Not that it’s a great film, or at times even a good one. The story is simple and occasionally predictable, and some of the performances leave a lot to be desired. But its glimpse into the world of skateboarding in the 1970s, coupled with a spirited turn by veteran Allen Garfield, do their part to make Skateboard a lot more fun than it has any right being.
Hollywood agent Manny Bloom (Garfield) owes money to just about everyone, including his longtime financial backer Sol (Antony Carbone). Desperate for an idea that will make him some fast cash, Manny recruits a group of teen skateboarders to join a newly-formed skate team. Lured in by the promise of fame and fortune, the kids, including Brad (Leif Garrett), Tony (Tony Alva), Jason (Richard Van Der Wyk), and Jenny (Ellen O’Neal), jump at the opportunity
With his team assembled, and with the help of professional nurse Millicent Broderick (Kathleen Lloyd), Manny’s L.A. Racers hits the road. But when Sol orders Manny to pay him back sooner than later, Manny turns up the pressure on the kids, a move that could ultimately jeopardize their chances of winning an upcoming championship, the top prize of which is $20,000.
A lifetime character actor / supporting player, Allen Garfield takes center stage in Skateboard, and does a fine job as Manny, one of life’s losers who accidentally stumbles upon a good idea. When we first meet him, he’s climbing into his beat-up Datsun, begging it to climb the steep hill in front of his house “just one more time” so that he can get to the unemployment office. An overweight, balding gambler who hasn’t paid his ex-wife’s alimony in months, Manny Bloom isn’t your typical movie lead.
And, for that matter, Garfield isn’t your typical star. But he wins us over, dedicating his every waking moment to making the L.A. Racers a legitimate team. He’s a nervous guy, always kind of jittery, yet he takes care of the kids, and even pays them their portion of the prize money every time they win a competition, or show off their skills to a paying crowd.
Even when Manny is pressuring the kids unmercifully, which starts the day after Sol’s bodyguard, played by Sylvester Words, visits Manny in his hotel room and gives him a black eye, we at least understand him, and there isn’t a time when we’re not rooting for this character to get out of this pickle.
Kathleen Lloyd’s Millicent does what she can to talk some sense into Manny, and their scenes together are quite good. When it comes to the kids, the performances are more miss than hit, but most of them were professional skaters, not actors. Tony Alva, an original member of the Zephyr skate team and one of the key personalities featured in the 2001 documentary Dogtown and Z Boys, fares a bit better than Van Der Wyk, whose Jason is the star of the L.A. Racers. The exception is a young Leif Garrett, whose Brad ends up in the spotlight for the film’s finale (Garrett was one of the few teens who had acting experience, and was cast because he could also skate).
There really isn’t much to it story-wise. Skateboard hits all of the standard beats. It’s the scenes in which the skaters are front and center, showing off what they can do, that give the film its energy.
With an assist by Garfield, of course, who in this movie shows that he should have been given a few more shots at being a leading man.
Rating: 7 out of 10
A van carrying a bunch of troubled kids to a children’s psychiatric facility crashes in the snow, killing the driver and the adult supervisors. Left on their own, five children: Susan (Tia Thompson), David (Leif Garrett), Brian (Tierre Turner), Moe (Dawn Lyn), and Hannah (Gail Smale), who dresses in a nun’s outfit and poses as a sister, hike through the snow until they come to the vacation home of business tycoon Papa Doc (Gene Evans), who is enjoying a weekend getaway.
With Papa Doc on his brief vacation are his young wife Lovely (Carolyn Stellar); business associate Harvey Beckman (Sorrell Booke) and Harvey’s alcoholic wife Ruth (Shelley Morrison); as well as Papa Doc’s daughter Julie (Joan McCall), whose argumentative boyfriend Rick (Taylor Lacher) has turned down several offers to work for Papa Doc. Feeling sorry for the kids, the adults do what they can to make them feel comfortable until help arrives.
But strange things begin to happen. The phone lines are suddenly dead, meaning the police cannot be called. Also, someone has been messing with the generator. And to top it off, Papa Doc’s dim-witted handyman Ralph (John Durren) meets a gruesome end (which may or may not have been suicide).
Before long, the group realizes these youngsters may not be as innocent, or as harmless, as they seem.
The cast of Devil Times Five does a decent enough job, especially Sorrell Booke as the mild-mannered Harvey, who has a problem standing up to either Papa Doc or his wife; while Gene Evans makes for an unlikable host, a bully who is used to getting his way (those moments when Rick challenges him are pretty satisfying).
Led by Leif Garrett, who at this point in the ‘70s had already appeared in a number of movies, the kids also hold their own. Garrett is especially good as the unpredictable David. A scene where he and Harvey play a game of chess serves as a precursor to one of the film’s more memorable kills.
And it’s the kills where Devil Times Five truly distinguishes itself. The first to fall victim to these psychotic kiddies is Dr. Brown (Henry Beckman), the lone adult to survive the van crash, who woke up and followed the children’s snowy footprints to the house. Playing out in gruesome slow motion, Dr. Brown is beaten with hammers and stabbed with a pitchfork.
Based on what will happen to a few others, though, Dr. Brown got off easy! Everything from axes to rifles, fire to spears are used to dispatch the unsuspecting adults. Though for my money, it’s the piranhas (yes, piranhas) as well as the film’s final scene that stand apart from the rest.
You wouldn’t think a movie about killer kids would be as effective as Devil Times Five, but it works. And in a big way. A gritty, down-and-dirty horror film, it’s become a grindhouse classic!
Rating: 9 out of 10
This made him some powerful enemies, and there were several attempts on Pusser’s life over the years. According to reports, he was stabbed eight times and shot as many as nine, yet always returned, as determined as ever to rid his community of crime.
Released in 1973, Walking Tall is an oft-bloody look at Pusser’s career in law enforcement, from the events that led him to run for sheriff to those that cost him everything he held dear.
At the urging of his wife Pauline (Elizabeth Hartman), Buford Pusser (Joe Don Baker) retires from professional wrestling and moves back home to Tennessee, where he and his father (Noah Beery Jr) intend to start up a logging business.
Warned by his mother (Lurene Tuttle) that things have changed in McNairy County, Buford gets a glimpse at just how bad it has gotten when he accompanies an old pal to a gambling house. After catching the house cheating, Buford tries to get his friend’s money back, only to be beaten and left for dead by the side of the road.
Committed to driving the criminals out of McNairy, and to making it a better place for his son Mike (Leif Garrett) and daughter Dwana (Dawn Lyn), Buford runs for sheriff. The current Sheriff (Red West), who has been bought by the gambling houses and turns a blind eye, is none too pleased, and harasses Buford every chance he gets. Following a tragedy, Buford is elected, and sets to work carrying through on his campaign promises.
The gamblers and moonshiners do their best to eliminate Buford, who has taken to carrying a 4-foot-long club instead of a gun. Ambushed, beaten, and shot several times, Buford always recovers, and carries on with his life’s work.
That is, until one tragic Easter morning, when he suffers a loss greater than any he ever imagined.
Directed by Phil Karlson, Walking Tall is unrelenting in its depiction of violence, both against Buford and by him. When he recovers from his first beating, Buford returns to the gambling house and knocks everyone around with a baseball bat.
The brutality is often difficult to sit through, yet Baker’s solid, unwavering performance holds our attention throughout, even when it looks as if he’s down for the count (and this happens several times throughout the picture). Also strong are those sequences where we eavesdrop on meetings between the gamblers, pimps, and moonshiners as they come up with a series of plans to eliminate Buford, a few of which damn near succeed.
But it’s those moments where Buford and his deputies are taking the fight to the criminals, frustrating the hell out of them time and again, that are most satisfying. In the film’s most shocking scene, Buford rescues a prostitute who is being tortured because the criminals believe she has been tipping off the cops.
Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of Walking Tall is that, while building Buford Pusser’s reputation as a vigilante, it also delves into his weaknesses and imperfections. After becoming sheriff, Buford and his newest deputy Obra (Felton Perry) raid a moonshine camp and arrest everyone, only to have the case thrown out of court because he didn’t first obtain a search warrant. Buford also lets his temper get the better of him, and sometimes loses his cool. This is especially noticeable in a scene where he confronts a deputy of his who had been tipping off the gamblers.
Yet, for me, the stupidest thing Buford Pusser does in this movie is allow someone to ride along with him to check on an anonymous tip. What happened as a result was as much his fault as anyone's. I was literally screaming at my TV during this sequence, asking what was he thinking?
That said, Walking Tall, with its grindhouse approach to telling its story, is an effective, harrowing look at a lawman who never backed down. It is an unforgettable motion picture.
Rating: 8 out of 10