Thriller – en grym film + Traffic's Dear Mr. Fantasy = a two-fisted Molotov cocktail of pure ass-kickery

Thriller – A Cruel Picture is a 1973 Swedish exploitation film which, for my money, is one of the absolute best genre films ever made and truly a nasty little piece of work, especially if you see the uncut version which, for a few scenes at least, splices in some hardcore pornography.

Traffic's Dear Mr. Fantasy is one of my favorite songs of all time. To my knowledge it's never been used in a motion picture before. Until now.

You know how The Dark Side of the Moon and The Wizard of Oz sync up if you play them at the same time? This is the same idea but my version. Mine doesn't work anywhere near as beautifully as that one but I'm limited to what's available on youtube. The song isn't even six minutes long and the clip from Thriller is a good fifteen so the effect doesn't last too long but I think it's really cool. So sit back, hit the two play buttons at the same time, and enjoy.

Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!

Let's talk about something important, shall we. Let's talk about violence, the word and the act. Let's talk about Russ Meyer's classic Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!



The first and, to this day, only time I've ever seen Pussycat (in it's entirety) was on July 22nd, 1995 at 3:30 PM in Auditorium #1 at the Cedar Lee Theatre in Cleveland Heights. I know because I still have the stub. I'm not going to talk about specific scenes or anything like that but I do want to convey what it is that made me fall absolutely head over heels in love with this movie. First, let me establish that, obviously, I love old movies. My favorite movie of all time is Casablanca and seeing/sharing it with Sarah a few years back at the Lakewood public library was probably the greatest moment of my movie going life. The reason I even bring it up is because, when you mention an "old" movie nowadays, depending on who you're talking to, you'll either get an absolutely blank stare or a friend for life. Faster Pussycat was made in 1965 and it's one of those rare movies that's absolutely timeless yet...still of it's time, if you know what I mean. The only thing that dates it now is the absolute and utter lack of any and all silicone/surgery on any of the actresses and the simple fact that it's black and white. That's it. Women in movies don't look like that anymore. Not that they ever really did I guess, except in Russ Meyer movies.



You plop somebody down in front of Faster Pussycat right now and, if they don't know anything about it, I swear they'll think it was a "new" movie. If that person you're showing it to is properly awesome enough that is. There's this kinetic energy and vitality about it you just didn't see with movies from that time period. Hell, you rarely see it now and here we are talking about 1965 for crying out loud! Up until that point you never saw a movie edited THAT way. Sure, studios knew enough to cut trailers that way (they had to get you excited for the movie after all) but you NEVER saw a movie that was cut the way a trailer was cut. It just didn't happen. You could maybe make a case for Kenneth Anger's early stuff as far as editing goes but those were really just experimental shorts. Not to take anything away from Anger's many achievements. I mean, he was the first person I know of that cut movies to musical beats and this was long before Scorsese had even heard of N.Y.U. film school. Check out Scorpio Rising on youtube for a better idea of what I'm talking about. Three things about Meyer though. 1. He fetishized the female form about as much as Anger fetishized the male form. 2. Not counting The Bostweeds infectious theme to Pussycat, he didn't use "popular" music. 3. Meyer's energy is what set him apart from Anger although Anger did his stuff over 15 years before Meyer. Anyway, I'm getting off the subject. The whole point is that Meyer edited Pussycat with a freakin' hacksaw and that's one of the reasons why it's just as exciting to watch today as it was almost 45 years ago.



It's one of those movies where, as you're watching it, you're having an absolute fucking blast! You're laughing, you're clapping, you're wanting Tura Satana to kick EVERYBODY'S ass!



If you've never seen it keep checking Turner Classic Movies Underground. It's Friday nights at around 2 AM and, every so often (once or twice a year) they'll play Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! Of course, I miss it every freakin' time so, if you ever see it on there give me a jingle and let me know, just in case. Then sit back and have fun because you most definitely will.