From Beyond: 6 out of 10: All the ingredients are here for a kick ass movie. First of You have Stuart Gordon director of the superlative Re-Animator and Dagon. In addition From Beyond is also a HP Lovecraft adaptation.

Moreover, there is the cast... Jeffrey Combs is a Lovecraft movie staple and a fine actor. Scream Queen Barbara Crampton famous for the greatest receiving head scene in cinematic history (Re-Animator again and the head in question was decapitated and alive) and is tied with Michelle Johnson as the quintessential blonde sex symbol of the eighties.

Heck the movie even has Dawn of the Dead hero the always-watchable Ken Foree.

There is nudity, bondage, brain eating, slime and silly monsters.

It simply does not gel as a movie.

Pacing and the script seem to be the enemy of the good here. For a movie with so many gladdening elements, it can be a true slog. From Beyond seems to drag just when the getting is well getting good.

The monsters are neither terribly scary nor funny they are just slimy puppets of various sizes. There is no sense of fun in the film and it certainly does not get one involved enough to care about the characters fates.

Barbara Crampton spends too much time in large oversized glasses and a tight bun in her hair and buy the time she lets her hair down (and her bondage gear on) Jeffery Combs is bald, naked and making guttural sounds.

As for the story... well I have seen the film twice and I have still no real idea what is going on. (Something to do with monsters from another dimension and the pineal gland) From Beyond is certainly worth a watch for fans of Gordon, Lovecraft or Crampton but I cannot help feel that this was a colossal missed opportunity.



Barbara Crampton gets violated (and topless) by a slimy (and Undead) Ted Sorel



This is called somnophilia where someone (This case Barbara Crampton in bondage gear) has sex with an unconcious person (A bald Jeffery Combs)


Dr. Frued Line 2... Paging Dr. Frued.


Those glasses do nothing for her.


Ken Foree joins Barbara Crampton and Jeffery Combs facing a slimy (in more ways than one) Ted Sorel



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What’s up Tiger Lily: 7 out of 10: Long before Airplane or Mystery Science Theater 3000 or even my own mix-up of an uncut bootleg of Chōjin densetsu Urotsukidōji and Led Zeppelin II (Blows Pink Floyd and the Wizard of OZ out of the water) there was What’s Up Tiger Lily.

A very young Woody Allen acquired the rights of a Japanese James Bond knockoff called Kokusai himitsu keisatsu: Kagi no kagi (Literal English title International Secret Police: Key of Keys) and dubbed in his own dialogue.

The film starts with some non-dubbed footage involving bondage, a shootout, and a circular saw. Then Woody appears with an interviewer telling what he has done with the film. The film then restarts with Woody’s dubbing in place and with the exception of two short interruptions by Woody (both very funny) It is the Japanese import with a new script and story.

The dub itself is quite funny and well done. One can definitely see the roots of some of Woody Allen’s comic themes in this work. The overall story of the world’s greatest egg salad recipe is quite well done and the voice work is applicable and fits the onscreen characters well.

What’s Up Tiger Lily benefits from good source material to work with. Longtime fans of Mystery Science Theater 3000 know that even the best riffing can suffer from deadly boring source material. (Red Zone Cuba for example). What’s Up Tiger Lily’s source material is colorful, action packed, and has a very attractive cast. In fact I would love to see the original source material.

On the down side, since the film is dubbed, when the movie has no dialogue the experience can drag. Unlike an Airplane or a Mystery Science Theater 3000 riffing session, What’s Up Tiger Lily isn’t a 10 jokes a minute affair. Even more detrimental to the momentum the Lovin Spoonful show up periodically in an unrelated music video. This both dates the effort horribly and kills the flow of the humor.

What’s Up Tiger Lily is a must see for fans of Mystery Science Theater 3000 and of Woody Allen’s early comedy. (And fans of the Lovin Spoonful I guess).

One should pay respect to ones elders and it is a very fun time.


I couldn't find any decent screenshots so in the tradition of the film I dubbed in my own.


I don't know her personally (I think) but she was on my computer


In keeping with the sixties theme here is sixties Playboy model China Lee


I have a strange collection of paintings of female soldiers from I believe China... This one has a chicken.


Okay it is an Orchid not a lily... but seriously do you really need an excuse not to post this illustration.


Modern Japan has also contributed much to our culture.


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Willa Ford is a multitalented actress and songstress originally from Ruskin, Florida. She has appeared on Dancing with the Stars and sang the song "Lullaby" from Pokémon: The First Movie.

She also Played Anna Nicole Smith in a telepic filmed in 2007.

Sexy and apparently a decent singer Willa Ford is still looking for that breakout role.

In addition, she had the best death scene by far in Friday the 13th. (If anyone considers revealing that the topless blond gets killed in a Friday the 13th movie a spoiler please check your meds.)
























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