Cult Movie Theatre: Black Moon Rising

Tommy Lee Jones as Quint.

To supplement his income as a director early in his career, John Carpenter penned screenplays--several of which were subsequently produced without his involvement. He wrote the Western Blood River for John Wayne's production company. It was intended as a star vehicle for The Duke, but he died before the movie was made.

Another Carpenter screenplay, written around 1980 was Black Moon Rising. Carpenter once called it his "my car is stolen and I'm going to get it back story."  His script went unproduced for almost ten years until the release of Black Moon Rising in 1986. Carpenter received a co-writing credit on the screenplay, but otherwise had nothing to do with the finished film. He even claims to have never seen it.

Linda Hamilton as a car thief.

Tommy Lee Jones stars as Quint, a high-tech thief employed by the government to steal a data tape from a corrupt corporation. He nabs the cassette tape, but not before a rival--now working for the bad guys--recognizes him. At a desert gas station, Quints hides the tape in an experimental hydrogen-fueled car being transported to Los Angeles. His plan is to find his own way to L.A. and retrieve the tape once there.

Quint's plan goes awry when the car is stolen--along with many other luxury vehicles-- from a nightclub parking lot. Quint follows the car thieves to a twin-tower complex where the stolen cars are being kept under heavy security. It won't be easy, but his only course of action is to steal the car back so he retrieve the tape.

The experimental Black Moon.

It's a shame that John Carpenter didn't direct Black Moon Rising. As he showed in Escape from New York and Assault on Precinct 13, Carpenter has a gift for fast-paced action films with colorful characters. However, in the hands of journeyman director Harley Cokeliss, Black Moon Rising is a perfunctory heist film elevated by Tommy Lee Jones's convincing performance and some modestly impressive car chases.

Jones captures Quint's world-weary facade--one can't imagine him staying in retirement for very long. As a car thief who becomes Quint's lover, Linda Hamilton sports a big '80 perm and a lot of pouty attitude.  Sadly, she displays none of the natural strength that she did in The Terminator two years earlier. She and Jones also make an odd pair--in fact, I was somewhat stunned when Cokeliss cuts from the pair riding in her Mercedes to a bedroom lovemaking scene!

Robert Vaughn as the villain.

The supporting cast includes veterans such as Robert Vaughn, Richard Jaeckel, and Kennan Wynn--and then gives them little to do. Vaughn does his best to make his villain creepy by mooning over videos of Hamilton's character from the night he "recruited" her off the street.

The film's saving grace is an extended heist sequence that culminates in the climax. It doesn't come close to Topkapi or even The Return of the Pink Panther, but still generates reasonable tension. Indeed, if you keep your expectations low, Black Moon Rising is a satisfactory popcorn movie--but it's a small bag of popcorn and you'll still be hungry.

Bert I. Gordon's The Food of the Gods

Marjoe Gortner as Morgan.

Is it possible to feel nostalgic about a Bert I. Gordon movie?

Mr. B.I.G. was known for making movies about giant people (The Amazing Colossal Man), enormous insects (Beginning of the End), and large prehistoric creatures (King Dinosaur). He was not known making good movies. Thankfully, there is no correlation between a film's quality and its nostalgic value. Hence, I feel no guilt about enjoying a recent viewing of The Food of the Gods (1976), which I originally saw at a tiny cinema in my hometown of Winston-Salem, NC.

Very loosely based on H.G. Wells' 1904 novel, The Food of the Gods finds a professional football player named Morgan (Marjoe Gortner) taking friends on a hunting trip to a remote island off the coast of British Columbia. When one of the friends is killed by what appears to be a giant wasp, Morgan seeks help at a local farm. He discovers that the farmer and his wife (Ida Lupino) have been feeding a mysterious substance to their chickens--which has caused the animals to grow to gigantic proportions.

Pamela Franklin in a bad hat.

After burying his friend on the mainland, Morgan returns to the island and learns that the substance has also been consumed by wasps and rats...causing them to grow dangerously large as well. A businessman (Ralph Meeker), whom the farmer had approached, wants to buy the rights to the growth substance. He and his associate (Pamela Franklin) soon find themselves trapped on the farm with Morgan, the farmer's wife, and three others as the giant rats strategize how to surround and devour the humans.

The Food of the Gods was one of several Man vs. Nature films produced during the 1970s. Other similar-themed movies include Frogs (1972), Grizzly (1976), and Day of the Animals (1977). It's to Bert Gordon's credit that The Food of the Gods might actually be the best of this bunch. Yes, the characters are two-dimensional, the dialogue sometimes silly, and--let's be honest--acting expectations are low when your leading man is Marjoe Gortner and your chief villain is a white rat.

On the plus side, The Food of the Gods moves quickly, takes advantage of its atmospheric location (Bowen Island in British Columbia), and boasts passable special effects. Plus, it features Pamela Franklin (The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, The Innocents) and I'd watch her in any movie. That said, it's hard to stomach the scenes where she flirts with Marjoe as they battle giant rodents.

Giant rats destroy an RV!

The Food of the Gods made $5 million at the box office, making it one of the forty highest-grossing films of the year. Bert Gordon followed it up with the wacky Empire of the Ants (1977), starring Joan Collins and Jacqueline Scott (one of our favorite interviewees). A belated sequel to Gods, titled Food of the Gods II or the slightly better Gnaw: Food of the Goods II, appeared in 1989. It bears no resemblance to the first film, other than a growth serum and giant rats.

Interestingly, Bert Gordon made an earlier, even looser adaptation of The Foods of the Gods in 1965. Called Village of the Giants, it stars a young Ron Howard as a boy genius who invents a "goo" that causes humans to grow to 30 feet in height. Several teenagers consume it and proceed to terrorize their town. It's sometimes listed as one of the worst films ever made--and I wouldn't argue with that. However, it's admittedly fun to watch because of the cast. In addition to Howard, it stars Beau Bridges, Tommy Kirk, Tisha Stirling, Johnny Crawford, Joy Harmon, and Ryan O'Neal's lookalike brother Kevin. The Beau Brummels are also on hand to perform a couple of songs.