Vernon Becker Movies
- 1979
- R
This inept, obviously low-budget, poorly-acted horror-comedy is primarily a showcase for Nai Bonet a belly-dancer turned actress in her role as Nocturna, the last descendant of Count Dracula. Nocturna has followed her love interest -- rock guitarist (Tony Hamilton) -- from Transylvania to Manhattan in spite of the wrath of her infamous grandfather, who proceeds to follow her. But his thirst for revenge is thwarted by Jugulia (Yvonne de Carlo), a vampiress with a protective bent toward Nocturna, her musician, and their friends. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Nai Bonet, Yvonne De Carlo, (more)
- 1974
Man with a Maid has also been circulated as The Groove Room and What the Swedish Butler Saw. Martin Long plays a swinging bachelor who purchases a very old London apartment. Long finds that he's inherited a roommate: The ghost of Jack the Ripper. What follows is a lumpy blend of sex farce, gratuitous nudity and appalling violence. The film's official leading lady Diana Dors is well past her prime, thus most of the sexual calisthenics are handled by others. The novelty of 3-D photography did little to improve the film's saleability (Have you ever tried to wear those clumsy polarized glasses?) ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1971
The Danish Dagmar & Co. is better known by its American release title, Dagmar's Hot Pants Ltd. The heroine Dagmar Andersson, played by Diana Kjaer, is a successful prostitute who runs her establishment like a "Fortune 500" business. On the eve of her wedding, Dagmar plans to retire from the profession, but her faithful clients won't let her. Regarded as very steamy stuff back in 1971, Dagmar & Co. would probably be able to get by with an "R" rating today. Of interest is the presence in the cast of Hollywood veteran Robert Strauss, one of the first "name" actors to appear in this sort of exploitational fare. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1968
This 60-minute pastiche of silent film footage is narrated by humorist Henry Morgan. While the producers clearly worship Buster Keaton, they are confined to public domain material, so many of Keaton's best efforts, notably Sherlock, Jr. and The Navigator, are absent. The clips from Keatons 1917-1919 apprenticeship with Fatty Arbuckle are interesting, though hardly representative. Old "stone face" even smiles and laughs in some of the Arbuckle pictures! Still, there's plenty of great material at hand, especially the lengthy excerpts from Cops (1922) and The General (1926). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
