Phillip Jeffries: Offical Website of the Film Writer/Essayist

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Blog Post #1

The Scarlet Hour from '56 and China Gate from '57 make for a great Nat "King" Cole Double Feature. You can't go wrong with a Michael Curtiz then by following it up with a Sam Fuller. A recommendation from yours truly on April 2nd, 2026.

I suppose all of my "blog" entries will show up on every page. I plan on regularly giving recommendations, especially double features.

Blog Post #2

David Hemmings directs The Survivor, an oddball of an Ozploitation flick starring Hemmings' co-star from Harlequin, Robert Powell. Like so many international co-productions, the film feels woozily out-of-step with time, space and geography - for all these reasons, I recommend Harlequin as the second feature on this double bill. Some may even find some narrative parallels between The Survivor and Powell and Pressburger's eternal A Matter of Life and Death. Brian May's synth-driven score should give any retro-synth nerd a synth-gasm. Also along for the ride are a bored out of his skull Joseph Cotten, and the always ravishing Jenny Agutter. I do not believe The Survivor to be some lost classic or even cult classic, however; if you watch the longest cut, and give it some time to breathe, I think Hemmings' feature sticks the landing (pun intended). Out now from Indicator on a sparkling new 4K UHD disc. It's a weird one! #indicator4k

April 2nd, 2026 - Phillip Jeffries

Blog Post #3

Hammer Films' more exploitational tendencies certainly blossomed in the '70s. Vampire Circus - out now on 4K from Imprint Films - relishes in tittilation - many a buxom lass' boobs, butts and other, uh, assorted meats, are on full display and quite noticeable on this stunning restoration. It is also on the creepier end of the Hammer spectrum - like with Twins of Evil, there's a perverse undercurrent which is impossible to ignore in a post-Epstein "beyond the looking glass" world. Vampirism and sexuality have always gone hand in glove, though Vampire Circus' inclusion of children in the vampiric-satanic rituals is gut-wrenching or even nauseating to witness when one knows the truth about the elites running our world. The Counts in both Vampire Circus and Twins of Evil may as well be Jeffrey Epstein or any of the other sickos who make-up the Epstein class. Rising up against oppressors is but another commonality these 2 Hammer Horror flicks share - I reckon this would be a fun double bill. #imprintfilms4k

April 2nd, 2026 - Phillip Jeffries

Blog Post #4

Ivan Passer's elegiacally melancholic neo-noir hits 4K UHD for the first time courtesy of Radiance. While Cutter's Way did not blow my socks off upon an intitial viewing several years ago, I was far more able to hop aboard its wavelength this time around. Tis a ''Nam hangover/hangout crime film which packs an emotional wallop you may not see coming due to its sun-kissed Santa Barabara locale. John Heard's ferocious performance as a crippled Vietnam veteran is an all-timer in the annals of noir. After being lied to by his very own government, losing multiple limbs and an eye, all in the name of thwarting "Communism", Cutter despises his country, the world and life itself. His wife Mo (Lisa Eichhorn) is unable to stop Cutter's downward spiral, and Bone (Jeff Bridges) is a laid-back, lothario drifter-type who just goes where the day takes him. A murder takes place at the outset of the picture. Almost right away our characters have their man - Passer's film is uninterested in any procedural type of mystery. After all Cutter has been through, he desires justice, and one sliver of truth in what was quickly becoming a postmodern right-wing dystopian hellscape. Post-Vietnam and Watergate, one could argue that the post-truth world we all know and loathe today was fast-taking shape in the 'make America great again' Reagan years mould of the '80s. It is no wonder Cutter's Way bombed at the box-office in 1981 - Jaws (1975) and Star Wars (1977) had begun the predictive programming of infantilizing adult audiences who had become accustomed to the nihilistic films of the New Hollywood movement of the '70s. Passer's film was only a few years out of step with the filmic zeitgeist. No matter the outcome of America and Israel's illegal war of choice on Iran, you can bet the war will produce many a Cutter in the years to come - men and women alike, clamoring for truth whilst righteously raging at the world. #radiancefilms4k

April 3rd, 2026 - Phillip Jeffries

Blog Post #5

American RIckshaw is perhaps THE quintessential psychotronic film. Cauldron Films announced themselves with quite the bang when they released this insane Italy by way of Florida mess on blu-ray way back in 2020. Sergio Martino's fever dream ripoff of John Carpenter's Big Trouble in Little China is pure guano goodness. This is the kind of movie whereby you make lifelong friends - American Rickshaw has become shorthand between myself and my good pal Graham Davidson who runs the successful Man V Film YouTube channel. I'm not one to do audio commentaries - though I have never been asked to do one - it just seems like far too much work for such little gain. However; good ol' Graham has convinced me to do one for this either for fun, or if this ever makes the leap to 4K... give us a call Cauldron! Or any other label who may put it out in such a format. I am happy for my friend Ryan Verrill and his compadre Dr. Will Dodson whose very first audio commentary is finally seeing the light of day on Cauldron's upcoming 4K release of Jess Franco's Jack the Ripper, starring male feminist, Klaus Kinski. This blog will in large part be recommendations from yours truly, and if you're into strange, Eurocult cinema which is off the beaten path, Jesse Nelson and Cauldron Films have you covered. I adore American Rickshaw. Donald Pleasance's performance goes full-ham, you won't know what that means until your peepers have experienced this for the very first time.

April 3rd, 2026 - Phillip Jeffries

Blog Post #6

What would happen if you took Bergman's Scenes From a Marriage and added sadistic sexual violence, just your average run of the mill violence, some brutal violence, some not so nice violence and then some rape? What you get is this here Franco Nero-starrer, Hitch-Hike. You just know you're going to be in for a rough ride when you see David Hess' name appear in the credits - he was the go-to rapist back in them grindhouse days. Some critics have even called him the "idiot savant at portraying scoundrels, thugs, punks and no-good, dirty rotten rapists!" I forget which critic wrote that, but he was a darn good one - impeccably intelligent so I hear. Anyways, this exploitation flick no doubt played in the cum-bucket cinemas of 42nd Street back in the golden days - perhaps your grandpappy had a wank in one of them - you never truly can know someone, not even one's own kin. Sure, this flick was projected in front of many a distracted audience, however; Hitch-Hike is an exploitational diamond in the rough. If I were to pair it with another Italian exploitation picture from the '70s, that would be Aldo Lado's Night Train Murders. Both of these films have more on their minds than simply showing off some skin for the 42nd Street perverts. Lado's picture is incredibly class conscious and anti-fascist - he was able to walk between the "high-art" world of being assistant director to Bernardo Bertolucci all the while rolling around the pigsty that is grubby exploitation. Lado may have been cleverer than his "high-brow" contemporaries - he could sneak his feelings and ideas pertaining to institutional distrust into populist entertainment. Night Train Murders exudes a funeralistic vibe not unlike Paolini's Salo: or the 120 Days of Sodom. Hitch-Hike takes aim at the institutions of marriage and journalism - we all know these exploitation pitcures are grim at best, so Hitch-Hike's prognosis for these "sacred" institutions is what you'd expect - not great!

April 4th, 2026 - Phillip Jeffries #indicator4k

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Blog Post #7

I really loved this Krimi set from Euereka last year. While Krimi flicks are a rash too chaste for my taste, this set was incredibly important - many Western audiences had yet to even set eyes on a Krimi picture. I bring this set up because the wonderful artist who designed this incredible set also drew the unbelievable slipcover for New Wave Video's upcoming worldwide debut release of A Colt is My Passport. poochamin_art is the guilty culprit and his work is astonishingly good. He kindly reached out to me via Instagram about how thrilled he was to be able to be such an integral part of the project as Shishido Jo is one of his favourite actors of all-time - me too, pal! Here is his IG account. He should be hired more. Love his use of colour too, splashy as hell, but also super classy. https://www.instagram.com/poochamin_art/

April 5th, 2026 - Phillip Jeffries

Blog Post #8

As I write this blog post, the day is nearing its end here in Toronto. I am living through history whilst my father is succumbing to dementia. Of course I understand that we are all living through unprecedented times. Personally, I cannot unplug from the news of the day - I must anticipate the markets as best I can all the while navigating through the storm of rapid fire history. A new world order is taking shape, America is falling, and make no mistake, it will fall. Expect the Yuan to be the world reserve currency sooner than you think. As a Canadian, I welcome the rise of Brics. To paraphrase Robert Pape; "What is happening is akin to the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of The Cold War. Except this time, America will fall like the Soviet Union did - Russia, China and now Iran will emerge as the new global super powers". Both Iran and China have been around for thousands of years - America's upcoming 250th birthday feels more like a funeral than something to celebrate - while there will be a UFC fight on The White House lawn, there is no bread for the masses, only circus. Even then, distraction, like concerts and films will be only for the economically secure - never mind trying to pay for your movie ticket or blu-ray - that spam in a can is now a mirage just out-of-reach due to stagflation, and ultimately a depression will take shape which will make 1929 look like a hell of a fun time. I write this knowing no one will read it or care, but it is very hard to give a shit about making special features for blu-rays and 4K's when I feel like none of it truly matters. Sure, I've taken a hit financially (I'll likely take more), but I'll be ok on that front. Mental health wise... well, that's another story. Isolation, loneliness, illness and death fill my days as of late. I may as well turn The Samson Option inward. I hope people are doing better than I am.

April 6th, 2026 - Phillip Jeffries

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