FINAL GIRL explores the slasher flicks of the '70s and '80s...and all the other horror movies I feel like talking about, too. This is life on the EDGE, so beware yon spoilers!

Aug 5, 2008

the time has come

It's new Film Club pick day, huzzah! This movie is one I know you're gonna be excited about...and if you're not, then quite frankly I wonder what you're doing here in the first place! KA-BLAM:

Damn straight, skippy! Not that I need to list any reasons why I'm choosing this movie, but let me say this anyway: giant animals vs Ida Lupino and Marjoe fucking Gortner. It's time for the Film Club to do this shit up good!

Click here for Netflix info, which includes a magical insta-download. For those of you who live in Los Angeles, you can see the BIG animals on the BIG screen at 10pm Saturday August 9 at the Silent Movie Theatre. Omigod, life is so good!

The movie: The Food of the Gods
The due date: Monday, September 8

go, Marjoe fucking Gortner, go!

In other news, JA has written a magnificent guest post over at The Film Experience, listing his Top 10 Leading Ladies of Horror. It's a thoughtful list, and I agree with his choices- especially considering it's more about the performances than about the characters. I'm glad to see someone else giving Shelley Duvall some love- I was getting lonely in my love of Wendy Torrance.

Because he's awesome, JA then heads back to his home turf My New Plaid Pants and gives us 10 runners up...or is that runner ups? Meh, either way, it's all about the blondes.

Hooray cool blog-types!

27 comments:

Anonymous said...

I like Gortner best as psycho Jody in Earthquake, goin' all crazy on Victoria Principal about green stamps. And his fucking wig was crazy. I posted a clip with him, Shatner , Robert Reed and Andy Griffith from "Pray for the Wildcats" on youtube a while back http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNuU2BFaU-c

Jason Adams said...

I want to wish into physical form that string of superlatives you've granted me with, and then rub them all over my body in a sexual manner not befitting a public forum.

Also, thanks!

And I hope you understand that it was my work on those lists that kept me from writing up The Car yesterday. Anyway, all I really had to say on the movie was "Mmm 70s Brolin" and "Cat Poo!", all of which was covered, so no great loss there.

But shall I ever write up Food of the Gods! I hadn't seen it until it almost won against Lifeforce the other month in your poll, but then I went and watched it like three times in a row. WONDROUS!

Dave Ehrlich said...

Mmmm, Ida Lupino and ketchup-splattered rats crawling all over a dollhouse. Good pick, Stacie...and frankly, a much better choice than, say, Night of the Lepus.

Anonymous said...

its interesting that "food of the gods" is often quoted as being one of the worst films of all time, (which i, by the way, do not agree with), however, i think its important to point out that no matter how bad, (or good), the film is its still a million times better, by itself, than everything that has ever been produced in the last hundred years put together by that murderous abomination and curse on humanity known as "the british film industry", you see, when some silly little, (but highly entertaining), american made monster movie is still infinitly better than anything that the crap british film industry could ever dream of producing, (and it is beleive me, it is), that shows you the monumental unbelievable gap there is between the breathtaking magnificence of the american product and the laughable pathetic joke that is the, (so-called), british film industry, and the moral of this story is, "ALWAYS, ALWAYS, WATCH AMERICAN FILMS, THEY WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN EVEN AT THEIR WORST, AND NEVER WASTE YOUR TIME WATCHING BRITISH MADE CRAP", in fact i would take it a step further and say that the entire british film industry should be destroyed as soon as possible so that never again may it pollute the world with its hideous outmoded pathetic unwatchable garbage.

Dave Ehrlich said...

Apparently, sir, you have yet to see Hammer Studios' Dracula A.D. 1972.

Anonymous said...

Ha, I just watched this. Due to the August heat here, I’ve been watching many Nature Run Amok films. So far I’ve watched The Birds, Jaws, Frogs, Day of the Animals, Long Weekend, Grizzly, Tarantulas: Deadly Cargo, and Food of the Goods. I’ll have a review up soon.
Chuck Wilson

Zombie Cupcake said...

That screencap is effing amazing! Am queueing the film up on LOVEFiLM now...

Anonymous said...

the only reason i watched this film is that i`m still in love with pamela franklin and at the time this film was made she was 25 years old and there-for only 7 years past the peak of her physical attractiveness and desirability, she was such a sexy bird, (and i was always prepared to forgive the fact that she is british), now, onto the actual film itself, i was surprised at how good it actually is, the entertainment value is surprisingly high, in fact, (and you may have problems believing this, but its true), i recently saw "the dark knight" and for me "food of the gods" was actually a better film, I`M NOT JOKIN` EITHER, (pun intended), so all things considered i would wholeheartedly recommend "food of the gods" as a reasonably good piece of unpretentious fun.

FilmFather said...

This was one of my favorite "monster" movies to watch over and over on HBO as a kid in the late '70s. I even drew a very colorful picture of the siege at the cabin, complete with giant rats being shot or eating a human or two. (These days, I'd probably get sent to a child shrink for something like that.)

Alas, you can never go back: I bought a VHS copy of Food of the Gods off Half.com last year, and what I remembered as awesome action/horror was reduced largely to camp. Still fun to watch, but for different reasons. However, I will give the film props for its classic '70s open-ended/downer finale.

Anonymous said...

Wow, you guys watch giant rodent movies?

Where has this blog been all my life?

Anonymous said...

this film, (and many others like it), does rather make me pine for my cinematic fjords, if you get my drift, you dont !!!, well gather round and let me enlighten you, i`ve always regarded "ray harryhausen" as, well, not to put to fine a point on it, "THE SUPREME RULER OF THE UNIVERSE", and although he was not involved in the production of this film i always think of him when-ever i see a magical little film of this kind, (and make no mistake "food of the gods" really is a gem, a cult item par-excellence), because for me ray harryhausen at age 88, (i hope he lives to be 108), is perhaps the most influential film maker of all time, he has inspired countless young film-makers to acheive the astonishing special effects wizardry that we now take for granted. Now i know that most of the special effects in this film were acheived with-out stop motion animation, but they still remind me of ray and the incredible imagination he brought to the medium of the moving image. Films like "food of the gods" still have a strange kind of old worldly cinematic charm to them that is difficult to put into words, although i am also the first to admit that something like, say, "terminator 3: rise of the machines" would blow it out of the water, but its still not a bad old movie that i guarentee you will enjoy.

Anonymous said...

this film, (and many others like it), does rather make me pine for my cinematic fjords, if you get my drift, you dont !!!, well gather round and let me enlighten you, i`ve always regarded "ray harryhausen" as, well, not to put to fine a point on it, "THE SUPREME RULER OF THE UNIVERSE", and although he was not involved in the production of this film i always think of him when-ever i see a magical little film of this kind, (and make no mistake "food of the gods" really is a gem, a cult item par-excellence), because for me ray harryhausen at age 88, (i hope he lives to be 108), is perhaps the most influential film maker of all time, he has inspired countless young film-makers to acheive the astonishing special effects wizardry that we now take for granted. Now i know that most of the special effects in this film were acheived with-out stop motion animation, but they still remind me of ray and the incredible imagination he brought to the medium of the moving image. Films like "food of the gods" still have a strange kind of old worldly cinematic charm to them that is difficult to put into words, although i am also the first to admit that something like, say, "terminator 3: rise of the machines" would blow it out of the water, but its still not a bad old movie that i guarentee you will enjoy.

Anonymous said...

alright, alright, we understand you are a big fan of ray harrhausen but you didn`t have to leave the same comment twice, YOU LUDICROUS OAF.

Theron said...

The 70s rocked for a number of reasons, but it seems we can all agree that Marjoe was one of the main reasons. It's odd, this Cult of Gortner...

Anonymous said...

theron, i`ll tell you some-one else who has acheived legendary cult status 20 years on from her death, "HEATHER O`ROURKE", on february 1, (the twentieth anniversary of her death), i watched poltergeist III 3 times in a row in tribute to her, what did you do theron?

Anonymous said...

check out the awesome documentary MARJOE, about his child evangelist years and the tent revival con art. It's great.

Anonymous said...

bwana, i didn`t ask for your opinions on mr. gortner, i want to hear what you think about miss. o`rourke.

Stacie Ponder said...

I'm thisclose to banning anonymous comments. Please stop being douchey.

Unknown said...

That is a great poster.


- T

www.MostEmailedNews.com

Bush said...

The way that giant rat is groping that lovely lady's right mammary on the poster leads me to believe that he may be a rare breed of gargantuan titmouse.

Anonymous said...

actually bush, the way that giant rat is groping that lovely lady`s right mammary on the poster leads me to be incredibly jealous of the giant rat.

B-Sol said...

I'll never forget the first time I saw this, on the "Late Show" on ABC as a teenager. I couldn't believe what a gem I had stumbled upon.

Anonymous said...

What's more scary then disgusting giant rats? love it.

By the way on my site i upload my Comic-Con video piece on the Ladies Of Horror at this year convention.

Anonymous said...

i first saw "food of the gods" on british television sometime in the early 80`s and i never forgot it, you see, astonishing as it may seem it was a real treat to see something of that quality on t.v. at that time, because only 27 years ago british broadcasting was still an ocean of unwatchable home grown garbage, and they were still to snobbish to show anything that was even remotely, (a) american. or (b) entertaining, but occasionally they relented, and when they did how joyous it was to momentarily escape from all that british made hogwash and experience the real mccoy from america.

Anonymous said...

I eagerly anticipate your treatment of the scene where Marjoe Gortner valiently battles the giant rooster in the barn; it is truly one of the greatest things ever committed to celluloid.

Anonymous said...

my dear sweet bonnie, not only is the scene where mr. gortner battles the giant rooster in the barn one of the greatest things ever committed to celluloid it`s also one of the most magnificent examples of forced perspective trick photography in the history of cinema.

Johnny said...

Freddy in Space Food of the Gods Review :)