Against A Low Budget Sky

 

 (imdb)

AGAINST A CROOKED SKY-1975-A weird American Indian Temkai (Geoffrey Land from Al Adamson movies) kidnaps a young girl named Charlotte (Jewell Blanch). Her father (Clint Ritchie) goes to rescue her. Meanwhile his not too bright son Sam (Stuart Petersen) goes looking himself and after nearly drowning is rescued by a backwoods grump called Russian (Richard Boone). After a first aborted search, Sam and Russian search for the tribe that Temkai belongs to. Along the way they meet up with the rightful chief (Henry Wilcoxon who also provides narration) who was left to die in the desert years before. They find the strange tribe now run by an angry bald guy. Sam must go through a ritual to save his sister's life. 

This low budget politically incorrect “The Searchers” rip off is only worth seeing for Boone's performance. Director Earl Bellamy was a prolific TV director with few feature movie credits but he made WALKING TALL PART 2 the same year. Land was in JESSI'S GIRLS and BLAZING STEWARDESSES (both directed by Al Adamson) the same year. Co-star Blanch later became a country-western singer and song publisher.

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More Al

THE POSSESSION OF NURSE SHERRY-1978-This is one of director Al Adamson's last efforts.

Out in the desert a cult leader named Reanhauer (Bill Roy) and his disparate group of followers chant over the body of a dead man (Reanhauer told him he didn't need to take his insulin and he died). They keep saying “Rise, William, Rise”. This goes on for 3 weeks and by now his right hand man Brother Stevens (JC Wells; also in Adamson's BLACK HEAT) has had enough. Just when the nutty leader thinks he has made the guy come back to life he suffers some kind of seizure and is rushed to the hospital.

Dr. Frank Desmond (Geoffrey Land, also in several other Adamson productions) tries to save him but would rather have sex with his girlfriend/nurse Sherri (Jill Jacobson). Her nurse friend Tara (Marilyn Joi; also in Adamson's BLAZING STEWARDESSES) gets excited when she hears a famous football player is a patient at the hospital but he's a bitter bigot because he was blinded in an accident. 

Later after Sherri and Frank have sex, a apparition invades Sherri's bedroom (and Sherri). It's a pretty bad special effect even for an Al Adamson movie! Sherri has weird visions (some are flash forwards scenes). Meanwhile another nurse named Beth (Mary Kay Pass) has sex with a patient. After Sherri visits a cemetery, Stevens is visited by Reanhauer's spirit which makes a mess of his apartment. Sherri acts very weird, kills a retired doctor with a pitchfork and talks with Reanhauer's voice. It seems Sherri is possessed by the whacky doctor's spirit. Stevens tells Frank that in order to stop the ghostly shenanigans he has to burn the doctor's corpse. He almost dies in a car crash when Reanhauer's laughing face shows up. 

Sherry kills another doctor and almost kills the blind football player. Stevens thinks he's found his former mentor's body and burns it. Surprise! He burns the wrong body and falls to his death. A psychiatrist wants Sherry sent to a sanitarium. The blind football (who's mom was a voodoo priestess) suggests Tara and Beth find Reanhauer's body and burn it. After several drawn out scenes the nurses find and burn the body just before a blood soaked Sherri tries to kill Frank. Despite this she winds up straight jacketed in a padded cell.

This is one of Adamson's worst and least fun movies. There are no “old” stars and the story is boring. There's a lots of talking and not much really happens. 

Even the “spiced up” alternative version isn't much better. According to the interesting commentary track by Sam Sherman, head of Independent International, he produced the film under the credited “Mark Sherman”.

The alternate version (also included on the Retro Shock a Rama DVD) adds some sex scenes and more nudity from lead actress Jacobson and different end credits.

The music sounds like the theme used in TV's ONE STEP BEYOND. 

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