Dolemite (1975): Boom Goes the Dolemite

 

My first introduction to Rudy Ray Moore and his 1975 Blaxploitation classic, Dolemite, came in the form of the Xenon VHS release. My memory is a little fuzzy about the first time I watched Dolemite on my own, but I do distinctly recall putting the film on one night when a group of friends were over at my place. The results were as expected: lots and lots of uncontrollable laughter. Of course, being in our early 20s, we were consuming beverages of the alcoholic variety, which did nothing but make us even more susceptible to the hilarity that was unfolding on screen. It was a true party movie experience, and if my memory serves correct, the first time I had been in a larger group of people all together laughing and enjoying a film for being unintentionally silly.

Flash forward some 15-20 years, and once again Dolemite is back, and this time he’s being given his due in the form of a Blu-ray release by Vinegar Syndrome. The reason why I say given his due is because not only does Dolemite and the films of Rudy Ray Moore deserve the high-quality love that a company like Vin Syn can give, this is the first time Dolemite will be seen as intended, in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1. Now, the reason why this is important is because every previous home video release of Dolemite, my VHS copy included, is in the wrong aspect ratio (full frame), which led to an unbelievable amount of shots where the boom mic is visible.

Naturally, the presence of a boom mic would make the film seem even more incompetent than it already is, so seeing it in the correct aspect ratio helps give the film a little more technical validity. With that said, even without the inordinate amount of sneaky boom mics, Dolemite remains one of the silliest and down right insane B-Movies ever made, and there’s really no aspect ratio that can change that.

Directed by D'Urville Martin, who is best known as an actor having starred in a number of significant Blaxploitation movies (Dolemite included), Dolemite is the simple tale of a pimp who looks to take out the people who had him sent to prison. This includes a handful of corrupt cops as well as Dolemite’s arch nemesis, Willie Greene (D’Urville Martin), all of whom will do whatever it takes to make sure Dolemite is sent back to prison, or worse yet, dead.

While the basic plotline is simple, Dolemite is far from a simple film. In fact, Dolemite is so sporadic and wild that it’s almost impossible to comprehend what anyone could have been thinking while making it. Dolemite feels more like a series of over-the-top vignettes poised to position Dolemite and performer Rudy Ray Moore as a sort of renaissance man with street cred than it does an actual film.

Much like the more well known Blaxploitation lead characters that came before him, Dolemite is a sort of ghetto superhero; a man who has risen above through sheer force of personality and presence, only to get what he wants, how he wants, when he wants, and all while sticking it to the man and anyone else who dares to cross his path. What you have here in Dolemite is a character who has nice cars, nice clothes, owns a nightclub, and even commands a small army of karate-trained prostitutes ready to do battle on his behalf. Dude has got it made, and he’s got it made because he made it for himself, by himself and shares it with those who stand by his side.

Throughout the course of Dolemite, there are numerous moments that feed into what is seemingly just a vanity project for Rudy Ray Moore. Moore, who attained minor recognition as a raunchy standup comedian, takes more than one opportunity to spew his creative and often hysterical rhymes. This is most significant during the third act of the film, where there is an uncomfortable amount of time dedicated to a stage show in Dolemite’s club. This includes everything from a musical performance, a tribal dance number and, naturally, a spoken word set via the man of the hour himself, Dolemite. All in all, the sequence is interesting because it’s a nice window into black culture of the time, and the performances are all genuinely great. However, it comes at the expense of pacing, as having an extended 15 minute stage show brings the film to a complete halt. Thankfully, this sequence leads to the film’s finale, which is a no holds barred action fest of silly inept karate moves and other various action atrocities.

The new Blu-ray release from Vinegar Syndrome is stellar and very much on par with what I have come to expect from the niche distribution label (their releases of Madman and Christmas Evil come HIGHLY recommended). The transfer – which was scanned and restored in 2k from a recently discovered 35mm negative – is impressive, with a good amount of detail and colors that pop right off the screen. It's very fitting for such a colorful movie (and such a colorful character at that). The special features are also noteworthy, with a solid 24 min documentary about the making of Dolemite, a full-frame “Boom Mic” version of the film and a 23 minute interview with Dolemite co-star and long-time collaborator, Lady Reed. The cream of the born insecure crop, however, comes from the commentary provided by Rudy Ray Moore biographer, Mark Jason Murray, which is insightful, and extremely informative about both the film and Moore himself.

Dolemite the film, and character alike, is funny (albeit unintentionally), it’s violent, vibrant, ridiculous, and sexy (well, it tries to be). It's exploitation at its finest, and never has there been a better time to jump on the Rudy Ray Moore train than now.

 

The Conjuring/Pacific Rim Blu-ray Giveaway Winners!

It’s time to pick the winners of the Pacific Rim and The Conjuring Blu-rays! To see if you were one of the lucky winners, then you will have to watch the video below.

The Conjuring Blu-ray Giveaway!

Even though the Pacific Rim contest hasn’t ended just yet, I couldn’t turn down the opportunity to participate in a giveaway for the Blu-ray release of James Wan’s The Conjuring. Things are a little different this time around, as there isn’t a trivia quiz or anything of that nature. Instead there are these interactive gifs that you can mess around with, which should offer you about 3 minutes of entertainment. Well, unless you’re on acid, in which case I think they’ll provide you with 3 hours of entertainment.

Anyway, to enter this Blu-ray giveaway, all you have to do is leave a comment below stating what your favorite horror film is so far this year. The deadline to enter is Friday, October 25th, and please be sure to include your email address and any allergies you may have.

The Conjuring 5 Things to know… INTERACTIVE GIFS!

1) The Conjuring is directed by the acclaimed James Wan, the Australian-born director of the fright-fests Insidious and the Saw series. His Twitter handle is @CreepyPuppet. Say no more.

 

2) The Conjuring has been given an “R” rating by the MPAA. Not because of blood, gore, or violence, but simply because it’s just so scary from start to finish!

3) The Conjuring’s cast and crew experienced creepy events during filming. Scratches appeared out of nowhere on Vera Farmiga’s computer soon after she agreed to act in the movie, the crew were routinely woken by something in the “witching hour” between 3 and 4AM, and the real-life Carolyn Perron fell and broke her hip while visiting the set.

4) The Rhode Island farmhouse where The Conjuring is set once belonged to an accused witch, Bathsheba, who tried to sacrifice her children to the devil and killed herself in 1863.

5) Hold your applause! The Conjuring will make you terrified to clap! Whether it’s playing a traditional game of hide-and-seek by following the clapping sounds like the mother and daughter in the movie, or being terrorized by ghostly claps in different rooms of the haunted farmhouse, these claps throughout the movie will give you the creeps!

Pacific Rim Blu-Ray Giveaway!

Pacific Rim is making its way to Blu-ray on October 15th, but why waste your hard-earned drug money buying a copy when you can win one right here?! It’s pretty much the same deal as the other contests: take the SUPERFAN TRIVIA quiz below, then leave a comment with your results as well as an email address, and you will be entered to win yourself a Blu-ray copy of Pacific Rim!

You have until Friday, October 18th to enter, so stop wasting your time reading this, and get to taking that quiz!

The Red House (1947): Trespassing into Womanhood

Based on the novel by George Agnew Chamberlain, 1947’s The Red House is, on the surface, a fairly straight forward thriller that focuses on the dangers of jealousy and the secrets and lies that can come from contained lust. The film stars legendary actor Edward G. Robinson as Pete Morgan, who with the help of his sister Ellen (Judith Anderson) has raised a girl named Meg (Allene Roberts) from an abandoned baby girl to a teenager climbing towards adulthood. Despite their unusual situation, their family unit is quite stable; however, things begin to change for the family when Mr. Morgan, who has lived much of his life as a cripple, decides to hire one of Meg’s schoolmates, a young man named Nath (Lon McCallister), to help with some of his daily choirs.

Nath is the kind of boy who could be considered a popular kid. A good-looking young man who has a lot of charm and as much tenacity to go with it. He has a bright future, he’s eager to work and he even has himself a very attractive girlfriend named Tibby (Julie London), who loves him as much as he loves her. His character greatly contrasts that of Meg, who is painted as socially inept, but for no other reason than she is simply a little shy and certainly sheltered. It is revealed early on that her odd family situation is cause for gossip filled whispers at her high school. The chit-chat is not necessarily a direct result of how she carries herself socially but more a result of her personal home life. Regardless, she is very innocent to the world in almost every way; it’s a characteristic that she exudes from her very being and how she presents herself.

While shy, Meg is at an age where naivety brings about an intense curiosity of the world outside of the one she has always lived in. It is this curiosity that is prodded by Nath who, after learning that the surrounding woods near the Morgan’s home is plagued by some sort of unnatural danger, decides to investigate. Despite the numerous warnings given by Mr. Morgan, Nath is driven by his own brand of curiosity, and Meg is quick to follow Nath in his quest to learn more about what wicked things haunt the woods and what answers lie within the Red House.

For much of the film, there is a bit of a power struggle between the persistent Nath and the adamant Mr. Morgan. Mr. Morgan constantly asks Nath to just stay away from the woods. But despite Mr. Morgan’s warnings of the danger they present, and regardless of the proper head that he carries on his shoulders, Nath is too stubborn and, to a point, too egotistical to listen. While Mr. Morgan is not at all okay with Nath’s persistence, he is more concerned for the safety of Meg, who he has clearly been protecting from the secrets of the Red House and possibly the real reason she is as sheltered as she is. Nath’s desire to explore rubs off on Meg, and for Meg this is more than just a little adventure, which is what scares Mr. Morgan most.

While there is much to be said story wise about director Delmer Daves’ The Red House, what makes it stand out as being more than your basic, albeit well made, thriller is the complexity of the characters. It’s what really sets the film apart, specifically with the characters of Nath and Meg, who carry a level of subtext worthy of completely overtaking my attention in this review.

The character I find to be most interesting is Meg, who is driven by a desire to learn about what secrets are being kept from her and how they might affect her past, and Nath is the catalyst that sets her on this path. However, this runs parallel to a budding sexual subtext, where Meg is not only exploring her past, she is exploring her own individuality both as a woman and as a sexual being. And again, Nath is clearly the catalyst in this situation, too.

This all plays right into Mr. Morgan, who clearly perceives Meg as a daughter and fears that she will be greatly hurt by what she can learn from the past. Despite the fact that he is basically only her caretaker, Meg looks at Mr. Morgan as a father figure, and she is very much treated like daddy’s little girl, regardless of whether she actually is or not. Meg is growing into a woman, and as is the case with almost every girl who matures into womanhood, she is gravitating away from someone who has been her protective father figure to someone who can give her more than fatherly love. Deep down, this is what I believe truly frightens Mr. Morgan about Meg and Nath's growing relationship.

While her budding sexuality is a clear subtextual character trait, Meg is never exploited in a sexual fashion or any fashion whatsoever. In fact, she remains pure sexually and, more importantly, as a character throughout the film. Meg's curiosity about her past and as a sexual creature is played off innocently, and when in contrast to the more outwardly lustful character of Tibby (Nath's girlfriend), her character’s arc and structure benefit from it. She becomes the character that the viewer (or at least me, to be more specific) and Nath come to fall in love with, and this is indeed a natural progression throughout the film.

With her expressive doe like eyes that feel as if they are staring directly into your soul with a loving innocence, Meg is a character who slowly takes over the film by becoming the character that the viewer cares about most. In my opinion, falling for Meg is a necessity for The Red House to be successful, and it gives the film a density that helps it be much more than a mere thriller. It's the story of a woman becoming a woman, on her own terms and without the constraints of authority.