Al Adamson Movies

This soft-core, tuneful retelling of the enduring romantic fairy tale from Al Adamson is set in the year 2047, a time when men and women are not allowed to touch and the only way to have sex is via computer. In this version, Cinderella meets her charming prince at an orgy. The two click and have a wonderful time, but she must leave. Unfortunately, she forgets something (no, not a shoe). Now the smitten prince must intimately "search" a number of young women to find his true lover. Songs include "Doin' Without" and "We All Need Love." ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Kill Factor was originally released as Death Dimension. Either way, the audience was hep to the fact that it wasn't a Disney picture. The presence of onetime James Bond George Lazenby and Harold "Oddjob" Sakata in the cast was enough to give this one away as a spy picture. And a spy picture it was, with the extra added dimension of kung-fu and karate, courtesy of top-billed Jim Kelly. Veteran Hollywoodites Terry Moore and Aldo Ray also appear in the film, which has something to do with a deadly "Freeze Bomb" (which happened to be the working title of this film when it was lensed in 1978). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

John Wainwright (Larry Hankin) is an author whose body and soul have been invaded by the reincarnated spirit of the sinister hypnotist Svengali. His best-selling new book on reincarnation not only admits this fact readily, but cites it as proof, though the public dismisses it all as an entertaining publicity stunt. The book's publisher, Sir Steven (Norman Pierce), knows better, however. He, like Svengali, is a member of the Society of the Bleeding Rose, a Satanic cult that has discovered the secret to immortality through human sacrifice and the theft of souls. Despite the new book's tremendous popularity, Svengali has a skeptic who challenges the veracity of his claims. Dr. Gregorio (Geoffrey Land) is a psychiatrist who disdains belief in the occult as superstition and quackery, but what Gregorio doesn't let on is the reason he considers himself an expert in such matters; he's actually a vampire, a creature of the undead who knows the truth about eternal life. Sir Steven demands that Svengali procure a fresh, untarnished soul for their society's wicked rituals, and nightclub dancer Trilby (Jane Brunel-Cohen) is chosen to replenish the Satanists' supply of psychic energy. Unfortunately, Wainwright's soul is fighting to regain control of the body that Svengali has stolen, flooding the evil hypnotist with strange feelings of love for Trilby that he can't control. Gregorio attends the Black Mass to disrupt the society's sacrifice with his vampiric talents, but he hasn't counted on the interference of Stephanie, (Susan McIver), a young woman who lost her mother to Gregorio's fangs and is bent on revenge. ~ Fred Beldin, All Movie Guide

In this blaxploitation actioner from cult filmmaker Al Adamson, Timothy Brown plays a Las Vegas detective named "Kicks" Carter. He must foil a gang of criminals dealing arms to Central America and save some gambling addicts who are forced to pay off their debts as prostitutes in a hotel for women. Russ Tamblyn is featured as a vicious thug, Adamson's wife Regina Carrol sings in a nightclub, and there's a vile gang-rape scene. Gary Graver provided the cinematography, which often catches unpleasant real-life details such as toenail clippings on the floor of the hotel. Only genre completists are likely to find much to enjoy, but there are some wonderfully campy moments of unintentional hilarity among the sleaze. Brown had also appeared in Adamson's Dynamite Brothers, while co-star Tanya Boyd was in Greydon Clark's laughable Black Shampoo. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide

When a bunch of beautiful stewardesses attempt to relax at a ranch, they find themselves attacked by mysterious horsemen. Ignoring the smarmy script, the Ritz Brothers regale their old fans and win a few new ones by running through some of their classic routines, including the legendary "hero sandwich" bit. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide

This low-budget action film from cult director Al Adamson features Georgina Spelvin (The Devil in Miss Jones) in a rare non-porn role as a psychotic assassin set up for murder by her partner (Rosalind Miles) and another woman. Spelvin isn't the only porn actress in this desert-set oddity, which co-stars Barbara Bourbon as well as veteran actor Kent Taylor. The pacing is uneven and the film is a rather grungy affair, typified by a scene in which Spelvin rapes a retarded man and shoots him as he climaxes. This scene was used as a selling point for the film's video release, re-titled to capitalize on the success of I Spit on Your Grave. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide

Two TV films were shown during the 1973-1974 season dealing with the emotional and legal ramifications of rape. While the Elizabeth Montgomery vehicle A Case of Rape was closer to Real Life, Cry Rape! also had a lot going for it. Andrea Marcovicci stars as Betty Jenner, whose world is rent asunder when she falls victim to a rapist. Equally as humiliating as the violation itself is the aftermath; Betty must withstand the adversarial questions of the police on the case, and then must relive her nightmare in court. Filmed in a semidocumentary fashion, Cry Rape! veers dangerously close to discouraging any woman from reporting sexual assault, inasmuch as it demonstrates the step-by-step process by which the accuser often ends up the accused. Only its contrived melodramatic conclusion robs the film of its verisimilitude. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Speed (Ross Hagen) is the leader of a rowdy biker gang who reluctantly leaves his girlfriend, Donna (Jill Woefel), behind when the boys take off on an extended run. While waiting for their men to return, the girls take to the road on their own motorcycles and look for action. After avenging a fellow sister's rape and sexually assaulting a reluctant farmboy, the ladies evade the law and hide out at the Spahn Movie Ranch. The ranch is inhabited by a sinister hippie cult led by the charismatic King (William Bonner), who preaches peace and love but is involved in some illegal activities that he's willing to kill for. Meanwhile, the bikers are living it up, having a raucous stag party in the woods complete with beer drinking contests and fistfights. When Terry (Vicki Volante) dies after sleeping with King, Margo (Regina Carrol) knows she has to escape and get help from Speed and the gang. King decides to sacrifice Donna in a weird ritual meant to protect the "philosophy" of the cult, while the bikers race to her rescue. With fists blazing, they make short work of the evil hippies, but King escapes and it's up to Speed and his brother, Turk (Preston Pierce), to exact the proper revenge. ~ Fred Beldin, All Movie Guide

A man who fights his way to success learns the people who helped him may be his biggest enemies in this action drama. B.J. Hammer (Fred Williamson) is a dock worker who used to box in the Golden Gloves and still knows how to handle himself in a fight; when he gets into a brawl at work, he's seen in action by an associate of Davis (Bernie Hamilton), a flashy businessman who manages boxers. Davis thinks Hammer has potential, and offers him a contract. Soon Hammer is training with Professor (Mel Stewart, an experienced boxing coach, and begins romancing Lois (Vonetta McGee), one of Davis's secretaries. After easily winning several fights, Hammer's career is on the rise and he seems poised to become a championship contender. But Davis isn't just interested in boxing; he's an underworld kingpin who also traffics in drugs and prostitutes, and often uses washed-up fighters as pawns in his criminal games. Hammer soon learns just how Davis operates when his manager orders him to take a dive in an upcoming fight, and when Hammer refuses, both he and Lois could face deadly retribution. Also starring William Smith and D'Urville Martin, Hammer was a major box-office success that established Fred Williamson as one of the major stars of the 1970s blaxploitation boom; the film also included an original score from soul music legend Solomon Burke. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

King Amir (Reed Hadley), the beloved leader of a small Middle Eastern country named Khaleed, is sick with terminal cancer and he isn't prepared to die. His confidants arrange with an American scientist to carry out an experimental operation: Amir's brain will be transplanted into the skull of a healthy new body, allowing him to cheat death and continue ruling as a benevolent despot. When he succumbs, the corpse is rushed to the United States, where Dr. Trenton (Kent Taylor) immediately removes the brain and places it in a specially prepared receptacle. Trenton sends Amir's associates away so he can finish the procedure, but as they drive down a steep mountain road, their car is besieged by a menacing driver who succeeds in forcing them off a cliff. Robert (Grant Williams) survives, and suspects that someone is trying to usurp Amir's throne. Meanwhile, the mad doctor dispatches his servant Gor (John Bloom) to find him a healthy male body for Amir to inhabit. Gor, a hulking monstrosity with a twisted face and a child's intelligence, is too clumsy in his horrible task, and Dr. Trenton deems the victim unusable. But Amir's brain can only live outside of the body for a matter of hours, even though they keep it nourished with plenty of fresh human blood (obtained by keeping some teenage girls chained in the basement and tapping them like kegs). Gor is picked to host the transplanted brain, despite his hideous scars, and when Amir awakens and discovers the horrific body the doctor has given him, he goes mad. Robert returns to save his leader, but now Dr. Trenton is demanding control over Khaleed, and special electrodes he secretly implanted in Amir's brain mean he might succeed. Directed by Al Adamson, this gory shocker features Adamson regulars like Zandor Vorkov, Angelo Rossitto, and Regina Carrol. ~ Fred Beldin, All Movie Guide

Perhaps the most flagrantly re-packaged and re-titled no-budget project from notorious schlockmeister Al Adamson, this goofy melange culls footage from no less than three separate films -- including a Filipino caveman/monster movie (shot in black-and-white, then tinted fruity colors by Adamson) and the sci-fi flicks Unknown Island and One Million B.C.. If a plot can be detected amid this car crash of disassembled storylines, it might involve the efforts of a scientist (John Carradine) to send an expedition to a distant planet of space-vampires to halt their invasion of Earth. Once there, the astronauts don't find any vampires, but they do come across legions of oversized iguanas and rowdy Filipino cavemen. Aside from the distinction of having distinguished cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond behind the camera, this film holds some kind of record for the most re-titlings in movie history. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide

This extra-violent Civil War melodrama was also released as Cain's Way and The Blood Seekers. Scott Brady plays a homesteader whose biracial family is butchered by Confederate renegades. Teaming up with bounty hunter-cum-preacher John Carradine, Brady goes after the men responsible. After dispatching most of the killers in particularly gruesome fashion, Brady sets his sights on the renegade leader, Robert Dix. Why is it that the hero never kills the leader at the outset, but always knocks off the flunkeys first? Evidently aiming at surrealism, director Kent Osborne juxtaposes Brady's campaign of slaughter is intercut with scenes of a modern-day motorcycle gang going on a real-life rampage. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide