Computer Superman (1977) - Sompote Sands

Let me first admit, that my knowledge and understanding of Thai is rather limited. This means of course that I didn't really understand a word being said in this Sompote Sands film. Four dudes - one with giant hands, one with giant ears, one with a tail and one with an exceptionally runny nose (?) - gets yelled at by their dads and team up to battle with thugs. At least that's what I think happened. Anyways, taildude is turned into an awesome cyborg by this utterly eccentric scientist-chap and he saves the day! This is definitely a comedy of sorts though and the special effects are sweet (running-scenes especially). I'm assuming this must have been popular when it was originally released, because its pretty neat even without me being able to understand the dialogue. I'm definitely hoping subtitles will be made for this one day. Yay!

Tetsuo II: Body Hammer (1992) - Shinya Tsukamoto

While the original Tetsuo is accepted as an awesome film, it's sequel is generally considered to be far inferior. I can see where the critique is coming from, but personally I love "Body Hammer". It might not be as "edgy" as the original was, and it's basically a lot of the same stuff happening again, just with a bigger budget, but as an entertaining spectacle, it is marvelous. The bodybuilding scenes are awesome, the soundtrack is still awesome and the speed and craziness of it all is still there. "Body Hammer" should not be dismissed.

Android (1982) - Aaron Lipstadt

Klaus Kinski's + robots in space? The result is pretty decent, but it has nothing to do with Kinski being in it. Kinski is pretty bland in this one. What I do find entertaining is the fact that the android in this, is listed as playing "himself" in the credits. I can't decide whether its utterly dumb or if it is related to the ending of the film. I'm also quite sure that the megablockbuster "Prometheus" used the scenes where Max watches "Metropolis", as inspiration.

Tetsuo (1989) - Shinya Tsukamoto

"Tetsuo" is one of those movies that is a tad too mainstream for the programs I try to put together here, but that I end up streaming anyways because it's bloody awesome. It had been a few years since I saw this and I must admit I liked it even more this time around. It's a difficult film to describe in many ways, but I don't think calling it "the "Eraserhead" of its decade" is completely wrong. The visual quality and strangeness of it all is similar to what we find in Lynch's film, but the energetic pace is definitely from the 80s/a taste of the 90s. I would also dare say that "Tetsuo" has a lot in common with silent cinema. Just have a look at the  acting in the scene with the drill-penis. Anyways, it's a film that doesn't need much of an introduction - I like it.

Alien Terminator (1988) - Nello Rossati

Franco Nero, George Kennedy, Roger Moore's daughter, KGB, CIA, UFOs, Nazis, aliens, terminators. Sort of slow, but has all sorts of odd shit happening from time to time. Bizarre car chases and chases in general, a completely nonsensical plot about alien conspiracies and a pretty strange ending. The cover is way more awesome than the actual film (as is often the case with these), and the film totally doesn't deliver the goods. Rather than getting a radical scifi film, you get a dirt cheap conspiracy flick shot at some utterly lousy locations. I have seriously no idea what market Nello Rossati was trying please with this one, as it is all over the place. Why is George Kennedy even in this? Why is anyone in this?

Nemesis 4: Death Angel (1996) - Albert Pyun

The fourth installment in the Nemesis-series. Features Sue Price killing cyborgs with her superbeefy thighs. The plot is something about Sue squeezing the life out of the wrong cyborg and some ensuing drama. Don't let the cover fool you - she gets naked or is naked in most of her scenes. God damnit, Albert Pyun... Why? 

Moontrap (1989) - Robert Dyke

Bruce Campbell and Chekov go to the moon and discover traces of ancient civilizations and evil robots! This one managed to do a lot on what was probably a tiny budget. A neat little film, in a genre I absolutely adore. It gets increasingly silly towards the end, but it's still good fun. Apparently, a comic book adaptation was made of this, and I assume that would be pretty awesome. Yay!

I.K.U. (2000) - Shu Lea Cheang

(Mostly) softcore porn about cyborg chicks out to collect "orgasm data"! Lots of corny special effects, some cool music and strange locations. It's like watching a high-paced hacker movie from the late 90s that somehow only consists of sex-scenes. This is an odd one, peeps. Yay!

The Humanoid (1989) - Aldo Lado

Aldo Lado somehow found himself making a space-opera at the end of 70s. The result? "The Humanoid". This one is a proper stinker, that almost put the dude I was watching it with to sleep. A dude turns into Jaws and start fucking shit up. Blatant Star Wars ripoff, featuring an Asian kid that knows magic/can summon jedi archers, Ivan Rassimov (!) as Darth Vader/Lord Graal, the silliest hairdo in history and a R2D2 clone that looks like a dog! Not extremely entertaining, but good enough. I'm mostly amazed that Aldo Lado managed to poop out this film after having made some really fine films earlier in the 70s.

Robowar (1989) - Bruno Mattei

Predator as reimagined by Bruno Mattei. If you replace the space-alien with a robocopesque robot that sounds like a speak & spell toy on crack + replace Schwarzenegger with Reb Brown you have this flick.  Also, has Massimo Vanni (from tons of neat Italian stuff) and supercool Filipino beefcake Max Laurel (from Zuma, Sgt. Clarin and Commander: The Last American Soldier). It even has quite a bit of hut-destruction. Robowar is awesome in every sense of the word! Robowar is one of my favorite Mattei films. Watch this one back to back with Robo Vampire.

Kamen Rider ZO (1993) - Keita Amemiya

A professor sets out to improve the human form. Turns out the best way to do this is to give a dude the power of the grasshopper! An odd choice, but the kamen rider-project seems to success anyways, the on the other hand, demon fetus he is working on is evil. Grasshopper rider vs. insectoid bastards controlled by demon fetus ensues, as the demon fetus hates the professor's kid. Good fun and nice rubber suits. Yay! 

Theme: Robots!

Robots, cyborgs, androids, computers and everything related to such things.

Enjoy the company of awesome robots and robettes at torbovision all week!

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