kindertrauma

Author: unkle lancifer

Name That Trauma:: George H. on Hapless Helicopter Help

Posted on By unkle lancifer

Hi, I love your site and you have helped me to i.d. numerous kid traumas lost to the sands of time even with the Internet. I have one left.

I saw this movie on free T.V. in the NYC area in the mid-to-late ‘70s/early ‘80s as a kid on the weekend. I remember the ending only. Basically, it's two men (prisoners or soldiers) struggling to make their way through the jungle to an escape army helicopter as they are pursued by the enemy. The prisoners are worse for wear as the helicopter lands with a soldier or two getting out to provide cover fire for the escapees. The returning fire proves overwhelming and the chopper leaves without being able to pick up our heroes. The movie ends with a freeze-frame of the men's faces.

Does anyone know what the name of this movie was? Over 35 years later, I still remember this downbeat ending.

Thank you,

George H.

Sunday Viewing:: Bloodrage (1979) Presented By Crafty Pants Carol

Posted on By unkle lancifer

Today we have an especially special rarity thanks to our good pal Crafty Pants Carol! It's Bloodrage (1979) (not to be confused with that OTHER BLOOD RAGE from 1987). It's directed by JOSEPH ZITO, the underappreciated dude who brought us THE PROWLER and FRIDAY THE 13th PART 4: THE ALMOST ENDING. It's about a misanthropic ne'er-do-well who finds himself killing hookers so you might want to ask yourself, "Do I mind movies in which many prostitutes are killed?" before you watch it. Personally, I think hookers are fascinating and should not be murdered but I also take into account that the psychopath in this movie works at a YOO HOO bottling plant and I can't honestly say how my own brain would handle that. I might quit before I killed a hooker but who knows, maybe not. The most important thing is that this movie is filmed in New York in the late seventies and it's totally worth it for the seedy atmosphere and all the mesmerizing secondary characters that inhabit its raunchy halls. That reminds me, I'm sad to say a nice non-hooker doggy also gets killed which I wasn't happy about but thankfully a cute kitten poster is prominently displayed in many scenes to balance out that atrocity.

Also windows! So many creepy windows! At the risk of sounding like a peeping Tom, I think windows in movies are the coolest things ever because it's like a frame within a frame. While the viewer is watching the screen, the character is watching the window and its like some kooky mirror effect like you're trapped inside a M.C. ESCHER print on some stoner art student's dorm room wall. Anyway, I love this movie! It stinks on some level because it's partially ramshackle and clearly some important scenes were never filmed and we just have to deal with dialogue band-aids to hold the thing together but then again, it has a very convincing nihilistic flavor that would make it snuggly bedfellows with HENRY: PORTRAIT OF A SERIAL KILLER , CANNIBAL MAN & THE KILLING KIND. I'm not proud to enjoy a movie with such a high dead hooker quotient (yeah, right) and yet I must acknowledge the fact that BLOOD RAGE is a success in expressing a completely horrific and dismal atmosphere and there's no better time or place to capture it than when and where it does. I'm also allowing it extra points for making me want a HEAVEN CAN WAIT poster because I don't even like that movie.

Traumafession:: Elizabeth M. on Red, White & Blue

Posted on By unkle lancifer

First, let me open by saying I'm a huge fan of horror, and have been since I was 13. Some of my favourite films are ones some people regard as too disturbing to watch more than once – Martyrs, Inside, etc – so you know I'm no wuss.

About a month ago I watched Simon Rumley's 'Red, White & Blue'. The director had previously made 'The Living and the Dead' starring (the now, sadly, late) Roger Lloyd Pack, who readers might know from UK TV's 'Only Fools & Horses'. He delivers a sterling performance too. Now, if I'd have KNOWN the same director was responsible for 'Red, White & Blue', I probably wouldn't have bought it; not to say 'The Living and the Dead' isn't a good film – it's bloody great, but very disturbing, unsettling and ultimately extremely sad. You can watch the trailer here:

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So, unknowingly, I settled down to watch what looked to be a straight revenge flick – think 'The Horseman' (and any of you who have yet to see THAT Aussie classic, I advise you to get onto your favourite site right now!). Red, White & Blue turned out to be something much more disturbing.

For starters there are no good guys and bad guys here, the lines are extremely blurred, and you find yourself sympathising with everyone. The small cast are excellent, but Noah Taylor ('Shine') steals the entire show. His brutal revenge is explained in the final – absolutely devastating – closing shot. You can watch the trailer here:

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It took me three weeks to exorcise this film from my mind; I carried it around with me as it bludgeoned my brain with images day after day after day. Now I've typed this, it's come back, and I know I'm going to have to put up with those images again! You have been warned.

Elizabeth (I am from England so my spelling is English) M.

UNK SEZ: Elizabeth, you truly are a kindred spirit! Here is my reaction to RED, WHITE & BLUE over HERE, THE HORSEMAN (2008) around HERE and MARTYRS smack-dab HERE. I never wrote a review for THE LIVING AND THE DEAD because I was bound and determined to forget it as soon as possible in order to protect my well-being. Thanks for writing in!

Streaming Alert:: What Are Friends For? (1980)

Posted on By unkle lancifer

Sorry, I gotta make myself scarce for a bit! We have a guest coming to the Kindertrauma Kastle and that means I have to clean (remove bodies), do the wash (scrub out the blood stains) and hunt down my copy of THE ABC AFTER SCHOOL SPECIAL: WHAT ARE FRIENDS FOR? Everybody who stays in this dwelling must watch this masterpiece as it is the unofficial training film for dealing with yours truly. If you can't handle the friendship stylings of Michelle Mudd (DANA HILL), then I don't think you're ready for this jelly. Oh, cool! It looks like WHAT ARE FRIENDS FOR? is available on the portal to hell known as YouTube! Yay. Read my old review HERE and watch the lamentable happenings below, otherwise you're not a very good friend!

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The Medusa Touch (1978)

Posted on By unkle lancifer

Wowsy. I was at the local thrift shop and I found this VHS tape called THE MEDUSA TOUCH (1978) and when I picked it up, its weight felt like a brick in my hand. It cost 45 cents because the thrift shop is crazy. It looked kind of boring because it had RICHARD BURTON's face on the cover but it just felt so at home in my mitt that I had to make it mine. Hey, it turns out I really liked this movie. It wasn't boring in the least and I'm even going to apply an "unsung classic" scratch-and-stiff sticker upon it! Why, this movie is a thriller that thrills and it's also witty and thought provoking and all that classy stuff! If you dig the more somber, headier side of horror like say, THE WICKER MAN, THE CHANGELING or THE NINTH CONFIGURATION, this is going to float your boat. You should watch it in your library with a brown-colored alcoholic beverage of your choice. If you have a fireplace, light it with your mind.

Our story begins on a wonderful note with RICHARD BURTON getting his head bashed in by an unseen assailant. A French detective (LINO VENTURA) stops by to inspect the aftermath and is astonished to find BURTON is still alive! He is rushed to the hospital and the investigators are left to wonder whom on Earth would ever want to bash RICHARD BURTON's skull in and how on Earth is he still alive after having his head smashed in so brutally? While BURTON chills out in a PATRICK (1978) style coma, the detective snoops around and pieces together his life story, which means we get a full RICHARD BURTON movie even though he is in a coma all thanks to the glorious power of flashback-flavored storytelling. The biggest blabbermouth at the clothesline is THE OMEN's LEE REMICK who portrays BURTON's long-suffering psychiatrist. She tells the detective how BURTON would go on and on about how he could make terrible accidents occur just by thinking about them and how she assumed he was a fruit cake until the evidence that he wasn't a fruit cake was too in her face to ignore.

You may be thinking to yourself, "I wouldn't watch that movie even if it meant saving the lives of thousands of strangers." If so, then this movie is even more perfect for you. It starts out being about this narcissistic dude with a God complex but then as we travel forward we go through the same conversion as the characters as they come to believe and fear his claims. Ultimately, we realize that this guy isn't simply representing unhinged folks with freaky telekinetic powers but mankind itself and its douche-y attraction to destruction and evil. I mean I'm a fairly nice person but if I could blow up stuff with my mind, let's face it, the entire world would be charred to a crisp by now.

There's a satisfying twist that you may see coming but not so early on that it will piss you off, a hearty dose of pitch black humor and finally you're left with a disturbing chill. In fact, this movie is probably more disturbing in our post 9/11 world than it was back in 1978. Or maybe that's just me. Watching a plane crash into a building is not what it used to be. Don't worry, you won't have to wait around for a used copy to knock on your door like I did; it looks like THE MEDUSA TOUCH was recently released on DVD and Blu-ray! It's so good I may have to shove out a little more than 45 cents for an upgrade!

Sunday Viewing:: Quiet Cool Presented By Darkko

Posted on By unkle lancifer

Hi! This is "Darkko."

I searched your site and did not see anything for Quiet Cool. It's a fairly violent revenge-with-a-buddy type of deal. It's so bad it's actually entertaining. Basically, some psychotic pot farming guys think it's best they slaughter anyone who lays eyes on their precious marijuana. The main guy and his buddy exchange many long, questionable looks with each other! Hahaha…
It's available to watch on youtube…

UNK SEZ: Thanks a zillion Darrko! I was just wondering the other day why I keep the KT fires burning when I only get paid negative 10 cents an hour and after nearly seven years of diligent service I have yet to win a Pulitzer (I know!). But then I remembered it's because I love movies so much that it is not even remotely funny. Point is, I would have never seen this one without your kind help and that would have been a real shame and I'm so glad that KT provides me with a place to share titles with fine folks like yourself. QUIET COOL is so awesome that I do believe the ghost of PATRICK SWAYZE watched it with me.

Now, if any of you other peeps know of a good movie that's viewable online in full, please do feel free to write in to kindertrauma@gmail.com and if it's not too inappropriate we'll share your recommendation with the rest of the class on a future Sunday! How QUIET COOL is that?