Vincent Barbi Movies

From the evidence at hand, it seems apparent that the inexpensive Mind Twister was the last cinematic stand for the late Telly Savalas. There's a wacko killer at large, murdering at random. A courageous cop offers himself as bait to stop the murderer. This proves difficult, as who knows where the killer will strike next? Richard Roundtree and Suzanne Slater also show up in this garish Fred Olen Ray concoction. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

B-movie specialist Steve Barkett directs this sci-fi shocker about a pair of astronauts who return from a mission in space to discover that the world has been decimated by a nuclear holocaust. Arriving back on terra firma, the two space travelers learn that sadistic despots have horded high-tech weaponry and now reign through fear and violence. Now, in addition to fighting hordes of mutated marauders, the terrified pair will join a resistance movement in a valiant attempt to take back the planet and reestablish civilization. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Ben Gazzara stars in this low-level depiction of legendary gangster Al Capone, who rose to command the mob underworld in 1920's Chicago. Born in Brooklyn, Capone joins his first gang at the age of 11. From there, he graduates to the infamous "Five Points Gang" run by Johnny Torrio (Harry Guardino). After moving to Chicago a few years later and wiping out Torrio's crimeboss uncle, Capone becomes Torrio's right hand man. Capone becomes head of the area's prostitution and racketeering business, but, as his mind deteriorates from syphillis, so does his empire. There's not much to recommend here, aside from a surprisingly good appearance by Sylvester Stallone as fellow gangster Frank Nitti. Gazzara is frankly awful in the title role and producer Roger Corman uses stock shootout footage from other gangster films, including footage of the St. Valentine's Day Massacre from his own, earlier movie on the subject. ~ Don Kaye, All Movie Guide

John Cassavetes' harrowing masterpiece charts the emotional meltdown of a suburban housewife and its effects on her blue-collar Italian family. Gena Rowlands stars as Mabel Longhetti, a mother of three whose husband Nick (Peter Falk) works as a construction worker; a mismatched couple like so many others in Cassavetes films, the Longhettis seem to be complete opposites: she's impetuous, extroverted, and fragile, while he's controlling, distant, and hard-bitten. Their differences underscore a series of domestic dramas, culminating in a nervous breakdown that sends Mabel to a psychiatric hospital for six months, only to return to a home environment on even thinner ice than before. The improvisational style central to Cassavetes' vision is at its most acute throughout A Woman Under the Influence. Like its title heroine, the film threatens to veer out of control at any time, its shape and scope defined not by narrative but by the emotional upheaval at its center. Embracing the full spectrum of the Longhettis' relationship, from seismic bursts of high drama to small, even trivial moments of domestic tedium, its long scenes relentlessly probe every nook and cranny of the family's life, drawing out each moment for maximum emotional impact; the film is by turns beautiful and ugly, illuminating and frustrating, and it features a performance by Rowlands as heartwrenching and unforgettable as any ever committed to celluloid. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide

When the owner of Lotus Cat Food learns that his primary financial backer has pulled out upon completion of their new processing facility, he gets his revenge by stuffing the poor dope into a meat grinder (which looks for all the world like a cardboard box) and packing the end product into the next batch of cat-food cans. Lo and behold, this particular batch flies off the store shelves, coaxing the enterprising fellow to gather up more human cutlets. To this end he convinces a mortician to use his patented pork-flavored embalming fluid, then later packs the preserved bodies off to the grinder (fully dressed!) to make more kitty treats. All goes well until the plan triggers an unforeseen side-effect: the Morrises of the world have suddenly developed a taste for human flesh, and they aren't too finicky about where they get it. This leads to lots of silly scenes of people rolling on the ground shrieking and holding protesting cats to their throats. Grade-Z-quality filmmaking (and darn proud of it) from Ted. V. Mikels, the man responsible for Astro Zombies and Blood Orgy of the She-Devils. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide

This laughably-bad mess stars ubiquitous "Z"-movie journeyman John Carradine as Dr. DeMarco, a loony scientist whose original concept to build a humanoid robot for space missions is fouled somewhat by his choice of a psycho-killer's brain for his first subject. Instead of doing the sensible thing and retiring from the mad-doc profession, DeMarco chooses instead to build another robot to hunt down the last one. His efforts are only slightly hindered by a moronic CIA investigation (led by a hung-over Wendell Corey, in his final screen role) and the meddling of a cabal of communist spies under the direction of slinky dragon-lady Tura Satana (of Russ Meyer's Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill!), apparently for the purpose of exploiting the solar-powered astro-man for military reasons. When the doc's lovely former lab assistant (she's since been replaced by a leering hunchback) is attacked by the first robot, he loses his solar cell and narrowly escapes destruction (by holding a flashlight to his head!), but in his hurried exit he leads the CIA right back to DeMarco's lab, where most of the surviving cast members bump each other off. Taking into account the obvious goofy editing (characters are seen standing around waiting for the shot to end) and abominable performances all around, director Ted V. Mikels (of the "Point-N-Shoot" school of filmmaking) would later achieve such cinematic heights as The Corpse Grinders and Blood Orgy of the She-Devils. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide

In this service comedy set during World War II, Capt. Cash (Dick Shawn) and Lt. Christian (James Coburn) are given orders to invade a small but strategically important village in Sicily. To their surprise, none of the natives offer the slightest resistance to the Americans taking over their town, who present only one stipulation -- the main event on the town's annual social calendar, a football match followed by a wine festival, is scheduled to happen in a few days. If the Americans would be kind enough to let them have their party, they'll hand over the town without a fight. Cash and Christian think that this plan sounds reasonable enough, and a few days later they and their men are drunkenly whooping it up with the townspeople when both German and U.S. surveillance planes spot the festivities. Thinking the wild party looks more like some sort of battle, both the Germans and Americans make plans to send in troops. Screenwriter William Peter Blatty would enjoy greater success a few years down the line with The Exorcist, a novel about a different sort of conflict. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A group of wildcatting oil drillers battle an Oklahoma oil baron for the rights of a potentially high yield field. The roughnecks fight on the job and in the saloons while hoping for the big gusher that will make them all rich. A catastrophic accident threatens to wipe out the hard work of the speculators. Their progress is monitored by the local oil magnate who waits for the right time to step in and take credit for the potentially big discovery. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

Frank Pagano, mobster and head of Pagano Enterprises, needs to lose $500,000 within thirty days to avoid paying a large sum in income taxes. Deciding on an ingenious plot to produce a flop television pilot, he hires Philipe Fontaine (Maurice Chevalier), a fizzled star who can no longer find work. Philipe's screen-girl is to be played by Angela (Jayne Mansfield), a prostitute aspiring to be an actress--who also happens to be quite close to Frank. Though Philipe tries his best to make what he can of the role, the project seems doomed under the direction of inept Pandowski (Akim Tamiroff). When Philipe finds out what is really going on, he sneaks a copy of the project to the Venice Film Festival as a comedy feature--slightly setting Frank's plan askew. Shot in Rome and Venice, this comedy based on a story by independent producer Ron Gorton took three years to finish. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide

This episode boasts the presence of two "Lieutenant Columbos": Thomas Mitchell, who created the role of disheveled detective Columbo in a 1960 theatrical production, and Peter Falk, who made the character internationally famous in a popular TV series. Mitchell is cast as Milo Sullivan, a gangland banker who supplies loans for various criminal operations--albeit with certain strings attached. Having a score to settle with Sullivan, hoodlum Duke Mullen (Peter Falk) tries to undercut his operation by pretending to fall in love with Milo's niece Louise O'Hara (Virginia Vincent). Meanwhile, Elliot Ness (Robert Stack) patiently awaits the inevitable downfall of both men. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

British sailors John Mills and Richard Attenborough would like to take Neopolitan lass Lisa Gastoni out on a date. But Gastoni can't leave the house unless her baby brother tags along. During a rowdy evening on the town, Mills is forced to sneak the infant on board his ship. When Gastoni and Attenborough arrive to claim the kid, they find that the ship has already sailed. Essentially a British Abbott & Costello picture, Baby and the Battleship manages to deliver a sufficient supply of hearty chuckles. The film was based on a somewhat subtler novel by Anthony Thorne. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide