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The Laughing Woman 1969
I'm not sure I've ever experienced a more dramatic or more pleasant film-watching surprise than my first viewing of FEMINA RIDENS (English: THE FRIGHTENED WOMAN or THE LAUGHING WOMAN). While I went into the film expecting ultramodern sets, a preposterous gallo plot, and a generally unhinged cinematic experience - which, don't get me wrong, FEMINA RIDENS certainly delivers - I spent the next several days in a trance, parsing out the nuances of the film's art-world references, the symbolism of…
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Queen of Outer Space 1958
Playing the same role that ZERO HOUR! played the creation of AIRPLANE!, QUEEN OF OUTER SPACE is the progenitor of AMAZON WOMEN ON THE MOON. But unlike the curiously earnest ZERO HOUR!, which benefits from the unconscious association with countless gags of AIRPLANE!, QUEEN OF OUTER SPACE lands with a thud, being little more than a dreary, note intentional-camp slog. I'd stick with the parody if I were you.
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CQ 2001
When I saw CQ for the first time a while back, I had a hard time with the juxtaposition of Jeremy Davie's meek protagonist with the stylish excesses of the BARBARELLA-like film-within-a-film CODENAME DRAGONFLY; a second viewing helped reconcile that, as Davies is buffeted between the amiable histrionics of the supporting cast, bouncing him like a pinball towards his inexorable fate. Time has been kind to CQ, and its goofy, heartfelt pastiche of the type of film - one that could have only been made as an international co-production in the 60s - is eminently enjoyable.
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Beyond the Black Rainbow 2011
The first half of BEYOND THE BLACK RAINBOW - full of lingering, glowing, malevolent sci-fi atmospherics outlining the curdled failure of the cultlike, techno-mystic Arboria Institute - is hypnotic and often, seen late at night and under the right circumstances, brain-melting. It's a pity that a tonal shift somewhere late in the second act, switching what was darkly psychedelic to something of a campy tribute to 80s VHS horror, is jarring enough to break the mood. The sound design and…
