Poe and Price on TV

AN EVENING OF EDGAR ALLAN POE-1970-These four Poe tales were shot on video tape and presented like a play with Vincent Price starring in each and reciting most of the dialogue from the original stories. Act one is The Tell Tale Heart where a man becomes obsessed with an old man's glass eye, kills him and meticulously hides the body under the floorboards only to be undone when he thinks he hears the dead heart beating. Act two features the not as well known The Sphinx about a man concerned about a cholera epidemic around him who believes he sees a huge monster moving through the forest near his home. In act three The Cask of Amontillado, a nobleman seeks revenge on a rival who insulted him by walling him up in a vault (this one was my favorite). Act four is The Pit and The Pendulum about a prisoner of the inquisition who's condemned to die and finds himself waiting for the pendulum to cut him in half. 

Price is great in this one man show and director Kenneth Johnson uses some good effects to get all the stories across. Arkoff and Nicolson were 2 of the executive producers and Les Baxter did the music. It was made for TV by AIP.

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Bunuel

SIMON OF THE DESERT-1965- Penitent Simon (Claudio Brook) has stood on a high column in the desert for over six years so he can be closer to God. Priests and followers now gather as he is given a new taller tower. After refusing a blessing from a priest because he believes himself unworthy he ascends the new tower and promptly restores the hands of a man who had them cut off for stealing. The man's first act is to abuse his child. The crowd seems unimpressed by this and leaves. Later Simon is tempted several times by the devil who takes the form of a woman (Silvia Pinal) dressed like a little girl, then as a shepherdess (with a beard!) and later as a scantily clad female who arrives in a moving coffin. Satan takes him away and they wind up in a modern '60's disco where the band plays surf guitar music and young people do the newest dance crazed called “Radioactive Flesh”! When Simon says he wants to go home he's told he has to “stick it out till the end”. 

 Although only 43 minutes long SIMON somehow manages to be surrealist director Luis Bunuel's most anarchistic outing and continues his long obsession with the mocking of organized religion. It's also hilarious! The short running time owes to the fact that Bunuel simply ran out of money after less than three weeks worth of filming. He followed this two years later with BELLE de JOUR. 

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Super Dog

THE ADVENTURES OF SUPER PUP-1958-Whoa! Whitney Ellsworth really hit the bottom of the barrel with this TV pilot where dogs (little people in costumes) play all the characters. At the Daily Bugle, Bark Bent (Billy Curtis, also in SUPERMAN AND THE MOLE MEN) is really Super Pup, canine crime fighter. He works for editor in chief Terry Bite (Angelo Rossitto) and his female rival on the paper is Pamela Poodle. Sergeant Beagle is an incompetent bungler dressed like a Keystone Kop. Because of his stupidity arch villain Prof. Sheepdip escapes from jail. He has his dumb henchman Wolfingham disguise himself as a clock so he can set a bomb in the newspaper offices. Bark also has an annoying mouse friend who narrates parts of the story. Later Sheepdip kidnaps Pamela and ties her ro a rocket but of course Super Pup saves her.

The costumes are really something to see. It's hard to imagine anyone over the age of 3 enjoying this, although it does have a certain “must be seen to be believed” quality. It uses the same Daily Planet set from the original human version and I think Sheepdip's hideout was used in some episodes. 

Amazingly this was done three years before the Superboy pilot!

Director Cal Howard was an animator and script writer who's worked previously for Walter Lantz, Walt Disney and Leon Schlesinger.  

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Superboy on TV (almost)

THE ADVENTURES OF SUPERBOY-1961-This was a TV pilot produced by SUPERMAN producer Whitney Ellsworth. The simple plot involves a trio of thugs who plan to rob a movie theater in Smallville. Fred, the doorman (Ross Elliot) has a son Jimmy who's kind of ashamed of his old man's occupation. For some reason to promote their new movie the theater manager has 200,000 dollars in uncut diamonds on display. One bad guy (Richard Reeves) causes a ruckus out in Bronson canyon to distract the police from their real target. 

While Superboy talks by radio to the chief of police, the other two use knockout gas on the police guards and make off with the diamonds. Superboy arrests Reeves just as he gets the word the theater has been robbed. Fortunately Fred is also a crack artist and he draws portraits of the two robbers. Superboy uses his super pressure on some coal to create new diamonds for the display and uses his super hearing as a “lie detector” to listen to Reeves' heart rate. They use Fred as “bait” to trap the robbers but it kind of backfires and Superboy instead makes the fleeing crooks crash their car. For Fred's courageous work, Jimmy wins a scholarship and his father wins Jimmy's respect.

There are interviews with the 4 different actress auditioning for Lana and then screen tests and an interview with the lead actor John Rockwell (in his costume)

This has been available as a bootleg for years and is on Youtube.

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Late Silent, Early Karloff

TWO ARABIAN KNIGHTS-1927-Two soldiers, Phelps (William Boyd) and O'Gaffney (Louis Wolhiem) during WW1 are captured by the Germans and sent to a POW camp. Although at first enemies, they team up and try to escape but it fails and they wind up on a POW train headed for Turkey. They jump off the train and on to a wagon full of hay. On a boat headed for Arabia (that's where the hay was going) they save a woman from drowning who turns out to be Mirza, a princess (Mary Astor). The duo both try to woo her as does the lecherous pursuer (Boris Karloff) . When she returns to her father they follow her and get into trouble with her fiancee (Ian Keith). 

It's basically a comedy with serious overtones and despite no dialogue the pair have some funny lines and get into a few comic situations. There are some good gags like having to pawn an assassin's knife so they can buy a meal. When it looks like an angry mob and the army might get them they are saved when everything stops for a daily prayer! Then after almost being killed twice they ride away with Mirza. 

 This overlooked silent film was directed by Lewis Milestone who a few years later hit the big time in talkies with ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT (also with Wolhiem). And of course it's great to see Karloff in an early role. 

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Won't Get Fong Again

BLIND RAGE-1976-5 blind men are recruited by a mobster named Duran to rob a bank. They are a diverse group: Willie Black (D'Urville Martin), Lin Wang (co-writer Leo Fung), Hector Lopez (Darnell Garcia), Amazing Anderson (Dick Adair) and Ben Guevara (Tony Ferrer). A woman named Sally (Leila Hermosa) runs a school for the blind and teaches them how to commit the robbery and act as though they can see. They steal 15 million dollars and kill several people in the process. After finding a blind man's cane at the crime scene the police suspect blind men must have pulled the robbery! They arrest Ben and he rats out everyone. When the remaining gang tries to escape hiding in a gas truck, it crashes and explodes killing them all except Duran who took a different mode of transport. He escapes to LA but when he lands (top billed) Fred Williamson as Jesse Crowder (a character he'd played in several of his movies at the time) shows up and arrests him after chasing him down and beating him up! 

This odd but ultimately far-fetched crime drama was shot badly in the Philippines by Efren C. Pinon who had previously directed ENFORCER FROM DEATH ROW (also starring Fong).

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Whatever....

NINJA NIGHTMARE-1980-During WW2 some American soldiers kill a Japanese general and rape and kill his wife. They also kill the one American officer who protests. All the while their young son Kimon watches the horrible scene in hiding. Over 30 years later the troop (Cameron Mitchell, Stack Piece, Hal Bokar and Phillip Baker Hall) gets together for a reunion and the young son now an adult ninja (Leo Fung) seeks revenge. Fong was one of the producers. It's very disjointed and badly made. 

This is the only feature made by director Jay Wertz. 

It's walso known as THE LAST REUNION.

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Edward G. Hatchett Guy

THE HATCHET MAN-1932-Edward G. Robinson is Wong, “hatchet man”, a kind of Chinese hit man used by San Francisco Chinatown Tong to gain revenge on a murdered comrade. Unfortunately he's made to kill his best friend (J. Carroll Naish) who seems to know his is death imminent so he leaves all his assets to Wong and makes provisions that when his daughter is 21 she will marry Eddy, I mean Wong. 15 years later things have changed. The narrator says “Gone are the queues and the chopsticks”. The daughter is now the grown up Toya San (Loretta Young) and is married Wong, a successful and legitimate businessman. They seem to be happy but when a rival Tong stirs up trouble Wong starts honing his hatchet. He also winds up with a sleazy gigolo bodyguard Harry (Leslie Fenton) who for some reason Toya falls in love with. When Wong catches them together he nearly kills Harry but Loretta pleads for his life and Wong allows them to run away. Wong is kicked out of his Tong in disgrace, sells his business and works in a field. Later he gets a letter from Toya saying she has been deported to China because her beau was smuggling opium. Somehow he goes all the way to China to get her back (he also gets his hatchet out of hock). He finds Harry an addict and Loretta a waitress. He rescues her and takes care of the boyfriend in a great final scene. “Great lord Buddha will find you no matter where you are on the face of the Earth”. 

 Although nearly devoid of any actual Asians (except in very minor roles) THE HATCHET MAN does boast several Caucasian character actors in make-up including Charles Middleton, Dudley Diggs and Tully Marshall. It was directed by William Wellman a few years before the introduction of The Hays Office so the story is loaded with references to drugs, prostitution and violent acts. It's based on a play by Achmed Abdul and David Belasco. 

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Filmed in Louisiana

THE RIG-2010-Talky laughable nonsense about an underwater creature terrorizing an oil rig during a storm. The head of the rig (William Forsthye; who had the good sense to be killed 30 minutes into this) has his daughter (Serah D'Laine) and her bf (Stacey Hinnen) working there too. The rest is the slacker crew being slaughtered. Some directors just can't get out of the ALIEN/THE THING retread. Gory murders don't make a good film. 

Director Peter Atencio later made KEANU which actually played in theaters! 

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Pre-Guns John Woo

LAST HURRAH FOR CHIVALRY-1979-After his father is killed by a martial arts master Tsing Yi (Damian Lau) vows revenge. He hires two swordsmen Pray (Hark-on Fung) and Chan (Pai Wei) to help and they have several sword fights. However while the hired killers live by a code of honor that might not be so for Yi. 

 There's not that much hand to hand combat but the swordplay choreography is terrific in this early John Woo period piece (that he also co-produced and co-wrote) for Golden Harvest. Of course a few years later he traded in swords for guns with super action dramas like HARDBOILED and THE KILLER

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Japan Sci-Fi

BATTLE IN OUTER SPACE-1959-In 1965 Earth is invaded by aliens from the planet Natal with a base on the moon. They use an anti-gravity machine and some kind of mind control as their main weapons. Earth holds a world conference in Japan. The invaders make a guy in a turban do sabotage but when he's thwarted he's disintegrated by a UFO. It's decided Earth will send two manned rockets to the moon. One headed by Japanese Dr. Adachi (Koreya Senda; also in THE H-MAN) and the other by Dr. Richardson (Len Stanford in his only film role apparently), a white guy. After some hi-jinx in space like one guy who doesn't even know about weightlessness and crew member Iwamura (Yoshio Tsuchyia from many other Toho productions and Kurosawa films) almost sabotaging the mission after his mind is taken over, both ships land on the moon. The crews investigate and discover some short aliens who capture Etsuko (Kyoko Anzai), the female crew member. They also make Iwamura destroy one of the ships but he comes to his senses in time and sacrifices his own life so the second ship can go back to Earth and come up with a solution to the invasion. There are lots of toy effects. 

The Adachi character had also appeared earlier in THE MYSTERIANS. Many Godzilla "hands" were  in this, not the least being the great Ishiro Honda who directed this fun Toho production which was distributed on a double bill in the US by Columbia pictures. mind 

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Late James Whale

SINNERS IN PARADISE-1938-On a plane to China all the passengers have a story: Anne Wesson (Madge Evans), an unhappy wife trying to escape her jealous husband, Thelma Chase (Charlotte Wynters), an heiress trying to escape union troubles at her factory, a pompous senator (Gene Lockhart), two munitions rivals Brand (Morgan Conway, a future Dick Tracy) and Honeyman (Milburn Stone), an old woman (Nana Bryant), Malone (KING KONG's Bruce Cabot), a gangster known as The Torpedo, wise cracking Iris (Marion Martin) who's escaping a grand jury. Their plane crashes during a storm and only they survive along with the plane's steward Jessup (future western star Don “Red” Barry). 

They find refuge on a tropical island where the only inhabitant is Jim Taylor (John Boles), a loner who lives there with his Asian servant Ping (Willie Fung). He has a boat but won't let them use it because he has a secret of his own for being on the island and isn't exactly thrilled with his unscheduled guests. Later Taylor decides to let them go and get some peace but not all of them will fit in his boat, so some can go and some will have to wait. The munitions rivals can't wait to go and Taylor has to fight them off. Malone saves him. Taylor gets sweet on Thelma and asks her to stay. The munitions rivals hijack the boat (with Ping in it) and the old lady is shot. Taylor tries to remove the bullet but she dies before he can operate. It turns out Taylor was a doctor accused of killing a mobster: the old woman's son! Everyone goes native and some comic parts made me think of “Gilligan's Island”! 

This forgotten adventure/soap opera was directed by the great James Whale who made a few more films after this (THE MAN IN THE IRON MASK, GREEN HELL) but was basically on the downside of a once famous career. This was also one of the last film roles for the once popular top billed Madge Evans who retired from films after marrying author Sidney Kingsley (DEAD END). 

John Boles of course had worked previously with Whale on a film of his caled FRANKENSTEIN....

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Bomba

BOMBA THE JUNGLE BOY-1949-A photographer Charles Harland (Onslow Stevens) and his daughter Patricia (Peggy Ann Garner) come to “the jungle” to get some photos. After showing some footage to Andy (Charles Erwin), “a glorified game warden” and his servant Eli (Smoki Whitfield) they set off on safari and see lots of animal stock footage. Patricia is saved from a leopard attack by Bomba (Johnny Sheffield), a white curly haired jungle boy. He wants to be nice but she pulls a gun on him so he walks away. Later she asks for his help but he wants none of her (“You try hurt me”). He cools to her and she tries to explain what a family is. He tells her about an old guy who taught him English. He gets shot for his efforts but later shows her around the jungle and his cave home (and animal friends). She dons a cave dress and they even go swimming together. When danger threatens in the form of some hunters Bomba saves everyone by starting a fire. There's also some talk of Bomba being left alone after his father (?), a misanthrope named Cody died.

 It's based on a series of books by Roy Rockwood (probably not a real person)and often sighted for it's racist overtones. The prolific Ford Beebe directed it and a number of others in the series (there were 12 entries in all). DC even published a few comics based on the character in the 1960's.  

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Giant Sized Dinosaur

THE GIANT BEHEMOTH-1959-Some time after a fisherman named Tom is burned to death (his last word is “behemoth”), American scientist Doc Carr (Gene Evans) lectures some stuffy English eggheads about radiation and Bikini island. When “thousands” of dead fish are washed up on the English coast Carr and Prof. Bickford (Andre Morell) investigated the goings on in Cornwall. Naturally there's a giant radiation created dinosaur prowling around. Besides being very big it can also shoot a radioactive ray that burns its victims to cinders. It makes its way to the Thames and sinks a ferry, then rampages through London. After killing the beast, Carr and Bickford get some bad news in the final scene. Jack MacGowran is also featured a paleontologist who helps out.

THE GIANT BEHEMOTH is a fun movie but Willis O'Brien's stop motion animation isn't as good as most of his US output, probably due to budget restraints and the fact that the movie was filmed in England while the special effects were done (with his assistant Pete Peterson) in Los Angeles. 

Director Eugene Lourie (THE BEAST FROM 20,000 FATHOMS) co-wrote the screenplay with blacklisted writer Daniel James who'd go on to pen the screenplay for GORGO (which Lourie would direct) in 1961.

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Lost and Found

THE ATTICUS INSTITUTE-2015-Mockumentary about a small institute founded by Dr. West (William Mapother) to test people with paranormal powers. After several setbacks they meet a woman named Judith (Rya Kihlstedt; on several TV shows at the time including HEROES REBORN) who seems to have incredible power. When she becomes uncontrollable the institute calls in the government. They discover she has an “evil” inside her and conduct some experiments that mostly end in disaster. She even seems capable of terrorizing the families of those involved. When it appears an actual entity is to blame the government tries to control it. It's more like torture. Later they get a priest (with a gas mask) to perform an exorcism. 

This type of “found footage” horror is getting old hat. I hope writer/director Chris Sparling remembers this when he makes his next movie.  

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Robin Hood

THE SWORD OF SHERWOOD FOREST-1960-Robin Hood (Richard Greene; future Nayland Smith in the Chris Lee/Fu Manchu series) and his merry men protect a mysterious traveler wanted as a dangerous criminal by The Sheriff of Nottingham (Peter Cushing) who offers one merry man a pardon if he'll talk and when he does the sheriff has him killed anyway. The sheriff is after a silver medallion the traveler has. Maid Marian (Sarah Branch), a comical Friar Tuck (Niall McGuiness), Little John (Nigel Greene; another Nayland Smith) et.al are all there to help. 

Later Robin meets Lord Newark (Richard Pasco) and his band of un-merry men including the falcon loving Lord Melton (Oliver Reed). Newark wants Robin to assassinate The Archbishop of Canterbury (Jack Gwillam). When this fails, the lord and his men attack a nunnery where the bishop and Marian are hiding out. The sheriff won't go along with the plan so Melton knifes him. The finale sword battle takes place in the nunnery's church. Most of the sword play is bad especially when Marian is tossed a sword and she fights off an attack side saddled! 

There's several other story lines that don't even involve Robin giving it the feel of a condensed TV series. 

This Hammer production was filmed in Ireland by Terence Fisher (who made the much better BRIDES OF DRACULA with Cushing the same year) after the end of the original TV series that starred Richard Greene.  

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Who Doesn't Love a Mystery?

THE DEVIL'S MASK-1946-This murder mystery is based on the radio show I LOVE A MYSTERY (created by Carlton Morse) . Two cool investigators Jack (Jim Bannon) and Doc (Barton Yarborough) help Janet Mitchell (Anita Louise), the widow of a missing explorer who thinks she has been targeted for murder by her step-daughter (Mona Barrie) and her boyfriend. A panther, a shrunken head and a crazy taxidermist are all part of the part.

This was the second of three I LOVE A MYSTERY dramas produced, based on the popular radio show. It's short and to the point and Jack and Doc are a pretty good team. Director Henry Levin was busy in 1946 (he made 5 other movies) but later when he slowed down he made JOURNEY TO THE ENTER OF THE EARTH and THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF THE BROTHERS GRIMM.

Barton Yarborough (Doc) also played the role on radio and in addition was featured on another radio show ONE MAN'S FAMILY for almost 20 years. He's the ill fated Dr. Kettering in THE GHOST OF FRANKENSTEIN. He died suddenly of a heart attack in the early '50's after filming a few episodes of Jack Webb's DRAGNET. 

Co-star Jim Bannon (Jack) was also a radio star who made many low budget films (some with no credit) and later went into TV. He was a regular on the series CASEY JONES in 1957 and died in 1973. Topped bill Anita Louise had been in THE GORILLA with The Ritz Brosthers and THE LITTLE PRINCESS with Shirley Temple. She made a lot more movies and in the '50's was a regular on TV's MY FRIEND FLICKA.

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More Anime

CYBER CITY OEDO 808-1991-In the bleak future of 2088-three career criminals are used by the Cyber Police to fight crime in exchange for reduction in their sentences. They wear electronic collars on their necks so they can be controlled. This OVA series consists of three stories, each featuring one of the trio: Sengoku, a foul mouthed misanthrope, Gogol, a hacker with a Mohawk and the androgynous Benten. Their boss is police chief Hasagawa.

In the first story “Virtual Death”, Sengoku has to save 50 thousand people trapped in a city skyscraper after a computer has taken over. The second story “Psychic Trooper”, Gogol gets involved with his female ex-partner who hacked some information from a government computer and an experimental cyborg. In the third “Crimson Media”, Benten investigates the murder of three scientists and battles a female vampire.

This cult cyber-punk anime was directed by Yoshiaki Kawajiri soon after DEMON CITY SHINJUKU. It's often lamented by fans because no sequels were ever produced. 

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Demon Anime

DEMON CITY SHINJUKU-1988-The demon possessed Rebi Ra defeats the hero Genichirou and turns a portion of Tokyo, Shinjuku into a demon infested city. 10 years later the president of the world visits Tokyo and is attacked by a monster sent by Rebi Ra. The president's daughter Sayaka asks Genichirou's son Kyoka (a master in the art of Nempo) to accompany her to the demon city and stop Ra. At first he refuses but relents in time to save her from some would be rapists when she goes to the city alone. After tangling with two headed dog, some monsters and demons and getting help from Chibi, a street smart ass they meet Mephisto who seems to be against Ra although may have an ulterior motive. Later Kyoka takes on Rebi Ra and doesn't flare so well. Meanwhile Sayaka and Chibi search the haunted city for him and encounter demon kids. 

This weird supernatural anime was directed by Yoshiaki Kawajiri (NINJA SCROLL, VAMPIRE HUNTER D) and based on the manga by Hideyuki Kikuchi. Kawajiri had previously done WICKED CITY also from a comic by Kikuchi.

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Devil's Island

I ESCAPED FROM DEVIL'S ISLAND-1973-Le Bras (Jim Brown; also in SLAUGHTER'S BIG RIP-OFF the same year), a convict is saved from the guillotine and given a life sentence on Devil's Island instead where guards make bets on fights between prisoners. It's run by a one armed commandant (Paul Richards) and 2 sadistic guards. Another convict Davert (Christopher George) is the leader of a communist faction who Le Bras feels saved his life. Le Bras devises an escape plan with 2 other cons JoJo (Rchard Ely) and Dazzas (James Luisi) and Davert is kind of forced to go with them. On their tiny raft they are driven back to the island by sharks and flee into the jungle where they are taken in by a group of lepers. Later they are captured by local natives and Le Bras is chosen to be the new husband for the wife of a man he killed. Once again they escape by raft and somehow make it back to civilization. Dazzas is arrested for stealing but Le Bras and Davert use fireworks to make their escape.

I ESCAPED FROM DEVIL'S ISLAND is one of the last movies directed by the legendary William Whitney who's career began in the late 1930's. He did many low budget serials and westerns plus movies featuring Zorro, The Lone Ranger and Dick Tracy. Although he entered TV in the 50's he still occasionally made a feature film (like MASTER OF THE WORLD with Vincent Price in 1961). Here he does the best with what he has on the film's obviously low budget and fast paced schedule. The story by Richard L. Adams (who'd also pen THE SLAMS starring Brown the same year) is sadistic and far fetched but the two leads manage to keep it going.

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Wish The Batteries Would Die

NIGHTLIGHT-2013-Even though their friend has just committed suicide, a group of young people (idiots waiting to be killed) decide to spend the night in a forest where other suicides have occurred. They use flashlights and cameras. After a lot of running around everyone starts to die and a demonic creature of some kind seems to be the culprit. Once again there's nothing to a movie like this. It's helter skelter camera work, yelling and no resolution to the story (which there wasn't much of in the first place). And it took two guys (Bryan Woods and Scot Beck) to write and direct it....

Filmed in 2013, it “escaped” to DVD and cable in 2015.

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