Mardi Rustam Movies

This silly horror film stars Dean Jagger in a zoned-out performance as a mad scientist whose experiments in halting the aging process have reduced the residents of Smalltown, U.S.A. to shambling zombies. Since his serum requires massive amounts of extracted human pituitary fluid, Jagger is ever on the lookout for more unwilling donors -- i.e. nearly everyone unlucky enough to pass through town. This film is apparently assembled from pieces of two different projects, including an uncompleted film from the mid-'70s, and spiced up with some gratuitous nudity courtesy of former Playboy playmate Lynda Wiesmeier. As expected, the combination doesn't really work -- the editors have made a commendable attempt at maintaining some form of continuity, but the end result seems hardly worth the effort. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide

In this horror film, two teenage girls are kidnapped in Chinatown. Then, via flashbacks, we see an elderly couple living on a remote island with their young grandson and their mute, brain-damaged son. The family turns out to be a clan of psycho killers, who murder visitors. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide

Director Tobe Hooper's follow-up to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre presents yet another Southern-fried psycho (this time in Louisiana) in the form of a scripture-mumbling, one-legged cracker named Judd (Neville Brand). The proprietor of a seedy bayou inn, Judd keeps a pet gator in the nearby swamp, to which he frequently tosses the remains of his unfortunate victims -- including anyone who offends his delicate sensibilities. One such casualty is Harvey Wood (Mel Ferrer), arriving at Judd's hotel in search of his missing daughter... who, unbeknownst to her old man, has already met her own doom courtesy of the scythe-wielding madman. Other patrons include one of the most annoying families on record -- with Chainsaw veteran Marilyn Burns as the strangely-bewigged mom, William Finley as the browbeaten husband and future Halloween tyke Kyle Richards as the endlessly-shrieking daughter (whose adorable puppy becomes a light gator-snack). Nightmare on Elm Street fans can spot a young, pre-Freddy Robert Englund in a small role as a lecherous cracker. Originally titled Death Trap and known by many aliases, including Starlight Slaughter, Horror Hotel Massacre and Legend of the Bayou. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide

This early '70s effort from veteran exploitation director Greydon Clark attempts to create a more socially conscious variation on the blaxploitation genre, but devotes most of its time to thrills of the most lurid variety. The story begins with Jim (director and co-writer Clark), a liberal-minded white Vietnam vet witnessing the death of a black soldier. He returns home and attempts to deliver the fallen soldier's posthumous Purple Heart to the soldier's family. In the process, he angers Makimba(Tom) (Tom Johnigarn), an angry militant who was the soldier's brother. Jim and Makimba's paths continue to cross as the two deal with their problems: Jim struggles to decide whether he should settle down with the prim and proper Nancy (Jacqueline Cole) or live with the free-spirited Bobbie, and Makimba develops an ever-growing anger towards white society as he is hounded by racist white cops, Lt. Stans (Aldo Ray) and Sgt. Berry (Jock Mahoney). Tom is finally driven over the brink and takes action, resulting in a tragedy that changes both men's lives forever. Despite the serious nature of the story line, the film that resulted is an exploitative affair that takes every opportunity to titillate the audience with plenty of sex and violence. As a result, its attempts at social consciousness went ignored, but its salacious moments went over well with the drive-in crowd. Director Greydon Clark later revisited the blaxploitation genre with the even more exploitative Black Shampoo. ~ Donald Guarisco, All Movie Guide