Short Takes

Once again we're afforded the privilege of sitting at the boots of the grand poobah, the world's greatest living drive-in movie critic, to behold his sage insight and chicken-fried witticisms on B-cinema. Joe Bob Briggs set a new standard for commentaries with his engrossing, amusing, but most of all, uniquely knowledgeable guide to I Spit On Your Grave. That track's been so enthusiastically received by fans that Elite Entertainment smartly leapt to produce this inaugural release in what's to be a continuing series. But does ANYONE really care about a half-century directorial career spent in relative obscurity by William "One Shot" Beaudine!?! Well, Joe Bob does, and by the time he's done bending your ear, you'll be ashamed of thinking that was a reasonable question. While shy of Grave's glory, the commentary's certainly more stratospheric than the public domain feature, unless the words "horror western" just happen to stir your loins in an unexpected way. CineSchlockers anxious for further schooling should devour every page of Profoundly Disturbing: Shocking Movies That Changed History, which includes 15 characteristically inspired essays on flicks as seemingly diverse as The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari and Deep Throat backed by rapid-fire sidebars on related films. (1966, 88 mins, 1.85:1 anam, DD mono, Commentary, Liner notes, Trailer.)