DAMIEN--OMEN II (1978)--Directed by Don Taylor. Stars William Holden, Robert Foxworth, Lee Grant, Lew Ayres, Jonathan Scott-Taylor. Damien the Anti-Christ (Scott-Taylor) is a teenager now, but he's still killing off his relatives left and right and in very creative ways. One is run over by a semi-truck; another drowns under an icy pond. My favorite is the victim sliced in half by an elevator cable. Pretty gory stuff. What's Holden doing in a bloody horror flick? With Elizabeth Shepherd and Sylvia Sidney. Script by Mike Hodges and Stanley Mann.

DAMNATION ALLEY (1977)--Directed by Jack Smight. Stars George Peppard, Jan-Michael Vincent, Dominique Sanda, Paul Winfield, Jackie Earle Haley. A small group of post-apocalyptic survivors cross America in a futuristic RV to the last remaining outpost of human existence: Albany, New York. Winfield is killed by vicious cockroaches. Vincent fights giant scorpions and a gang of hairy, incestuous rednecks. Peppard battles a silly Southern accent. It's fun in a goofy sort of way. Alan Sharp (STRAW DOGS) and Lukas Heller based their screenplay on a novel by noted science-fiction author Roger Zelazny, but probably bears little resemblance to it. Dean Jefferies, who designed the vehicles used in BLADE RUNNER, built the cool-looking Landmasters. One of Peppard's last films before becoming a huge TV star on THE A-TEAM.

DAN AUGUST: ONCE IS NOT ENOUGH (1971)--Directed by Virgil W. Vogel and Ralph Senensky.  Stars Burt Reynolds, Norman Fell, Richard Anderson, Fritz Weaver, Susan Oliver, Gerald O'Loughlin.  DAN AUGUST was a short-lived TV series starring Reynolds as a tough homicide detective in the fictional city of Santa Luisa, California.  After DELIVERANCE made Reynolds a major film star, CBS reran DAN AUGUST as a summer replacement series, editing one-hour episodes into two-hour "movies" and hiring regular Anderson to shoot awkwardly placed transition scenes in a futile attempt to make the separate halves flow together.

Czechoslovakia, Spring 1939.  Veteran pilot Franta (Ondrej Vetchy) and his teen protégé Karel (Krystof Hadek) become swept up in the Nazi occupation of their country.  Unlike most of his fellow citizens, who have been ordered by their government to acquiesce to their new rulers, Franta decides to flee to England and fight for the Royal Air Force.  With Karel in tow, the two begin their new training, which includes learning the English language and how to inflate a portable raft.  They also bond with the rest of the squadron, including melancholy pianist Machaty (Oldrich Kaiser), tentative Bedrich (David Novotny) and stiff-upper-lipped Wing-Commander Bentley (Charles Dance).

Months later, Franta and Karel finally hit the skies just in time for their friendship's first monkey wrench.  On his second mission, Karel is shot down by a German Messerschmitt and believed dead.  He survives his plunge into the English countryside, however, and makes his way to the country home of a beautiful, slightly older woman, Susan (Tara Fitzgerald).  With her husband missing in action, Susan momentarily succumbs to her loneliness and, taken by Karel's puppy-dog charm, tenderly relieves him of his virginity.  For Susan, their passion was merely a lapse, but Karel falls in love.  He talks about her constantly, and eventually takes his best pal Franta out to meet her.  That turns out to be the biggest mistake of his life, because, although the signs go unseen by Karel (and by us, since neither actor has much chemistry with Fitzgerald), Susan falls for Franta and begins a secret affair with him.

Although the basic plot by screenwriter Zdenek Sverak (Jan's father who also wrote KOLYA) is lifted directly from sentimental smashes PEARL HARBOR and SUMMER OF '42 (among others), DARK BLUE WORLD is given added weight by its flashback structure, told by a post-war Franta from the hospital of a Czech prison, where he was sentenced by the Communists as punishment for fighting the Nazis during the war.  It is these scenes, as well as Sverak's marvelous aerial sequences, that give the film a slight edge in the annals of War-Torn Love Triangle movies.  Although some CGI and miniature effects are used, as well as footage from Guy Hamilton's 1969 actioner BATTLE OF BRITAIN, most of the flying scenes utilize real Spitfires, Messerschmitts, etc. to pull off the elaborate dogfights; when the RAF strafes a Nazi train and blasts it to bits, those are real planes aiming at a real train, lending the action a bit of verisimilitudinous gravity that expensive computer graphics just don't have.

Using World War II as a backdrop for romance is hardly a new cinematic trend--and there's nothing in DARK BLUE WORLD that you haven't seen done elsewhere, often in better films--but fans of vintage aerobatic aircraft and audiences looking for a love story involving adults may find enough here to recommend it.

DARK BREED (1996)--Directed by Richard Pepin.  Stars Jack Scalia, Lance LeGault, Donna W. Scott, Jonathan Banks.  Scalia, whose big break was playing Rock Hudson's son in the NBC detective series THE DEVLIN CONNECTION, plays Captain Nick Saxon, an Air Force officer called to the scene when the space shuttle Aquarius crash-lands off the Long Beach waterfront.  The six astronauts aboard, who include Nick's ex-wife Debbie (Scott) and his best friend Joe (Banks), have been invaded by alien parasites that are using their human hosts as incubators.  It turns out that the infestation was not accidental; the oblivious astronauts were sent into space by evil government honcho Cutter (LeGault) specifically to become invaded, so that they could return to Earth, lay their eggs and be used by Cutter as unstoppable killing machines.  It's a plan destined to fail, as they all do in movies of this nature, and once Nick uncovers the conspiracy, he becomes a target of Cutter's hit squad, finding himself on the run to destroy the aliens and their offspring before they can hatch.  In less than two days, the slimy little buggers will have matured enough to burst free of their puny human shells, ready to destroy our world.

Directed at a rapid clip by producer Pepin, DARK BREED is pretty entertaining stuff for what it is--a cheaply made monster movie that emphasizes action over logic.  Richard Preston Jr.'s screenplay is littered with perplexing holes (like why does Cutter summon Nick and his subordinates to this top-secret mission in the first place?), but it moves quickly and stylishly enough that you probably won't care.  Scalia, who also receives an associate producer credit, is a top-notch lead, handling the obligatory character quirks (such as his father-in-law's antique pocket watch) deftly enough to lend a slight humanism to the explosions and gun battles.  And, in typical PM Entertainment fashion, there are many of them, as well as enough car chases, broken glass and burning men to keep the "sports fans" (to use one of director Jim Wynorski's favorite terms) entertained.  Pepin and stunt coordinator Cole McKay (who went on to direct his own PM features) put together a pair of rocking car chases, one in which Scalia and Banks punch each other out in a house being transported on a flatbed truck and another that features Scalia being dragged in a satellite dish behind a van, that were amazingly ripped off by Richard Donner in LETHAL WEAPON 4!  The visual effects are not bad, considering the budget, although it's probably a good thing we don't get more than a glimpse of the man-in-a-suit title creature.  Also with Felton Perry (MAGNUM FORCE), Cindy Ambuehl, Carlos Carrasco, Robin Curtis (STAR TREK III: THE SEARCH FOR SPOCK), Kerrie Clark and Buck Flower.  Music by Louis Febre.  Filmed in Long Beach, California.

DARK DESCENT (2002)--Directed by Daniel Knauf.  Stars Dean Cain.  Believe it or not, this Bulgarian-lensed direct-to-video thriller is a ripoff of OUTLAND, which was itself a ripoff of HIGH NOON.  I like Cain, but DARK DESCENT is pretty dismal.  It does offer something I've never seen before though.  The setting is an underwater mining colony where Cain's character, Will Murdack, is the marshal.  One of the workers goes nutzoid because of the contaminated drugs his employers are disseminating (just like in OUTLAND) and drills a hole in the wall of his quarters.  Water bursts through the hole, but the colony's sensors quickly seal that room off by slamming shut its circular doors.  Before the door to the corridor can completely shut, a jet stream of water bursts through the tiny circular opening with such force that it shoots clear through a guy's back and out his chest like an arrow.  First time I've seen anyone impaled by water.  Other than that, DESCENT is reminiscent of DRAGON FIGHTER as Cain wanders the metallic halls of a futuristic facility trying not to get killed by invading thugs.  Not even the director, CARNIVALE creator Knauf, wants to be reminded of it.  He removed his name in the credits and replaced it with "Wilfred Schmidt".  Also with William Zabka, Scott Wiper and Biliana Petrinska.

DARK INTRUDER (1965)—Directed by Harvey Hart.  Stars Leslie Nielsen, Peter Mark Richman.  Universal produced this 59-minute feature as the pilot for a TV series to be called THE BLACK CLOAK.  The show didn’t sell, but DARK INTRUDER played some theaters on the back end of a double bill.  It has received some favorable notices as a sort of occult WILD, WILD WEST.  Nielsen stars as Brett Kingsford, a wealthy playboy in San Francisco during the last decade of the 19th century who solves supernatural mysteries.  A series of Jack the Ripper-type murders are plaguing the streets of Frisco with an unusual ivory statue left at the scene of each crime.  Brett deduces that some sort of demon may be attempting to return to Earth in the body of a human, but how does his friend Robert (Richman), a local importer, fit into the mystery?  Good direction by Hart and effective makeup make this short feature worth a watch.  Nielsen doesn’t seem quite right as a tongue-in-cheek investigator, but he isn’t bad.  Music by Lalo Schifrin.  Also with Judi Meredith, Peter Brocco, Bill Quinn, Gilbert Green, Charles Bolender as Nielsen’s midget assistant, and Werner Klemperer.  Producer Jack Laird later had success with ROD SERLING’S NIGHT GALLERY.

DARK NIGHT OF THE SCARECROW (1981)--Directed by Frank de Felitta.  Stars Charles Durning, Robert F. Lyons, Lane Smith, Claude Earl Jones, Larry Drake.  They don't make made-for-TV horror films like this anymore.  This one is well remembered by those who saw it when it first aired at Halloween time or in many a late-night timeslot since.  Bubba Ritter (Drake), a retarded man living in a rural California town, is accused of killing a little girl.  Four redneck vigilantes, including postmaster Otis (Durning) and farmer Harless (Smith), track him down and murder him while he's hiding inside a scarecrow.  The small-town court acquits the men of murder, but they face a more vengeful form of justice in the form of a spooky scarecrow that pops up at night and kills them one by one.  One thing DARK NIGHT proves is that you don't need R-rated elements like gore to make a scary movie, as de Felitta, editor Skip Lusk and composer Glenn Paxton team up to produce a straightforward horror fest awash in atmosphere and suspense.  Durning's performance is key, playing Otis with many shades--a teetotaler who boozes in privacy, a middle-aged single man who may indeed have his own designs on the child he accuses Bubba of molesting.  The cast of familiar supporting actors gives its all, resulting in classic TV suspense directed by the novelist of AUDREY ROSE and THE ENTITY.  Also with Jocelyn Brando, Tonya Crowe and Tom Taylor.

DARK OF THE SUN (1968)—Directed by Jack Cardiff.  Stars Rod Taylor, Jim Brown, Yvette Mimieux, Kenneth More, Peter Carsten, Calvin Lockhart.  DARK OF THE SUN is a beautifully photographed and edited action picture with seminal tough-guy performances by Taylor (THE BIRDS) and former football pro Brown (THE DIRTY DOZEN).  The mission is succinctly set early on. The new president of war-torn Congo, Mwamini Ubi (Lockhart) hires Captain Bruce Curry (Taylor) to put together some men and a five-car train and take them on a journey to rescue some citizens and, oh, yes, liberate $25 million in uncut diamonds too, while he's there. Curry, who never met a mercenary job he wouldn't take if the money was right, recruits his friend Ruffo (Brown), a Congolese educated at USC, as well as ex-Nazi captain Henlein (Carsten) and his troops and alcoholic physician Wreid (More). Curry has just three days in which to complete his mission, partially because of the invading Simba force, African nationalists ripping a bloody swath across the country, slaughtering men, women and children, cutting them into small pieces, and feeding them to their enemies.

Director Cardiff was better known as an Oscar-winning cinematographer (BLACK NARCISSUS). He made fifteen films as a director (several with Rod Taylor), but DARK OF THE SUN is his magnum opus. Excitingly lensed on location (though I'm not exactly certain where), DARK OF THE SUN is fast-paced and loaded with rich dialogue penned by journeymen Adrian Spies and Ranald MacDougall. It's just 100 minutes, and I wouldn't be surprised if plenty was left on the cutting-room floor. Mimieux's (Taylor's co-star in THE TIME MACHINE) role as a widow rescued in the nick of time from rampaging Simbas comes across as perfunctory, and it seems that more could have been done with actor Olivier Despax as a cowardly French soldier.

On the other hand, I wouldn't want Cardiff to have sacrificed any of the blistering action, including epic-looking raids, a chainsaw fight, Taylor bouncing his Jeep down a rocky stream in pursuit of an enemy on a raft, and particularly a suspenseful sequence in which Brown and Taylor infiltrate a grisly Simba celebration. French jazz pianist Jacques Loussier, who rarely worked on English-language films, composed a marvelous score that effortlessly buttresses Cardiff's crisp direction.

DARK PLANET (1996)--Directed by Albert Magnoli.  Stars Paul Mercurio, Michael York, Harley Jane Kozak.  In the 27th century, Earth is still ravaged by war, this time between the Alphas, a race of genetically enhanced humans, and the Rebels.  Salvation may be in the near future, however, on a mysterious world known only as the Dark Planet.  It can be reached only by navigating a treacherous wormhole, a journey so dangerous that only one man, a navigator named Hawke (Mercurio), has traveled it and survived.  A joint alliance between the Alphas and Rebels finds Hawke released from prison to take through the wormhole an exploratory starship co-captained by Winter (York) of the Alphas and Brendan (Kozak) of the Rebels.  Neither sides trusts the other, but must work together to achieve their immediate goal of traversing the wormhole and their long-term goal of worldwide peace.  Not nearly as interesting as it may seem, DARK PLANET is a dark, cheaply lensed movie overflowing with pretentious dialogue and confusing action sequences.  The entire film is set within the shadowy bowels of the ship, leaving one with a claustrophobic feeling.  The Australian Mercurio is drab and miscast as both an action lead and as the crew's resident chick magnet, while the bottom-of-the-barrel visual effects are among the least realistic in recent memory, not even good enough to pass muster in a Playstation game.  Maria Ford, clad head to toe and sporting a short blond wig, fails to add sex appeal to Magnoli's bore-a-thon.  Also with Ed O'Ross, Phil Morris, Sal Landi, Amy Beth Cohn and John Beck.  Music by Marco Marinangeli.  From the director of PURPLE RAIN.

DARK STAR (1974)--Directed by John Carpenter. Stars Dan O'Bannon, Brian Narelle. The ultimate low-budget science-fiction movie. Was originally Carpenter's thesis at USC. After dropping out of college, Carpenter and writer/star O'Bannon got additional financing from producer Jack H. Harris, shot forty more minutes of footage, and blew it up from 16mm to 35mm. The total budget was $60,000. The result is this funny, hip cult favorite, a parody about bored astronauts who blow up barren planets for excitement. Lots of clever moments, including a scene where O'Bannon tries to feed his alien pet, which looks like a beach ball with feet. O'Bannon did the special effects too. He went on to co-write ALIEN.

DARKER THAN AMBER (1970)--Directed by Robert Clouse.  Stars Rod Taylor, Suzy Kendall, Theodore Bikel, William Smith, Robert Phillips.  Taylor does a good job as John D. MacDonald's famous literary sleuth Travis McGee in this brutal mystery.  MacDonald also approved of Taylor’s casting as much as he disapproved of the original actor considered for the role:  Robert Culp.  McGee and sidekick Meyer (Bikel) are fishing under a bridge one night when two hulking thugs (Smith, Phillips) toss a gorgeous blonde (Kendall) into the drink and leave her for dead.  McGee saves her, takes her back to his houseboat, and, despite her reticence to talk about herself or her troubles, begins to fall for her.  When she is eventually killed, McGee's investigation leads him to a blackmail scheme aboard a cruise ship.  Bruce Lee reportedly okayed Clouse to direct ENTER THE DRAGON based on the extremely bloody fight scene between Taylor and Smith, which was unfortunately severely edited for television and home video.  National General released this competent drama, which emphasizes mood and character over Ed Waters’ plot.  In fact, McGee does precious little detecting, and some story points, such as McGee’s recruitment of a double for the dead Kendall, doesn’t make sense.  Features Jane Russell in her final film role, James Booth, Ahna Capri, Chris Robinson and Janet MacLachlan.

DARKMAN (1990)--Directed by Sam Raimi. Stars Liam Neeson, Frances McDormand, Larry Drake, Colin Friels. In EVIL DEAD auteur Raimi's first shot at a big-budget studio production, he and producer Robert Tapert have concocted a darkly comic tale about scientist Dr. Peyton Westlake (a pre-SCHINDLERS LIST Neeson) and his discovery of a synthetic skin, which, unfortunately, deteriorates after 99 minutes of direct sunshine. When Westlake is disfigured and left for dead by gangsters led by oily real-estate magnate Friels and psycho henchman Drake, he uses his formula to adopt other identities and wreak vengeance upon his enemies.

Raimi's style is reminiscent of both Tim Burton's BATMAN (now the standard for any comic-book movie) and the Universal horrors of the 1930s and '40s. Neeson, in a performance suggesting Boris Karloff in the original FRANKENSTEIN, spends most of the film either swathed in bandages or under layers of hideous makeup. Using his eyes and gestures, he delivers a compassionate portrait of a man split between self-pity and bitter anger. The action and special effects are well done. For some reason, this was not a box-office hit, although Universal did follow it up with a pair of straight-to-video sequels. Also with bits by Jenny Agutter, John Landis, Ted Raimi and Bruce Campbell. Screenplay by Chuck Pfarrer (HARD TARGET), Ivan Raimi, and Daniel & Joshua Goldin. Music by Danny Elfman, who also scored BATMAN.

DARKMAN II: THE RETURN OF DURANT (1994)--Directed by Bradford May. Stars Larry Drake, Arnold Vosloo, Kim Delaney, Renee O'Connor, Lawrence Dane. South African-born actor Vosloo takes over the role of scarred superhero Darkman, since original star Liam Neeson was obviously too big to appear in a straight-to-video comic book sequel. Despite his participation in a helicopter crash that sure looked pretty fatal to me at the close of the original DARKMAN, evil businessman Robert G. Durant (Drake) manages to return to form after nearly three years in a coma to seek revenge against his archenemy, Dr. Peyton Westlake (Vosloo). Westlake has been continuing his experiments on synthetic skin, financing them by ripping off drug pushers and arms dealers. He hopes to perfect the skin, which inexplicably deteriorates after 99 minutes, in order to restore his horribly burned visage, which occurred as a result of Durants murder attempt in DARKMAN. Durant, who cuts off the fingers of his victims with a handy-dandy cigar cutter, springs a mad scientist (Dane) from an insane asylum, and forces him to build a powerful laser weapon for use in his crime spree.

May (who also served as his own cinematographer) achieves a slick look and rapid pace, and achieves quite a bit of fun and excitement on what must have been a limited budget from Universal. Drake gets all the best one-liners, but Vosloo manages to make an impression in a role that, by its very nature, requires many different actors to portray (since Darkman often disguises himself as other people). Delaney, who went on to win an Emmy for her work on NYPD BLUE, has (despite her prominent billing) a relatively minor role as a television reporter. Also with Jesse Collins, David Ferry and Jack Langedijk. Randy Miller's bold score apes Danny Elfman's DARKMAN music. Sam Raimi and Robert Tapert served as executive producers. Filmed back-to-back in Toronto with DARKMAN III: DIE DARKMAN DIE, also with Vosloo.

DARKMAN III: DIE DARKMAN DIE (1996)--Directed by Bradford May. Stars Jeff Fahey, Arnold Vosloo, Darlanne Fluegel, Roxann Biggs-Dawson. Fahey chews a lot of scenery in this entertaining straight-to-video sequel as Peter Rooker, a druglord who teams with unscrupulous doctor Fluegel (who's also his lover) to kidnap mysterious superhero Darkman (Vosloo). They swipe a sample of his adrenaline, and use it to fabricate a designer steroid that makes Rooker's flunkies strong enough to take over the city. Darkman, who was horribly scarred in a fire (see DARKMAN), uses a synthetic skin (which only lasts for 99 minutes) to impersonate various members of Rooker's gang--and even Rooker himself--in order to retrieve his secret formula, which was also stolen by Rooker. Darkman, drawn by Vosloo and director May very much in the style of the Phantom of the Opera, also finds himself drawn to Rooker's sequestered wife (Biggs-Dawson) and daughter, who are ignored--and later endangered--by Rooker.

This and DARKMAN II were shot back-to-back on a reported $7 million budget, so many of the shots from the previous feature are recycled here. Vosloo does a nice job in his limited screen time, but it's Fahey who garners the lion's share of the movie's best lines and situations. The screenplay by Michael Colleary and Mike Werb (who would rip off much of this material for the bigger-budgeted Nicolas Cage-John Travolta actioner FACE/OFF) doesn't give Rooker much of a personality, so it's all Fahey, a good actor who got a nice chance to really shine on his short-lived ABC-TV series THE MARSHAL, can do to make the guy relatively interesting. Fun, but inferior to the two previous entries. Also with Nigel Bennett, Alicia Panetta and John Novak. Music by Randy Miller. Sam Raimi (who co-wrote and directed the original DARKMAN) and Robert Tapert (DARKMAN's producer) were the executive producers for their Renaissance Pictures. Australian-born May began as a cinematographer on American TV shows such as HUNTER.

DARKTOWN STRUTTERS (1975)--Directed by William Witney.  Stars Trina Parks, Roger E. Mosley, Norman Bartold.  How does one describe something like DARKTOWN STRUTTERS?  It's unlike anything I've ever seen--sort of like THE MONKEES meet FOXY BROWN.  Describing the plot doesn't really do it justice, but I'll try.  Syreena (Parks), leader of an all-girl motorcycle gang called the Darktown Strutters who wear outrageous skintight sequined outfits, tears downtown Los Angeles upside down looking for her mother Cinderella, who disappeared while working as a maid in a cotton plantation owned by Colonel Louisville Cross (Bartold), magnate of a chain of Sky Hog barbecue restaurants that serve ribs and watermelon.  And I do mean "plantation", complete with high white pillars on the porch and slaves pickin' cotton in the front yard.  It turns out Cinderella is just one of several prominent black citizens who have been kidnapped by Cross for their DNA.  Y'see, he's built a giant cloning machine in the cavernous dungeon below his mansion so he can duplicate the black leaders and program them to vote for him in the upcoming election.  Meanwhile, a squad of racist white cops drive around in a black-and-white clown car shooting at blacks, Syreena's kung-fu-kicking brother trashes his own house, and everyone takes time out to participate in random song-and-dance numbers.

Perhaps what's most amazing about DARKTOWN STRUTTERS is that it was written, produced and directed by white men.  It was the final film for 60-year-old director Witney, who cut his teeth on Republic serials in the 1930s.  Producer Gene Corman (Roger's brother) and young writer George Armitage (PRIVATE DUTY NURSES) were veterans of the low-budget drive-in scene, but none of them had ever done anything quite this outrageous before.  Wild clothes, non-sequiturs, politically incorrect racial humor, goofy sound effects and funky music fly fast and furious in this bold live-action cartoon.  I found much of the slapstick to be too juvenile for my tastes, but I admire the filmmakers for being unafraid to try anything to see what sticks.  The cast, led by the lovely Parks (one of Sean Connery's bikini-clad antagonists in DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER) is just as bold, leaping into their roles with reckless abandon; their energy is certainly infectious.

DARKTOWN STRUTTERS is the kind of movie where the heroine stops her search of an underground dungeon to listen to the Philadelphia soul group The Dramatics do their Top Ten hit "Whatcha See Is Whatcha Get" in an adjoining cell and where a middle-aged white policeman, dressed in drag and blackface to capture a rapist, is shot to death in the station house by bigoted cops.  It's truly a unique experience, and even if it's not to your tastes, it should still be seen just to remind you how crazy movies could be in the '70s.  Also with Shirley Washington (BAMBOO GODS AND IRON MEN), Betty Sweet, Dick Miller, Milt Kogan, Alvin Childress (AMOS AND ANDY) and Stan Shaw (RUNAWAY).  Armitage disappeared from films after the '70s, only to pop up in the '90s to direct MIAMI BLUES and GROSSE POINTE BLANK.  Witney died in March 2002 at age 86.  Released by New World.  It was later released as GET DOWN AND BOOGIE.

A DATE WITH THE FALCON (1941)--Directed by Irving Reis.  Stars George Sanders, Wendy Barrie, Allen Jenkins, James Gleason, Alec Craig.  Sanders returns for his second outing as Michael Arlen's foppish crimesolver Gay Lawrence in this breezy RKO mystery.  The Falcon's wedding to pretty Helen Reed (Barrie, returning from THE GAY FALCON) is delayed when he's recruited by Homicide Inspector O'Hara (Gleason) to investigate the kidnapping of scientist Waldo Sampson (Craig), who has discovered a formula for creating synthetic diamonds indistinguishable from real ones.  Reis, who also directed the first Falcon fest, continues in the same vein, as Lawrence is (again) accused of murder, (again) flirts with femme fatales, (again) attempts to avoid being tied down to his future wife, and (again) dodges attempts on his life.  The level of humor is ampped up a notch or two, and Sanders appears to be having a delightful time, especially in a scene in which he feigns drunkenness to escape capture.  Music by Paul Sawtell.  Also with Hans Conreid as a hotel clerk, Mona Maris, Victor Kilian and Edward Gargan.  Next was THE FALCON TAKES OVER, Sanders' last starring turn of the series before handing the role over to his brother Tom Conway in THE FALCON'S BROTHER.

DAUGHTERS OF SATAN (1972)--Directed by Hollingsworth Morse. Stars Tom Selleck, Barra Grant, Tani Phelps Guthrie. Seeing the future MAGNUM, P.I. star in a leading role is the only reason to check out this lame horror film shot on location in the Phillipines. Art critic Selleck purchases a portrait of a centuries-old witch, only to discover the woman in the painting bears a strong resemblance to his wife. Score by Richard LaSalle. Script by John C. Higgins. Morse directed many children's TV shows in the '50s.

DAVE (1993)--Directed by Ivan Reitman.  Stars Kevin Kline, Sigourney Weaver, Frank Langella, Kevin Dunn.  Kline’s nimble comedy chops expertly guide this cute romantic comedy about Dave (Kline), the good-natured owner of a Washington, D.C. employment agency, who picks up extra dough doing public appearances as a professional Presidential lookalike.  When the real U.S. President, Dave’s dead ringer, has a fatal heart attack while boffing his mistress, the White House Chief of Staff (Langella) and Communications Director (Dunn) recruit Dave to serve out the rest of his term…without telling the First Lady (Weaver), from whom the President was estranged.  Gary Ross’ screenplay is a nice What If concept--what if a Regular Guy became President?  It’s funny and sweet, and features a hilarious unbilled supporting role by Charles Grodin as Dave’s accountant.  Also with Ben Kingsley, Ving Rhames, Laura Linney, Bonnie Hunt, Stefan Gierasch, Charles Hallahan and Arnold Schwarzenegger.

DAWN OF THE DEAD (1978)--Directed by George A. Romero.  Stars Gaylen Ross, Ken Foree, David Emge, Scott Reiniger.  One of horror's most influential films, Romero's gory color sequel to NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD inspired dozens of zombie movies packed with maggots, intestines and cannibalistic chomping.  What sets Romero's film apart from its imitators is its naturalistic direction and its underlying satire of '70s consumerism and fads.  As the zombie outbreak hits Pittsburgh, S.W.A.T. officers Peter (Foree) and Roger (Reiniger) escape with TV station employees Fran (Ross) and Stephen (Emge) in a helicopter.  They put down in a suburban shopping mall and fortify themselves in a hidden room upstairs just under the roof.  Eventually, their comfortable existence is interrupted by a rampaging biker gang, which breaks into the mall to fight it out with the brain-munching walking dead.  Released unrated by United Film Distribution, DAWN is a colorful comic-book romp filled with plenty of action, gore, interesting dialogue, fully sketched characters and an unsettling library music score.  Filmed almost entirely within the Monroeville Mall in Monroeville, Pennsylvania, the second of Romero's DEAD trilogy (DAY OF THE DEAD was next) is great suspenseful fun with special makeup effects and stunts by Tom Savini, who also acts in the film as one of the bikers.  DAWN was remade in 2004 with Ving Rhames in the Foree role.

DAWN OF THE MUMMY (1981)--Directed by Frank Agrama.  Stars Brenda King, Barry Sattels, Ellen Faison, George Peck.  A mummy gore flick heavily influenced by Romero.  In a story nod to Italy's BLOODY PIT OF HORROR, a group of models and photographers invade the pyramids to get some good shots.  Along with a separate group of treasure hunters, the handsome young people awaken a mummy named Safirman, seen in a prologue being buried 5000 years previously, who summons his army of zombie slaves from their desert graves for a feeding frenzy on the transgressors and the nearby townspeople.  DAWN's biggest deficit is its pacing; hardly anything fun or interesting happens during its first hour, besides a lot of unfamiliar actors talking and not being attacked by mummies (which is, let's face it, why we're watching this thing).  The gore really kicks in during the final half-hour though, as the shambling beasts do what they do best--mutilate, chomp, rip and destroy vulnerable human bodies.  There's enough gut-munching to ensure DAWN never received a U.S. theatrical release, at least not in this form (it would have received an X rating), while Agrama's use of authentic Egyptian locations and a ridiculously hammy performance by Peck as the blond leader of the treasure hunters provide interest.  Shuki Levy's orchestral score is a blast too, and even received an LP release.  Surprisingly, Madacy's DVD offers an audio commentary by Agrama, an Egyptian educated at UCLA who relates many interesting stories of his life and career in the Egyptian film industry.

THE DAY AFTER (1983)--Directed by Nicholas Meyer. Stars Jason Robards, JoBeth Williams, Steve Guttenberg, John Lithgow, Amy Madigan. Very controversial made-for-TV movie about a nuclear holocaust as seen through the eyes of the citizens of a small Kansas town shot on location in Lawrence, Kansas on an $8 million budget. Powerful direction by Meyer, a gripping teleplay by Edward Hume, and strong performances make this the ultimate film about life (such as it is) post-Armageddon. Many church and school groups watched the film together during its first airing on ABC-TV and held discussion groups afterwards. It's been said that over 100 million Americans watched it, which surely makes it one of the most-viewed TV programs ever. With Bibi Besch, Arliss Howard, Stephen Furst and Dennis Lipscomb. Nominated for 11 Emmys. Not a movie to watch by yourself.

DAY OF ANGER (1967)—Directed by Tonino Valerii.  Stars Lee Van Cleef, Giuliano Gemma.  Somewhat similar to DEATH RIDES A HORSE, in that veteran gunslinger Van Cleef is again teamed with a younger, eager partner.  After saving stable boy Scott Mary (Gemma) from getting gunned down in a saloon shootout, Talby (Van Cleef) takes the lad under his wing and teaches him to stand up to the townspeople who—quite literally—give him shit.  However, Talby’s quest to collect a debt leads him to take over the town for himself, forcing Scott Mary into a violent standoff against the very man who “created” him.  Plenty of action and a Riz Ortolani score keep this ace Italian western on its toes.  Also with Walter Rilla, Al Mulock and Christa Linder.

DAY OF THE ANIMALS (1977)--Directed by William Girdler.  Stars Christopher George, Leslie Nielsen, Lynda Day George, Richard Jaeckel, Michael Ansara.  GRIZZLY must have been something of a hit for Girdler, since he followed it up with what is basically the same movie, but with more animals.  Holes in the ozone layer cause the wildlife around a small California forest community to go crazy and kill the local populace.  Some victims unable to escape are a group of hikers stranded in the woods several days distance from civilization.  Among them are lantern-jawed guide George, wise Indian Ansara, nerdy professor Jaeckel, and jerk Nielsen, playing an advertising exec who goes crazy, tries to rape a woman, and ends up with no shirt on wrestling a bear in the rain.  It’s a PG movie, but many of the killings are pretty brutal, and the animal trainers and wranglers did a great job, siccing cougars, buzzards, snakes and wild dogs on the cast.  Lalo Schifrin did the score.  Girdler directed only one more film, THE MANITOU (with Ansara), before his premature 1978 death.  Also with Ruth Roman, Paul Mantee, Jon Cedar, Walter Barnes, Andrew Stevens and Susan Backlinie.

DAY OF THE DEAD (1985)--Directed by George A. Romero.  Stars Lori Cardille, Joe Pilato, Howard Sherman, Richard Liberty.  Part three of Romero’s iconic zombie series is a talky one, pitting a group of scientists against some hot-headed military types in an underground facility.  The most engrossing scenes involve Dr. Logan’s (Liberty) attempts to humanize a captured zombie, which he names Bub (Sherman).  Pilato’s over-the-top performance and constant profanity made this unrated horror film somewhat arduous viewing for me, but the finale certainly packs a punch, and Romero manages to create an overall feeling of dread that’s consistent with the series.  LAND OF THE DEAD didn’t get made until 2005.

DAYDREAM BELIEVERS: THE MONKEES STORY (2000)--Directed by Neill Fearnley. Stars George Stanchev, Aaron Lohr, Jeff Geddis, L.B. Fisher, Colin Ferguson, Wallace Langham. Television has cranked out a long line of lame rock-and-roll biopics, and this one, made by the VH1 cable channel, is no different. Director Fearnley and scripter Ron McGee are unable to capture the spirit of the late '60s or any sense that The Monkees--as a musical entity or as a television show--was the least bit groundbreaking or even interesting. The cast members--Stanchev (sporting an inept English accent) as former jockey Davy Jones; Lohr as ex-child star Micky Dolenz; Geddis as the take-charge Texan Mike Nesmith; and Fisher as flower child folkie Peter Tork--do resemble the Monkees physically, but lack the charm and likability to adequately demonstrate why their real-life counterparts were so popular. The paint-by-numbers teleplay touches all the bases--how the pilot episode was NBC's most poorly received until executive producer Van Foreman (Ferguson)--a sobriquet for Bob Rafelson--included Davy and Mike's screen tests in the show; the Monkees' pleas to be allowed to perform on their records, which were being produced by Don Kirshner (Langham); Mike punching a hole in Kirshner's wall and threatening to quit; Jimi Hendrix's short-lived tenure as the boys' opening act; the cancellation of the series and commercial failure of the Monkees' only movie, HEAD (which really was written by Jack Nicholson, who is portrayed in DAYDREAM BELIEVERS by one of the worst Nicholson impersonators ever). Fans will be annoyed by the movie's factual errors (Tork was convinced to audition by his pal Stephen Stills, rather than the restaurant busboy in the movie), while non-fans will be turned off by the cheap (Canadian-filmed) production values and colorless performances.

DAYTON’S DEVILS (1968)—Directed by Jack Shea.  Stars Leslie Nielsen, Rory Calhoun, Lainie Kazan, Eric Braeden.  This very low-budget crime drama tries to rip off THE DIRTY DOZEN, but is much tamer and less logical.  Disgraced ex-Air Force colonel Dayton (Nielsen) recruits a handful of specialists to pull off his elaborate plan to rob the payroll at a nearby base.  Besides his faithful right hand Max (Braeden, still billed as Hans Gudegast), none of the gang enjoys Dayton’s militaristic training, which even involves fining them for various transactions.  It pays off when the heist goes as planned, but as you may have guessed, it’s the getting away that’s the tricky part.  Shea was probably not the ideal choice for this cheap, boring caper flick that does occasionally manage to spurt suspense.  Barry Sadler, who had just hit #1 with his “Ballad of the Green Berets” single, plays a psycho killer named Barry, Georg Stanford Brown (THE ROOKIES) is a skindiver, Rigg Kennedy is a hippie, Pat Renella is a forger, and Calhoun tangles with Nielsen and gets the gang into shape.  Look for Mike Farrell (M*A*S*H), Bo Hopkins and Bruce Glover in early roles.

DAZED AND CONFUSED (1993)--Directed by Richard Linklater. Stars Jason London, Parker Posey, Milla Jovovich, Matthew McConaughey, Michelle Burke, Rory Cochrane, Wiley Wiggins, Sasha Jenson. Plotless low-budget comedy/drama written and directed by Linklater (SLACKER) as a 70s version of AMERICAN GRAFFITTI. Narrative follows a group of Austin, Texas high school students on the last day and night of classes in 1976. They drink, they party, they play jokes and theyre nervous about whats in store for their future. London leads the talented cast as big-man-on-campus Randall "Pink" Floyd. The excellent soundtrack includes period hits by Aerosmith, Foghat, Alice Cooper, Sweet, Black Oak Arkansas and Kiss.

D.C. CAB (1983)--Directed by Joel Schumacher.  Stars Gary Busey, Mr. T, Max Gail, Bill Maher, Adam Baldwin.  Where else can you find crazed Busey, political comedian Maher, Wojo from BARNEY MILLER (Gail) and Mr. T sharing a shot?  This goofy, fast-paced comedy about a raucous Washington, D.C. taxi company is not exactly sophisticated, but it is fun.  Naïve Albert (Baldwin) arrives in D.C. to work for Harold (Gail), a Vietnam buddy of his dad's.  Harold's D.C. Cab company is the worst in the city, beset by crackpot drivers, a low work ethic and constant threats of being shut down by the taxi commission.  There's little plot here, except for a late-in-the-game kidnapping scheme that finds the D.C. Cabbers cooperating like a family to rescue Albert, as the film plays similarly to CAR WASH, which was written by Schumacher (making his directorial debut here).  You'll also see Paul Rodriguez, Charlie Barnett, John Diehl, Jill Schoelen, Irene Cara, Timothy Carey, Marsha Warfield, the Barbarian Brothers, Whitman Mayo and Bob Zmuda in this madcap comedy, which may shock contemporary audiences with its occasional ethnic slurs.  Music by Giorgio Moroder.  Mr. T moved on to THE A-TEAM from this.

DEAD & BURIED (1981)--Directed by Gary A. Sherman.  Stars James Farentino, Melody Anderson, Jack Albertson.  If I were to predict which films would receive deluxe 2-disc Special Edition treatment from Blue Underground, this oddball thriller would not be near the top of the list.  Sporting a troubled production history and failing at the box office during its brief theatrical release by Avco Embassy, DEAD & BURIED played frequently on cable television during the early 1980's and hit home video via Vestron about the same time, but seems to have dropped out of sight and mind over the past decade and a half.  Nonetheless, it's an interesting little sleeper, and even though the initial trailers and BU's current DVD tout the involvement of "the creators of ALIEN"--D&B was written by ALIEN scribes Ronald Shusett and Dan O'Bannon--the two films bear little in common.

James Farentino, a popular television leading man in series like THE BOLD ONES and COOL MILLION who had no film career at the time, stars as Dan Gillis, sheriff of the sleepy New England town of Potters Bluff (exteriors were actually filmed in Mendocino, California).  You know what Potters Bluff is like--everyone knows everyone else, strangers are rarities, crime is virtually nonexistent.  So when two brutal murders occur back-to-back, both victims coming from outside the community, Gillis, an educated criminologist who returned to his hometown to be sheriff, finds himself both frustrated and baffled.  Adding to his confusion is his wife Janet (Melody Anderson, who had just appeared as Dale Arden in FLASH GORDON), who is acquainted with the first victim, and the local coroner Dobbs (Jack Albertson, another familiar TV face from CHICO AND THE MAN), an eccentric old-timer who insists on giving each of his corpses an overly personal makeover before burial.  It soon appears to Gillis that more than murder is afoot in Potters Bluff after the victims, who were all horribly disfigured in death, are seen alive and roaming around town without a scratch or blemish on them.  Much of the fun in watching DEAD & BURIED is in unraveling the mystery along with Gillis (even though the trailers give it away), so I won't say much more about the story, except that it includes elements of voodoo, zombieism, necrophilia and a TWILIGHT ZONE-ish fear of losing one's identity.

What began as a black comedy initiated by a pair of young writers named Jeff Millar and Alex Stern (who receive story credit) and sold to writer/producer Shusett eventually emerged on-screen as something not quite horror, not quite fantasy and not quite science fiction, but an uneasy mix of each.  Shusett and partner O'Bannon actually began writing DEAD & BURIED before ALIEN, but it wasn't until that smash 20th Century Fox hit that the pair had enough clout to get their small-town zombie movie financed.  Viewed in the proper vein, D&B is great fun, whipping up several creepy scare scenes that owe their power to the detailed direction of Gary Sherman, whose British cannibal film DEATHLINE had impressed Shusett enough to hire him, and the amazingly realistic gore effects created by Stan Winston, who was nominated for his first Oscar a year later for HEARTBEEPS.  The striking gore, which was not originally filmed by Sherman, who was forced by his financiers to add it in post-production, provides much of the film's word-of-mouth, including a cringe-inducing syringe-in-an-eyeball scene that left this high-school-aged horror fan open-mouthed when he first saw it on cable in the '80s.

For the most part, the cast is solid, but not exceptional.  I'd be interested to learn more about Farentino's involvement; it was quite unusual for TV actors of his caliber to move into feature films during that era.  D&B did nothing for his film career, but he pulls off some very tricky moments during the climax, and Farentino deserves credit for lending much-needed reality to the outlandish premise.  Anderson is pretty but little-used, while character actors Barry Corbin (WARGAMES), Robert Englund (A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET), Michael Pataki (GRAVE OF THE VAMPIRE), Macon McCalman (SMOKEY & THE BANDIT), Glenn Morshower (24) and Lisa Blount (AN OFFICER AND A GENTLEMEN) offer able support.  The exception is Albertson, who was dying of cancer at the time he filmed D&B (he, in fact, passed away before it was released).  This information adds unintentional weight to his role as a mortician with a yen for immortality, and although Albertson was reportedly quite frail at the time, it doesn't show in his lively comic performance.  He and Farentino engage in several wry conversations that build to the shock climax.

Not to be ignored is Sherman, perhaps the unsung hero of D&B and the one who deserves most of the credit for the film's artistic success.  Aided by Steve Poster's moody cinematography and Joe Renzetti's tight musical score, Sherman keeps the action at a firm pace, almost Hitchcockian in the way that the tension builds, then pays off.  Working closely with Winston on the rampant shock sequences, Sherman always has the camera in precisely the right place to capture the essence of the terror, which includes a terrific chicken-coop "bump".  Also with Dennis Redfield, Nancy Locke (Wings Hauser's wife at the time), Lisa Marie, Bill Quinn, Michael Currie, Joe Medalis and Christopher Allport.  D&B was acquired during post-production by a production company named Producer Sales Organization, which also counted exploitation favorites like VENOM and CLASS OF 1984 among its assets.  It was PSO that forced Sherman to include the extra gore scenes, creating a final cut that neither Sherman nor Avco Embassy, which was contracted to release the film, was happy with.

The story behind the story can be learned from Blue Underground's swelled DVD, which includes on its twin discs no fewer than three (!) audio commentaries.  All are moderated by BU's David Gregory, who nicely asks all the right questions at the right intervals.  The first and best track is with director Sherman, whose attitude towards the film has mellowed in recent years.  Shusett and his wife Linda Turley, who plays a small role as a waitress, handle the second track, which is slow to get going, but picks up once Shusett begins chatting about the script and his approach as a writer to the material.  The third is with cinematographer Poster.  I must admit I didn't make it all the way through--three audio commentaries is a bit much, even for a commentary fan like me--but what I did hear was of interest, and I'm sure I'll revisit it one day soon.  Three effective trailers and several posters and stills round out Disc 1.  The second disc contains more stills, these shot by Poster while scouting Mendocino locations.  BU has also included three original futurities: one each starring Winston, Englund and O'Bannon, who appears to have had little to do with D&B, despite his on-screen credit.

The discs come in a gorgeous cardboard sleeve adorned with the original poster art and include a liner card featuring the Chinese poster art.  D&B is presented in its 1.85:1 aspect ratio and is enhanced for 16x9 sets.  The image is frankly grainy and washed-out, partially because of the frequent night shooting, but also, I suspect, due to the film stock that was available at that time.  Poster's addiction to smoke pots to build atmosphere is out of hand--even a scene set in an elementary school classroom looks like a London fog bank--so I don't blame BU for the visual shortcomings.  Four audio tracks are available, including a 6.1 DTS mix I was unable to access.  I skipped the 5.1 track in favor of the Dolby Surround 2.0 audio, which sounded just fine.  Purists may be interested in the original mono mix, also included here.

DEAD & BURIED is no unheralded horror classic, but it is quite unusual and boasts a unique premise that will surely surprise many who come into the film with little prior knowledge of it.  Blue Underground's presentation is probably better than this little number deserves, but I'd rather have too much than too little.

DEAD BANG (1989)—Directed by John Frankenheimer.  Stars Don Johnson, Penelope Ann Miller, William Forsythe, Tim Reid.  DEAD BANG bombed when released theatrically in the spring of 1989, and Warner Brothers thinks so little of it that it released a pan-and-scan version of it on DVD.  But I’ve always liked it.  Its script confirms screenwriter Robert Foster’s background as a TV writer (KNIGHT RIDER), and some scenes appear shortened or randomly inserted to the point of incomprehensibility (like all of Penelope Ann Miller’s scenes), but DEAD BANG moves quickly and professionally