griggs's - Moviedrome List
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Junior Bonner (1972)Šampion rodea
Still recovering after his throw from a bull called Sunshine, Junior Bonner (Steve McQueen) is on his way to join his family for the Frontier Days Rodeo. However, when he arrives, he finds his house abandoned and his father, Ace (Robert Preston) in hospital. determined to prove that he still has the makings of a champion, Junior challenge Sunshine once again but this time he is determined to beat the bull so that his father's dream of building a ranch in Australia can become a reality. - Director:
- Sam Peckinpah
- Cast:
- Steve McQueen, Robert Preston, Ida Lupino
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Wes Craven directs this terrifying story of one man's nightmarish journey into the eerie and deadly world of voodoo. A Harvard anthropologist is sent to Haiti to retrieve a strange powder that is said to have the power to bring human beings back from the dead. In his quest to find the miracle drug, the cynical scientist enters the rarely seen netherworld of walking zombies, blood rites and ancient curses. Based on the true life experiences of Wade Davis and filmed on location in Haiti, it's a frightening excursion into black magic and the supernatural. - Director:
- Wes Craven
- Cast:
- Bill Pullman, Cathy Tyson, Zakes Mokae
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Diabolique (1955)Les Diaboliques
A tyrant schoolteacher - Delasalle (Paul Meurisse) in a seedy boarding school has both his wife (Vera Clouzot) and his mistress (Simone Signoret) looking for a way out as he maltreats them both. They decide to work together to murder their tormentor. The two women drown Delasalle in the bath then dump the body in a swimming pool. When the pool is drained and no body found they start to worry. When his suit is returned, cleaned, they start to panic. Is he alive? Does someone else know? A spiral of perfectly crafted tension hurtles you to an unparalleled conclusion and an ending you will never forget! - Director:
- Henri-Georges Clouzot
- Cast:
- Simone Signoret, Véra Clouzot, Paul Meurisse
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The Spider's Stratagem (1970)Strategia del Ragno
The Spider's Stratagem (Italian: Strategia del Ragno) is a political film directed by Bernardo Bertolucci. The screenplay was written by Bertolucci based on "Theme of the Traitor and the Hero" story written by Jorge Luis Borges. Athos Magnani, a young researcher, returns to Tara, where his father was killed before his birth, at the request of his mistress, Draifa. The father, also named Athos Magnani (a wartime anti-fascist hero) and looking exactly like the son, was killed by a fascist in 1936-or so says Draifa, the town statue, and everyone in the city. As the son untangles the web of lies this story is constructed from, he finds himself ensnared in the same web. - Director:
- Bernardo Bertolucci
- Cast:
- Giulio Brogi, Alida Valli, Pippo Campanini
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In a world ravaged by crime, the entire island of Manhattan has been converted to a walled prison where brutal prisoners roam. But when the US president (Donald Pleasence) crash-lands inside, only one man can bring him back: notorious outlaw and former special forces war hero Snake Plissken (Kurt Russell), but time is short. In 24 hours, an explosive device implanted in his neck will end Snake's mission - and his life - unless he succeeds. - Director:
- John Carpenter
- Cast:
- Kurt Russell, Debra Hill, John Carpenter
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From Director Lewis Teague (Cujo) and screenwriter John Sayles (The Howling) comes an unstoppable thriller with bite. A family returning from Florida decides their pet baby alligator is too much to handle and flushes him down the toilet. Meanwhile, Slade Laboratories is conducting secret experiments with animals and disposing of them in the sewer. The alligator, fending for itself, begins to feed on the dead animals, and grows. Now, twelve years later, after several mysterious murders, David Madison (Robert Forster, Jackie Brown) is on the case to find out who...or what…is killing people. - Director:
- Lewis Teague
- Cast:
- Robert Forster, Robin Riker, Michael V. Gazzo
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It's another monstrous day in New York City where window washers have their heads bitten off, topless sunbathers are plucked from rooftops, bloody body parts rain onto the streets and small-time crook Jimmy Quinn discovers a humongous nest in the spire of The Chrysler Building. Meanwhile, an NYPD detective investigates a series of ritual sacrifice murders that may have unleashed a giant flying Aztec Serpent God into the skies of Manhattan. Its name is Quetzalcoatl, but just call it Q... that's all you'll have time to say before it tears you apart! - Director:
- Larry Cohen
- Cast:
- Michael Moriarty, Candy Clark, David Carradine
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Wise Blood (1979)John Huston's Wise Blood
Legendary film director John Huston creates one of his most cerebral films that will stay with the viewer for a long time. Set in the American Deep South during the post-war era, 'Wise Blood' stars Brad Dourif as Hazel Motes, an unhinged and aimless war-veteran, who decides to become a Bible-thumping preacher for a quasi-religious cult called 'The Church Without Christ'. Linking up with a fraudulent hustler from hellfire-and-brimstone preaching circuit - who pretends to be blind for the assembled believers - Motes is put under pressure by the fraudster to blind himself for real so that he can truly 'see the light'. A dark satire on religious movements that, beautifully acted by Dourif, Huston and William Hickey. - Director:
- John Huston
- Cast:
- Brad Dourif, John Huston, Dan Shor
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Witchfinder General (1968)The Conqueror Worm
England is in civil war as the Royalists battle Oliver Cromwell's Roundheads for control. This conflict distracts people from rational thought and allows unscrupulous men to gain power by exploiting village superstitions. One of these men is Matthew Hopkins (Vincent Price), who tours the land offering his services as a persecutor of witches. Aided by his sadistic accomplice John Stearne (Robert Russell), he travels from town to town and wrenches confessions from "witches" in order to line his pockets. When Hopkins persecutes a priest (Rupert Davies), he incurs the wrath of Richard Marshall (Ian Ogilvy), who is engaged to the priest's niece. Risking treason by leaving his military duties, Marshall relentlessly pursues the evil Hopkins and his minion Stearne. - Director:
- Michael Reeves
- Cast:
- Vincent Price, Ian Ogilvy, Rupert Davies
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Lolita (1962)Лоліта
Newly arrived in Ramsdale, New Hampshire, European emigre Humbert Humbert is smitten, so much so that he comes up with a master plan. He'll marry Charlotte Haze. That way he'll always be close to his dear one - Charlotte's precocious daughter! Filmmaker Stanley Kubrick explores the theme of sexual obsession (a subject he would revisit 37 years later in 'Eyes Wide Shut') with this darkly comic and deeply moving version of Vladimir Nabokov's novel. - Director:
- Stanley Kubrick
- Cast:
- James Mason, Shelley Winters, Sue Lyon
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Play Misty for Me (1971)Obsesión mortal
A laid-back jazz DJ (Clint Eastwood), with a taste for good-looking cars and women, enjoys what he thinks is a one night stand with an attractive brunette (Jessica Walter) who admits she's one of his biggest fans. But the one night becomes a recurring nightmare as she pursues him relentlessly, turning his carefree existence into a living hell that threatens to destroy everything that matters to him. - Director:
- Clint Eastwood
- Cast:
- Clint Eastwood, Jessica Walter, Donna Mills
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Walker (1987)Paranın Esiri
Ed Harris stars in this astonishing story of William Walker, a real-life American soldier of fortune, whose Latin American escapades in the mid-1800's continue to have ripple effects in U.S policy even to this day. The story follows an idealistic Walker (Ed Harris), a doctor, lawyer and journalist who leads a bloody and violent invasion of Nicaragua at the request of robber baron Cornelius Wanderbilt (Peyer Boyle). In short order Walker declares himself president of the country in the belief that America has a moral right to "protect our neighbours from oppression". - Director:
- Alex Cox
- Cast:
- Ed Harris, Richard Masur, Rene Auberjonois
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In 1973, 1st Sgt. Jack Falen (Dennis Hopper) returns from the Vietnam War to the United States to escort a friend's body for a hometown burial. Once in the US, Jack travels across the country via train (hence the film's title), where he meets the mysterious Mark (Dean Stockwell) and the alluring university student Stephanie (Taryn Power). During the trip, Jack falls in love with Stephanie, but destroys the relationship through constant flashbacks to combat. - Director:
- Henry Jaglom
- Cast:
- Dennis Hopper, Taryn Power, Dean Stockwell
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The Day of the Locust (1975)Como plaga de langosta
Nathanael West's novel about Hollywood decadence in the late '30s is a brilliant piece of filmmaking. A deeply insightful work that is powerful in its presentation, staggering in its vision. Director John Schlesinger is masterful in creating a world of platinum blondes, cockfights, glamour and broken dreams. And throughout, he plays on the edge of sexual and physical danger that finally erupts in the shocking climax. - Director:
- John Schlesinger
- Cast:
- Donald Sutherland, Karen Black, Burgess Meredith
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Charles Castle (Jack Palance) has it all. With fame, talent and devastating looks, he is the studios biggest star. But when disillusionment sets in and the actor wants to quit Tinseltown, he finds himself in battle with inexorable studio boss Stanley Shriner Hoff (Rod Steiger). Reluctant to lose his hottest property, he is about to show Charles Castle just how ruthless Hollywood can be, as in a series of explosive showdowns, a murderous cover-up is revealed and Charles finds himself trapped by the dark secrets of his own past. - Director:
- Robert Aldrich
- Cast:
- Jack Palance, Richard Boone, Ida Lupino
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