liudragon

I travelled across the country to the NY Independent Film Festival and caught this amazing little film there. Made on a shoe-string budget, this proves how a lot of imagination, talent and creativity can make a great film even without pie-in-the-sky Hollywood budgets and ultra CGI effects. The plot may seem familiar, with elements of THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME (1932) and perhaps traces of EVIL DEAD (1981) woven into the story of a woman on the search for her kidnapped daughter; but director/lead actress Tiffany Sinclair takes what might seem rote and turns it into a compelling affair. Some might nitpick that it runs a little too long but whenever Sinclair is on the screen you will be riveted. I wish there was a complete cast list on the IMDb because I wanted to note the great supporting performance by the guy who plays Baker - the "john" who takes Sinclair's Sara on the ride of her life (or death). With a great performance by Sinclair and spectacular camera and editing work, PRAEY should be a film that will delight horror and suspense buffs for years to come either on DVD or late night television. Please try to find this film when it goes into distribution.

There's no reason at all for a film like "Prison-A-Go-Go!" to exist. Let's just be thankful that it does. It's pure fun and exploitation. Not a single raison d'etre to worry about and not much of a plot so you can keep your mind on vacation and just sit back and enjoy the raucous goings on. Whenever Mary Woronov is in the cast you have to sit up and take notice. A little longer in the tooth than you might remember from "Eating Raoul" or "Rock-n-Roll High School", she remains the premiere female thesp of high comic villainary. If you thought Rhonda Shear's career disappeared when she was replaced by Gilbert Gottfried on television, "Prison-A-Go-Go" will surely remind you why she used to keep you up all night. Lots of pretty girls, lots of gratuitous scenes, lots of laughs. You may not find this on your local vid store shelf but pick up a copy somewhere whenever you can smoke one out.

What you lack in budget can often be made up for with big doses of humor and inspired direction. Newcomer Pedro Temboury makes a big splash with silly zombies, a portly villain, a rubber monster, stock footage and clever cameo appearances by cult director Jess Franco and actress Lina Romay. Big baddie Paul Lapidus plans to take over the world with karate trained zombies so of course he starts by attacking that vital town of Torremolinos. Call in martial arts champ Oliver Denis to the rescue and see him knocked off almost immediately. The jokes are smart the acting is way above what you'd expect from such a low budget film and Temboury's direction keeps things going at a pace that always keeps your interest. Don't let the subtitles scare you away. Maybe One Shot Productions, who Temboury's worked for in the past, will release this in on USA DVD in a dubbed version. In joke lovers will take note of the same green goblin that stalked the Spanish countryside in "Les Psycho-Lettes."