Death Ray Dive

Macho Man (1985)

July 28, 2020 Matt

At least a decade before organized mixed martial arts provided a platform to answer questions such as “who would win in a fight between a kickboxer and a really overweight sumo wrestler?” a somewhat obscure 1985 film from West Germany sought to provide clarity to a similar proposition, with a slight sartorial spin. (“Who would win in a fight: a guy with mustache in a fur-collar leather jacket, or a tall dude with a mullet in leather pants and a white scarf?”) MACHO MAN puts real-life boxer, Rene Weller, and karate expert, Peter Althof, in a tiny wardrobe closet and shakes it vigorously to see if they’ll fight.

Full Power, Long Hours: An Oral History of No Retreat, No Surrender

July 22, 2020 Matt

In the U.S., we take the influence of Hong Kong’s “Golden Age” for granted, but you can see its fingerprints on everything from the 2000 film version of CHARLIE’S ANGELS and the UNDISPUTED sequels to the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the JOHN WICK films. NO RETREAT, NO SURRENDER was a very early version of that classic Hong Kong fight choreography mapped to an American film production, and made primarily for an audience that had gotten its kicks from flicks like THE KARATE KID.

To the Death (1992)

July 7, 2020 Matt

Smoking clowns, unpredictable quips, weird relationship dynamics, alcoholic benders, and murderous sleaze. TO THE DEATH is that rare breed of underground fight film that surprises, confuses, and delights.

Object-Oriented Histories and the Archaeology of the Present

June 11, 2020 Matt

The objects that line the shelves of this museum’s walls couldn’t be more different — a pair of oven-melted glasses sits alongside a group of “flip” cell phones and an antique doorknob, among other exhibit configurations — but all of them, now divorced from their primary use, attain artifactual value in this museum setting. However, in the space between an object and the donor who once used it, an odd phenomenon emerges …

Hunting and Haunting: Filming Locations in Let’s Scare Jessica to Death

June 1, 2020 Matt

Above all other descriptors, LET’S SCARE JESSICA TO DEATH is deeply atmospheric, and that’s due in no small part to the choices in location — they are every bit as idyllic as they are menacing.

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