All posts by Canadiana Jan

Cruel criminal really loves his son

I Don't Know the Name... (unsolved movies)

My daughter says we watched this movie a few years ago. I don’t remember it at all.

She describes a man, apparently a single father, who is a criminal and treats his son cruelly.

Her key memory is at the end, when they’re being chased by police. A tire is shot out, forcing them to stop, and the father knows what’s coming so tells his son to get away and find help, and when his son exits the car the father is shot and killed.

Anyone know what this is? My daughter can’t remember any more details but this movie would have been in colour, probably less than 25 years old, and probably American.

It’s not “Road to Perdition” or “Mud” (AI suggestions).

Not Army of Darkness

I Don't Know the Name... (unsolved movies)

I think I saw this scene in a movie in the ’90s, and I thought at that time that the (colour) movie had been made quite recently. At some point I thought it was Army of Darkness but I’ve since watched that and did not see the scene. Perhaps an alternative version?

In the scene the Ash-like hero is driving his sweet convertible through rough terrain with his best Sheila-like girl by his side. It felt like the end of the movie but may just have been a pivotal moment. He suddenly slams on the brakes, and as the camera pulls way back to take in the entire situation, we see the car is stopped before a huge cliff with (if I recall correctly) Deadite-like creatures crawling around everywhere.

And that’s all I remember. Ring any bells for anyone?

Building demolition documentary turned into comedy short

Solved!

I saw this colour short on TV in the late ’70s or early ’80s but I don’t remember if it was part of a longer show like an anthology or perhaps one of the guest shorts they used to have on SNL. It’s probably American judging from the setting and language.

The original film is a static shot looking up a busy city street that documented the explosive demolition of a multi-story office or apartment building several blocks away.

Someone took this film and dubbed his voice over it, pretending to be the director of a dramatic movie. As pedestrians wander in and out of frame, the “director” yells stage directions to them to make it seem like their movements are part of a script. At one point he yells at someone that they’ve missed their cue; some guy hurriedly crosses the street while looking at the camera, only to be told, “that’s it, you’re fired pal … you’ll never work in this town again.”

The final punchline is when the “director” decides he doesn’t like the composition of the shot and yells at the crew to get rid of a particular building in the background, at which point said building collapses in a cloud of dust.

It was very creative and I’d love to see it again, if anyone can name it or point me to the video itself (my google-fu found wanting).

Housewife copes with PTSD from sexual assault by becoming a prostitute

I Don't Know the Name... (unsolved movies)

If my description below sounds interesting but unfamiliar you should stop reading before the last paragraph.

This was a colour, live-action movie in English (probably American) I saw in the ’90s. A woman is raped but is able to identify her attacker to the police, only to be traumatized again when her attacker is given a relatively light sentence.

This negatively affects her relationship with her husband and kids, but she manages to carry on after falling into and then actively constructing a second life for herself as a prostitute when her husband is at work and the kids are in school. There are moments when she’s almost caught and has to think quickly to keep her secrets. It appears to start as a form of escape, allowing her to pretend to be someone other than a victimized housewife, but her new life starts becoming her real life and her old life starts feeling false and distant.

The whole idea seems far-fetched but I started buying it as the movie went along. In the end …

 

 

(Stop reading here if you think you might want to watch this movie.)

 

 

… her new friends — other prostitutes, shopkeepers, bar owners, various other people from this seedier part of town — have become almost like a second family, and her close relationships with them allow her to walk into a bar one afternoon, walk right up to her former attacker as he’s being welcomed back from prison by his (and her) friends, and shoot him dead. Fade to black (I did not see that coming at all but it was enormously satisfying). I no doubt have some details wrong there, but please let me know if you recognize this movie.

Late ’60s / early ’70s animated adventure story

Solved!

This one is hard to describe as I was very young and at home sick from school when I saw it. It’s a colour animated adventure film about a boy and his family and I saw it in on TV in the early to mid ’70s. The film may have been Japanese, while the characters may have been native North Americans or possibly some kind of prehistoric people.

I remember nothing of the story save that I was so impressed with it that for some time I wanted to become an actor just to star in a live-action remake. The only detail I remember is one scene where the boy’s mother helps him dress. I think they lived in a natural setting like a clearing in the forest or perhaps a cave. The boy either put on or took off a brown dressing gown or cloak or fur, and I remember that because I was shocked to briefly see his bum, thinking I’d need to get a stand-in for that scene (I was a bit of a prude).

Scant to go on, I know, but I’d love to see this movie again to figure out why I was so impressed with it.

Aliens shoot Earth boy with M&Ms for Christmas

I Don't Know the Name... (unsolved movies)

I don’t recall what made it a Christmas special, but this aired during Christmas break in the mid to late ’70s in a time slot that had featured more typical kids’ Christmas fare on other days.

It was in colour with quite good production values, and I saw it on CBC or CTV (Canadian networks).

A boy discovers a UFO landed on a hill in the woods near his home. In the scene I remember, he somehow ends up inside the spaceship, trapped in a chamber. A weapon-like clear plastic L-shaped tube descends from the ceiling and turns ominously towards him. The boy’s fear turns to delight, though, as the tube starts shooting M&Ms or (Canadian) Smarties towards him, eventually filling the chamber to his waist.

Mischievous boy confuses villagers

I Don't Know the Name... (unsolved movies)

Another kid’s movie airing in colour on a Saturday morning in the mid to late ’70s on CBC.

The scene I remember has the boy sneaking out of his bedroom late at night and running around a medieval-looking town naked or in his underwear. He finds a bucket or barrel filled with pitch / tar / black paint, dips his hands and feet into it, and jumps up against the wall of the clock tower.

He then gathers a bunch of apples, dips them in the black liquid, and throws them at the top of the tower.

The next morning, the villagers are stunned to find hand and footprints seemingly running up the tower with the clock at the top sporting a sloppy black smiley face.

Boy travels to places using a TV tuned to static

Solved!

This was a kids’ movie I saw on CBC in colour in the mid to late ’70s. It’s probably British (based on the setting of a pivotal scene described below) and aired on a Saturday morning.

The boy can travel to places via his TV when it’s tuned to static. I think he was guided by a man in the TV wearing skis which, I guess, helped him navigate the airwaves, though this may be a memory from an entirely different film.

The scene I remember quite vividly is after the boy has been captured by guards in a castle — possibly beefeaters in the Tower of London — and ordered to be executed by beheading. He’s granted a final wish at the chopping block and asks to watch his favourite TV show. So a TV is brought over and placed before him and the guard, sympathetically, asks if he’s enjoying the show. The boy replies that he is, although there’s nothing but static on the screen. At that moment he disappears into the TV and makes his escape.

Horror movie with a whole lot of naked people

Solved!

I saw the first ten or fifteen minutes of this movie on KTVU’s Creature Features one Friday night in 1979 (I remember because John Stanley hosted on Saturdays while Friday’s show was unhosted). It was in colour and the production values suggested it was filmed earlier in the ’70s, possibly the late ’60s.

In the film, a group of young men and women take a boat up a river or to an island for a party or orgy or — I don’t know — Junior Chamber of Commerce AGM. Their clothes come off immediately upon arrival (apparently the network’s censors had turned in early that night).

The last thing I remember seeing was a young man and two young women casually smoking and chatting naked outside on the moonlit steps of a castle or mansion. I then turned the TV off and headed to bed as my father had picked that night to fall asleep on the couch next to me, and I was certain he’d wake up any minute and say, “so you stay up on Friday nights to watch SMUT?”

(Worse, he would’ve likely followed up with, “that’s my boy!” and insisted on watching it with me.)

This movie was all the talk among the other prepubescent boys in school on Monday and I’ve never gotten past missing out on all that scandalous nudity. Well, okay, I actually forgot about it entirely until I stumbled upon this site. Now I’m more curious what horrors would have been justly visited on these young people for their flagrant disregard of propriety. Anyone know this movie?

Old nightmare-fuel fantasy adventure

Solved!

I saw this movie in the early ’70s on TV in colour (garish, grainy Technicolor, if I remember correctly). It left an impression on me as I found some of the imagery extremely frightening, but I remember my feelings more than the actual scenes.

It was some kind of fantasy adventure where the heroes were on a quest, having to pass a series of perils to reach their goal and then make their way back. I vaguely recall a swamp-like peril, but my strongest memory is of a crack opening in the ground revealing a passage to a cave filled with thick white web-like material, home to some nasty creature I’ve blotted from my mind.

The heroes may have been led by a famous character like Hercules or Sinbad or Jason (the Argonaut) but I don’t specifically remember Harryhausen-like stop motion monsters.