I recently had the chance to re-examine a series of films that had – outside of the first entry, anyway - slipped by my radar. A quintet of rough, violent, jut jawed crime classics that had apparently defined a generation and sparked and shaped a wave of gritty, sexy exploitation cinema that I’ve always adored. So then. How the hell did I miss  worshipping at the shrine of the DIRTY HARRY sequels? HOW? What’s WRONG with me?!

Friends…you don’t have the time for me to answer that…

So instead of checking myself into therapy to get to the bottom of this damaging celluloid oversight, I’ll instead move forward and use our time to rhapsodize on Warner’s new DIRTY HARRY collection on DVD (and Blue Ray, natch). The past has passed and what’s most important is that I now know the .44 score.

So here we go…

Any fool who denies that director Don (INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS, 1958’s hard edged Eli Wallach vehicle THE LINEUP) Siegel’s 1971 reactionary, Zodiac killer inspired thriller DIRTY HARRY is a masterpiece has no place in my universe on any level. Outside of the untouchable Sergio Leone “Man With No Name” westerns, the role of ‘shoot first, ask questions later’ LA cop Harry Callahan is Clint Eastwood’s most iconic persona. His hard stare, his growled line delivery and subtle sense of self aware humor is perfectly matched by Siegel’s (who really was one of the great unsung action cinema masters…he never made a bad film) unpretentious, bullet to the heart visual storytelling. Raking in huge dough at the box office and opening the floodgates for a new wave of gritty American cinema, it was a given that more Callahan adventures would follow.

Let’s have a look at these nasty little gems:

MAGNUM FORCE (1973) 

The follow up to Siegel’s film has been accused of being more gratuitously violent and less socially significant than its predecessor, but whatever your read of it, MAGNUM FORCE is a tense, mean and sometimes shocking action classic. In it, Harry comes up against a secret society of corrupt, vigilante cops who have positioned themselves as judges, juries…and brutal executioners. The great character actor Hal Holbrook plays Eastwood’s blustery boss who may or may not be entangled in the conspiracy. From the opening credits with Callahan’s buffed .44 revolver pointed at the camera, to the climactic shoot em up finale, MAGNUM FORCE is riveting – and darkly funny-entertainment with major 70’s attitude and a killer score by returning composer Lalo Schifrin. And while he lacks the blunt genius of Don Siegel, veteran TV director Ted Post (who had also directed many episodes of Clint’s RAWHIDE series) gives the film a sense of urgency and paranoia that in many ways outdoes the first film. Not to be missed.

THE ENFORCER (1976) 

Less terrifying than the Scorpio killer and not as paranoid as a rotten police force, THE ENFORCER finds LA under siege from a gang of youthful yet lethal terrorists, a rather vicious bunch that coldly kill anyone who gets in their path. When another collective of Black Panthers-esque black militants get the rap pinned on them, a raging Harry gets put on suspension and has to solve the case himself…with the help of his equally tough female partner (CAGNEY & LACEY star Tyne Daly). THE ENFORCER boasts moments of extreme violence but is tempered by sequences of broad comedy, such as the scene where Harry, in undercover redneck gear, shows up at a nickel and dime rub and tug only to be offered a sexual tryst with a blow up doll.  While a bit safer than the previous two Harry epics, THE ENFORCER is still a tight, pulse pounding affair, well served by James Fargo’s meat and potatoes direction….and Clint is in top form as usual.

SUDDEN IMPACT (1983) 

The first DIRTY HARRY picture of the 1980's, SUDDEN IMPACT is a relentlessly grim, supremely entertaining vigilante picture that many critics have ridiculously dismissed as the worst entry in the franchise. In it, an aging Callahan is still running afoul of his superiors when a spate of murders grips the city. Male victims are found shot, twice - once in the head and once in the groin. Turns out the killings are being committed by Eastwood's then real life squeeze, Sondra Locke, who is exacting ritualistic revenge against the lowlifes who gang raped her and her now catatonic sister. SUDDEN IMPACT is the only Callahan movie that Eastwood directed and therefore it's the most psychological and unsettling. The lip curling reviews for the picture are truly mystifying as this strange, violent, disturbing film is just as gritty as the first three Harry pics and unique for the fact that there are no moral absolutes whatsoever: the serial killer in question isn’t bad, or crazy…just angry at a system that let her down.  Lalo Schifrin's jazzy score is fantastic and the film features the second most immortal Callahan quote since the first flick ("Go ahead…make my day…"); SUDDEN IMPACT is a dynamite meditation of the value of committing violence as an act of catharsis….and tons of icky fun. 

THE DEAD POOL (1988) 

The last and least of the Callahan classics often teeters on the brink of unforgivable, bombastic 80's cheese but is redeemed by Eastwood's typically magnetic turn as the ultimate armed anti-hero….and a comic book caliber set piece than is truly magnificent, if a bit out of place. In THE DEAD POOL, the debate over vigilante violence is quashed in favor of a Giallo-esque thriller where horror films themselves are the villain, In it, a megalomaniacal thriller filmmaker's (Liam Neeson) lead actor (an early Jim Carrey turn where he's essentially playing Axl Rose, right down to lip synching 'Welcome to the Jungle' and mainlining heroine) is murdered, an act that uncovers a secret 'dead pool' list of well known figures that are commonly thought to be en route to meet their maker. And guess what? Harry's on the list… 

Schifrin's disappointingly mundane, synth soaked score in THE DEAD POOL is unforgivable and the movie lacks much of the leather tough nastiness that drove the first 4 films, favoring slick production values and cheap laughs over grime . But when, mid film, the killer in question utilizes an explosives wired remote control car to launch one of the greatest extended cat and mouse automobile chases since THE FRENCH CONNECTION, all sins are mostly forgiven. This may be lightweight DIRTY HARRY hokum, but at LEAST its still a Harry happening: an adequate swan song to a series that broke plenty of rules and cemented Eastwood into Hollywood legend.

Don’t make the same mistakes I made, friends…see these films now. Thank me later.

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From www.Fangoria.com :

Variety confirmed details about the death last night of makeup and FX master Stan Winston at age 62. Winston succumbed to multiple myeloma, which he’d been fighting for seven years, at his home, surrounded by family.

Winston began his career in the 1970s, toiling on B-pictures like THE BAT PEOPLE, DR. BLACK, MR. HYDE and MANSION OF THE DOOMED, and more notably on TV productions such as GARGOYLES, THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF MISS JANE PITTMAN (both of which won him Emmys) and ROOTS. He got the first of nine Oscar nominations for his robot creations in 1981’s HEARTBEEPS, but it was his work for director James Cameron on THE TERMINATOR that vaulted him into the big leagues, and in rapid succession he amassed major credits including Cameron’s ALIENS (his first Oscar win), John McTiernan’s PREDATOR, Tim Burton’s EDWARD SCISSORHANDS (both of those got him nominations) and Fred Dekker’s cult favorite THE MONSTER SQUAD. He made his directorial debut with 1988’s PUMPKINHEAD.

Winston was one of the most prominent FX artists of the 1990s, winning two more Academy Awards for Cameron’s TERMINATOR 2: JUDGMENT DAY and Steven Spielberg’s JURASSIC PARK and nominations for Burton’s BATMAN FOREVER and Spielberg’s THE LOST WORLD: JURASSIC PARK and A.I.: ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE. (He was also the first person to accept a Fango Chainsaw Award for Best Makeup FX, for his T2 illusions.) Winston branched out into producing on such features as WRONG TURN, last year’s THE DEATHS OF IAN STONE and the CREATURE FEATURES series of AIP remakes for cable. And he served as mentor to numerous other makeup and creature creators, most notably Alec Gillis and Tom Woodruff Jr., who succeeded him on the later ALIEN features. Last year, his contributions to cinema were celebrated in the massive Titan Books tome THE WINSTON EFFECT: THE ART & HISTORY OF STAN WINSTON STUDIO, and the many facets of his career are also covered at www.stanwinston.com.

Winston received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2001 (pictured)—only the second FX artist to receive that honor. Most recently, he created the physical suits worn by Robert Downey Jr. in the title role of IRON MAN, and was encoring on TERMINATOR SALVATION: THE FUTURE BEGINS. Fango laments the passing of one of the genre’s greats. —Michael Gingold

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This week on my BLOOD SPATTERED BLOG, I take a look at one of my favorite 'Hammer Horror' films: Terrence Fisher's fever pitched HORROR OF DRACULA sequel, 1960's BRIDES OF DRACULA.

Have a look...

http://www.fangoria.com/blogs/index.php?blog=2

And don't forget to log onto the BLOOD SPATTERED BLOG every week for classic horror film appreciations and new celebrity interviews...

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Beginning this Monday, June 16th, I will be writing a weekly film review column at www.NewThisWeek.ca.
The column will cover current theatrical film and both new release and classic DVD releases.
There will be a new blog entry live on the site EVERY Monday so be sure to keep logging on!

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