overlooks his shoplifting, because he was doing it to "help him out," which is a pretty weird message to be giving out in a kid's film, and also since his character has already been established as not wanting to get into trouble.

Overall, Invisible Dad is a mess. It throws too much into the mix and ends up creating a directionless mess. Even for a kid's film, there's just nothing interesting or imaginative for them to latch on to, and I doubt that it would keep their attention long enough. Probably the worse of the invisible trilogy if I'm honest, as while the original had barely anything going on in it, it was at least easy to follow and mostly harmless, whereas Invisible Dad is all over the place, mean-spirited in parts, and sorely lacking in humour or charm.

[scumgristle]

On Digital September 1, 2023

We Kill for Love goes in search of the forgotten world of the direct-to-video erotic thriller, an American film genre that once dominated late night cable television and the shelves of neighborhood video stores. Balancing film art with scholarship, it pulls back the curtain to reveal the heart and soul of a forgotten and often maligned film movement.

Director: Anthony Penta

Producer: Anthony Penta

Cast: Andrew Stevens, Monique Parent, Amy Lindsay, Linda Ruth Williams, Kira Reed Lorsch, Jim Wynorski, Fred Olen Ray

Festivals: Overlook Film Festival

[watching-pictures-move]

Movie Review | Cyclone (Ray, 1987)

Things I liked about this movie:

The motorcycle and car stunts, which are quite impressive for the budget.

Jeffrey Combs, even if he video calls the bulk of his performance from beyond the grave! Ooooohhhhh…. Okay, it’s not that spooky, he just left a bunch of video messages to be played by his girlfriend after his death. Even though he seems to pause for her reaction multiple times. Also, “I love it when you fuck up Einstein.”

Fred Olen Ray’s distinct brand of cinephilia, which leads him to cast such stars of the silver screen as Huntz Hall and Troy Donahue.

Heather Thomas and Ashley Ferrare duking it out in a surprisingly not terrible fight scene. And the earlier insult Thomas throws at Ferrare. “You’re as plastic as your tits!”

The rad motorcycle sweatshirt Thomas wears throughout the movie.

David Letterman’s method for differentiating Heather Thomas from Locklear.

The dangerous amount of hair product onscreen.

Things I didn’t like about this movie:

The knockoff Phil Collins on the soundtrack for the solid minute it attempts some real ‘80s neon mood. I’ve gotten multiple listens of “In The Air Tonight” recently thanks to Miami Vice and Risky Business, and a song trying to sound like it while skirting the boundaries of plagiarism sticks out like a sore thumb.

The closeup of Ashley Ferrare’s boobs that the movie opens with, which somehow seems pervier than having actual nudity. At least real nudity is honest about its intentions.

The clinical zoning out I experienced anytime this tried to push the plot along. This is the third Fred Olen Ray movie I’ve seen after Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers and Evil Toons. Those are naked exercises in exploitation, offering you a threadbare narrative upon which to hang a bunch of nude scenes and maybe some gags, and because of that, I enjoyed them enough. This one tries to be more of a real movie (a high tech vehicular conspiracy thriller, like Blue Thunder on the cheap), which Ray isn’t a good enough director to pull off.

[amplesalty]

Halloween 2022 - Day 17 - Evil Toons (1992)

They’re animani, totally insaney (They pinned me down and maced me)

I suspect that to be a lie of sorts...

Oh hey, it’s David Carradine, son of John Carradine who was in a bunch of those early Universal classics and played Dracula in those House of... movies. He’s looking like the Evil Quaker Oats Man and appears to be holding some sort of bootleg Necronomicon. I’m sure everything is perfectly fine and nothing awkward could possibly happen, especially not in the very next scene...

I will say, it seems kinda bullshit that his widow won a wrongful death suit against the production company of the film he was working on at the time. Obviously it’s very sad for her but it’s not like they can be expected to watch him every second of every day.

It’s also bullshit to claim this movie stars him since he’s barely in the bloody thing. He’s in this prelude briefly and then pops up again at the end but I suppose you’ve got to get eyes on your product somehow. Because apparently the copious amounts of T&A on show wasn’t doing that already. And that’s really all that this is. I know times were different in the early 90’s and people didn’t have access to the internet and all the filth that entails so they had to get their fix through teen sex comedies and ‘erotic thrillers’. But I came to see an extreme version of Roger Rabbit and was left sorely disappointed.

There is an animated monster in the film but he too makes only a fleeting appearance. I guess the budget only stretched to a couple of minutes of screen time so for the rest of the movie it makes liberal use of its shape shifting abilities to change into one of the pretty girls they have running around. And most of the time he is on screen he’s hooting and hollering at the sight of some tits like that wolf from those Tex Avery cartoons.

These movies that have the mix of live action and animation are intriguing to me, having seen the likes of the aforementioned Roger Rabbit, Cool World and Monkeybone. I figured this would be something along those lines but taken in a more horror direction.  Animation is obviously such a creative medium because it allows you to do all manner of things that would be impossible in live action. That opens the door to lots of interesting things you can do, sort of like in Nightmare on Elm Street where you have all these unique kills because the rules of dream world allow all these crazy things to happen. But instead we get your average cheap B-movie that is more interested how well endowed their cast is than any story they can tell. And the title clearly says Toons, plural. One animated monster is hardly a galaxy!

In retrospect, I should be surprised given that director Fred Olen Ray seems to be King of the b-movie, with such hits as Bikini Airways, Bikini Cavegirl, Bikini Chain Gang, Bikini Royale ad Bikini Frankenstein. I love how he goes from all this porn stuff to what seems to be a deluge of Christmas movies within the last 5 years or so. You know all those ones you see the posters of where it’s just a man and a woman in red or green jumpers? Of course the real gem in Ray’s filmography is Sniper Special Ops starring both Steven Seagal and Rob Van Dam. That movie is completely unrelated to the Sniper series of films which is apparently up to 9 with another on the way?!

There is the odd bright spot hidden away in the movie, such as the appearance of Dick Miller who in one scene is watching a movie featuring...Dick Miller. They do seem to be treating Dick Miller and the character separately, though his character does comment that this actor deserves the Academy Award. I’m not sure what movie this is, I was kinda hoping it was going to be The Terror.

Or there’s the moment where one of the girls invites her boyfriend round who they spend lots of time talking about he’s on the high school football team but when he arrives he’s pretty plainly a 40 year old man. Possibly this was done deliberately and it’s a play on how all the teens in movies and TV shows are often played by people way older, like Luke Perry.

But aside from that, a truly terrible movie. I get that it’s meant to be bad but it doesn’t poke at my ‘so bad it’s good’ bone. Maybe because they’re going into the movie with the intention of it being bad which I think takes all the fun away.

Maybe I’m just overthinking it though, if the movie wants to be titillation then let’s talk titillation. These two girls have massive 80’s hair that has lasted well in the 90’s at 100% volume and the dark haired girl performs a striptease complete with wobbly sound effect when she shakes her ass. Which I would show you but I’m not up to speed on Tumblrs policies on the buttocks.

But the true highlight is the nerdy red-haired girl with glasses and massive wabbos. It’s like they found a list of my tastes and just ticked off every single one. I changed my mind, A+++!

[videomessiah]

As a director, who do you prefer? Bill Rebane or Fred Olen Ray?

While I appreciate Rebane's ability to squeeze a watchable feature length movie out of a nearly non-existent budget (Blood Harvest, The Game, The Giant Spider Invasion) he's also responsible for Monster a Go-Go, so I can't give him too much praise.

As for Mr. Ray, if you enjoy ladies in lingerie and bikinis getting their tits out, then boy howdy is he the director for you! He's sort of like a less imaginative Albert Pyun, but Pyun at his peak was a chaotic master of cheap action movies, so don't take that insult too seriously. Anyway, Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers alone puts him ahead of Rebane, and stuff like Haunting Fear and Cyberzone are just delightful cherries on top.

[gacmediadaily]

If it is November, it is time for Christmas music on local radio and Christmas movies on television shot in East Aurora.

The latest film from director Fred Olen Ray primarily shot there, “A Royal Christmas on Ice,” premieres at 8 p.m. Saturday on the Great American Family (GAF) network. GAF is on Channel 295 on Spectrum.

“A Royal Christmas on Ice” was filmed primarily in and around East Aurora, with a few scenes shot at Vidler’s on Main Street. Ray has made several films here in the past seven years.

Here is the summary of the film: “Looking to escape his royal life, a dashing prince comes to the United States to start a business in a small town in upstate New York and winds up falling for a former Olympic ice skater.”

Anna Marie Dobbins and Jonathan Stoddard are billed as the stars in a cast that includes Buffalo native Charlene Amoia, William Baldwin and Dennis DiPaolo.

[brokehorrorfan]

Venomous has been released on Blu-ray via Scream Factory. Limited to 1,620, the 2001 direct-to-video disaster horror film is available for $29.98 exclusively from Shout Factory.

Fred Olen Ray (Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers) directs from a script by Sean McGinly (The Great Buck Howard) and Dan Golden. Treat Williams, Mary Page Keller, and Hannes Jaenicke star.

Venomous is presented in high definition with DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Stereo and Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround. Special features are listed below.

Special features:

Audio commentary by director Fred Olen Ray

Trailer

Prepare for the ultimate battle of man versus nature when a small town becomes ground zero for a lethal virus carried by genetically altered snakes escaped from a government lab and on the prowl. As both the virus and the body count spin out of control, the military is dispatched to help quarantine both the victims and the reptiles. The race is on to save as many people as possible and halt the slithering assault on humanity – or die trying.

[zippocreed501]

FROM THE B-MOVIE BADLANDS...

...images from the lost continent of cult films, b-movies and celluloid dreamscapes

Classic B-Movie Directors

(Just a bunch of normal people, just like you and me)

[videoreligion]

B-Movie Royality Fred Olen Ray

[yesterdanereviews]

Invisible Mom II (1998)

Film review #622

Director: Fred Olen Ray

SYNOPSIS: When a millionaire passes away, his long-lost grandson Eddie becomes the heir of his fortune. Unbeknownst to him, he is stuck in an orphanage while the hunt for him goes on. He is fostered by the Griffin family, learning that Mrs Griffin has the ability to turn invisible when she is angry, thanks to one of her husband's inventions. However, Eddie's cousins take him away to adopt him so that they can claim the inheritance, and the Griffin's must conduct a rescue before it's too late...

THOUGHTS/ANALYSIS: Invisible Mom II is a 1999 sci-fi children's film, and the follow up to the 1996 film Invisible Mom. two years after the events of the first film, we open to...something completely different, as a man lies dying in bed. His nearest family members eagerly await his death so they can claim his vast fortune, but upon learning that their young cousin Eddie is alive somewhere in Foster care and he will get the entire fortune, they hatch a plan to find and adopt him...and eventually kill him like they have the rest of the family to get their hands on the fortune. The plot is a fairly standard one for a kid's film that's simple enough to follow, and has distinct, yet goofy villains. It should also be noted that it actually has a plot, unlike the first film, in which barely anything happens other than Mr Griffin's boss tries to take credit for the discovery.

Speaking of which, it turns out that the antidote Mrs Griffin took to turn visible again was only partially successful, and she still turns invisible when she gets angry...yes, I'm going to go for the obvious joke here: she's basically The Invisible Hulk. The ending of the first film is hand-waved away, with the formula apparently being taken by the U.S. military and that's the end of it. You might expect a familiar scenario of Eddie being angry or rebellious about his new foster home but...he seems to quite like it immediately: everyone is quite nice to each other all around, and there is no conflict anywhere: even when Eddie decides to try and clean a stain on Josh's jacket with a handheld buzzsaw (????), Josh just shrugs and says he didn't like it anyway. Again, I know this is a children's film, but I'm sure it's okay to have a bit of conflict and tension somewhere? The Griffin's themselves are mostly unchanged from the first film: all the same actors return, although Josh is notably older now as he is a teenager, but we don't get any exciting new character arcs or development for them.

Eddie's cousins turn up to adopt him as his only living relatives and to take him to their home, with the intent of killing him off and collecting the inheritance. Josh stows away in their car, and when his parents learn of it, they must conduct a rescue, and Mom has to turn invisible to rescue them. It's noteworthy that Mrs Griffin barely turns invisible: just three times, the first only happening half-way through the film. Eddie's cousins as the villains are probably the stand-out characters: they really chew the scenery every time they're on screen. Bernard is played by Micky Dolenz of The Monkees fame, and really has a voice that you can't help but listen to. The last part of the film is essentially just Eddie and Josh running about the villains mansion (why do they need the inheritance when they clearly live in a mansion?) while they try to off the children. It's not terribly exciting, and as mentioned, there's not much of any "invisible Mom" shenanigans that add anything to the formulaic plot. Despite all these criticisms, it is well acted, with Dee Wallace as invisible Mom, Micky Dolenz as mentioned, and Justin Berfield as Eddie, who would take the role of Reese in Malcolm in the Middle a year or so later. the film tries to have a bit of fun, but loses its way the moment it tries to veer outside the very formulaic plot. Nevertheless, it is an improvement over its predecessor, if only for the reason there is a bit of a story. Still not a great film, and certainly not for anyone other than young kids who can overlook the gaping plot-holes.

[fearsmagazine]

Joseph Mauceri talks with screenwriter Robert Dean Klein about the horror, psychological thriller 6:45

Bobby Patterson is taking one last romantic shot at saving his rocky relationship with his girlfriend, Jules Rables on a weekend getaway to the picturesque island resort of Bog Grove. To their bewilderment, the sleepy beach town is curiously deserted, but they soon learn about its notorious and bloody history – one that's about to repeat itself again and again…

The pair’s relationship issues are quickly cast aside in order to overcome a demented cycle of terror in which they’re seemingly trapped. And no matter what great lengths they take to avoid it, Bobby and Jules awake at 6:45 each morning to a nightmarish chain of events with no escape.

6:45 is collaboration between director Craig Singer and screenwriter Robert Dean Klein. Klein’s first film with Singer was the 2001 film “Dead Dogs Lie.” Over the years they’ve worked together on 2003’s “A Good Night to Die,” 2006’s “Dark Ride,” and there are a few other projects still planned for Klein and Singer. In addition to his writing relationship with Singer, Klein made his feature film writing debut with the 2001 thriller “Blackwoods,” directed by the infamous Uwe Boll, who also shared a screenplay credit on the film. Boll and Klein work together again on the 2002 thriller “Heart of America.” Klein has also worked with the Full Moon Features director David DeCoteau . Together they worked on four thrillers that were made for TV. Klein has also worked with genre director Fred Olen Ray on 2021’s “The Killer in My Backyard.” Klein and Singer have spent several years working on getting 6:45 produced and Klein talks about the 6:45 and his screenwriting career.

Regal Theaters will release 6:45 in theaters located in more than 75 markets on August 6th, 2021

[amesmonde]

Cyberzone (1995) Review

A futuristic bounty hunter is assigned to track down four female androids smuggled to Earth for illicit purposes. Busy director Fred Olen Ray’s Cyber Zone aka Phoenix 2, Droid Gunner is as bland and heavy handed as they come. In this cheap Bladerunner and The Terminator rip-off Marc Singer is his likeable usual nonchalant self. Rochelle Swanson along with Singer know what type of film they’re in…

[geekbroll]

Totem (1999) is a cheap horror movie from director David DeCoteau and Full Moon Pictures. Before this movie he was known for Creepozoids (1987), Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama (1988) and Nightmare Sisters (1988), but since has been known for a number of horror thrillers for 1313 with lots of topless dudes on the box art.    ‘ ‘ In this movie 6 twenty-something kids are drawn to a cabin in the woods next to a graveyard by some unknown force controlling them subconsciously. And the monsters menacing these kids are these cute little statue dudes. Apparently digitally erasing the strings was not really in the budget. David DeCoteau did direct Puppet Master 3 and Retro Puppet Master.  ‘ . Ulike his movies before and after, no one gets naked in this movie. But you can watch it free w/ ads on Tubi. . . One of the actors, Jason Faunt, did go on to become the Red TimeForce Power Ranger. . . Currently David DeCoteau is working on a sequel to Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama and like his contemporary horror director Fred Olen Ray, DeCoteau has directed a number of Christmas movies for cable channels.  . . The 2003 Leeches is another David DeCoteau film from this transition period and is also a lot of fun. Leeches get steroids from some swimmer dudes and grow big and start killing. Leeches is $2.99 on Prime Video. Creepozoids is also on Tubi Free w/ ads.  . . #totem #totemmovie #totem1999 #DavidDeCoteau #PuppetMaster #fullmoon #fullmoonpictures #Creepozoids #SororityBabesintheSlimeballBowlORama #FredOlenRay #JasonFaunt #TimeForce #PowerRangers #RedRanger #TimeForcePowerRangers #SachaSpencer #EricWEdwards #AliciaLagano #TylerAnderson #MarissaTait #leeches #leeches2003  (at Portland, Oregon) https://www.instagram.com/p/CBZEvKwBJy_/?igshid=1b0dexp5sot8p