Hard Ticket to Hawaii

You know the type of film that turns out just great when you watch it with a bunch of folks and everyone's little drunk - even though the film is actually just a piece of crap, with which you wouldn't bother if you were sober and alone.

This happened last Saturday night with Andy Sidaris's Hard Ticket to Hawaii (1987), which might best be described as "a cheesy 80's action movie". It has lots of girls with guns - and the girls are usually Playboy models. There are lots of explosions, evil drug lords, sexy and stupid eighties' clothing, nudity, motorcycles - what's not to like? The film also has Ronn "Ridge Forrester" Moss in the lead (even though he's not seen all that much) and a venomous snake. It's shot around Hawaii, so there's lots of nice scenery.

But then again... The venomous snake is a boa that's been bitten by cancer-infested rats - what the fuck? And it's not seen at all for some 20-30 minutes until it comes attacking through the toilet, exploding the toilet on the way, bursting in a cloud of smoke. Just what were these people thinking? The songs on the soundtrack are appallingly bad, especially the title track. There are weird illogical moments throughout the movie. In one scene, Ronn Moss and the other drug cops are planning an attack at the smugglers' house where one of the cops is held hostage, but then, suddenly, Ronn Moss and one of the ladies go to another room to have sex (and that sex is weird - strictly unexplainable).

At times, Hard Ticket to Hawaii is just as bad as Plan 9 from Outer Space. It's daytime, then it's suddenly night and in just two or three minutes it's daytime again, all through the same scene. This happens especially in the end climax (with the snake coming through the toilet), where you have no idea where Ronn Moss is coming from and where he's been all this time - he's probably been riding his motorbike for eight hours.

But hey, what am I complaining about? Everyone was enjoying the hell out of themselves and some of the scenes will stick to my mind forever.

Take this one, for instance:



Great, huh?

Here's the trailer for the film:



There are other clips from the film at YouTube, go check them out! The scene with the snake exploding from the toilet is also there...

Strawberry Fields: Finnish short film

Here's a short film made by Finnish students, starring a 8-year old daughter of a friend of mine. The film has a nice twist which turns the genre expectations upside down, but I can't even reveal the genre. It's short, so you can easily sit through it, and it has captions in English. (The aspect ratio is wrong in this clip, but I hear there's a DVD with the right one.)

A short Ed Gorman film

Here's a short amateur film from a short story by Ed Gorman. It's quite good and the story is touching, almost not a crime story at all. Directed by John Shane. (By the way, does anyone notice how Gorman salutes one of his favourite writers? It's quite obvious, when you know what you're looking for.)

James Reasoner's Graveyard Shift

Over at Bookgasm Bruce Grossman reviewed some Mike Shayne Mystery Magazine issues of old and mentioned James Reasoner's story "Graveyard Shift". I just want to remind people that it was filmed two or three years back. Check it out: