Bone (1972)

Also known as Housewife, Dial Rat for Terror, and Beverly Hills Nightmare, Bone is a very dark comedy which explores the fantasies of a Beverly Hills couple (Andrew Duggan and Joyce Van Patten), and the black man who invades their home, and holds the wife hostage. Yaphet Kotto as Bone is able to enter their home and dominate them with no weapons of any kind. It is simply the fact that he is large and black that intimidates them completely, playing on the stereotype of the "scary black man." In one of many interesting speeches, Kotto bemoans the fact that, with improved race relations, he has become an outdated stereotype, and people were no longer afraid of him. His aim is robbery, but he finds that they not only have no cash, but are overdrawn on their bank accounts. Finally, he finds a secret bank account that Duggan has hidden from his wife. Duggan is sent to withdraw the money, while Bone holds his wife captive. The threat is that he will rape then kill her if he doesn't get the money.

Duggan has second thoughts, goes to a bar, and ends up in bed with a cook. Kotto feels like he has to rape Van Patten now that Duggan has not shown up, but finds he can't perform. At that point, Van Patten has a few drinks to fortify herself, then seduces Kotto. At that point, they become partners, and go after Duggan.

The film could be Kotto's fantasy of having a rich white woman fall for him, or Duggan's fantasy of getting rid of his wife, or Van Patten's fantasy of a handsome, powerful black man seducing her. Then there was the couple's son, who was actually in jail for hash smuggling in Spain, but whom they claim is in Vietnam. The film might be the fantasy of the son, imagining revenge on his parents.

It was very brave for its time, and the concept that black men are just plain scary because they are black is just as valid now as it was then. Cohen feels the film was never promoted as what it actually was, a comedy. I enjoyed it very much. It was not the usual fare, which is a good thing, and I had no idea what was coming next. Some of the scenes had me laughing out loud, such as the scene where Kotto and Van Patton are calculating exactly how they should maim or kill Duggan in order to get the most money from his life insurance policy.

It was Larry Cohen's first film. Cohen shopped for distribution all over town with very little luck, but the film eventually made money on the drive-in circuit. 

C.

IMDb readers say 6.2.

Scoop's note: Quite a find! I had absolutely no idea that Joyce Van Patten ever flashed her honey pot on screen! (See collage #21)

 

Joyce Van Patten shows breasts, buns and a gynocam shot.

 

8 Days a Week (1997)

Part II

A reader requested images of Catherine Hicks and her almost nude appearance in this film. She plays the part of a neighborhood divorcee who is clearly making herself available to the young men in the neighborhood by flashing from her window. It was a very brave performance, given her midriff bulges and love handles, and she even obviously stuffed her bra. I found her performance amusing but, at the same time, kind of sad and poignant. There are so many women who have passed their peaks in physical beauty, but are at their sexual peak. In a well-ordered universe, they would have all the sex they want.

 

Lorissa McComas is cult figure among B-movie aficionados and even among those, like me, who are interested amateurs. She has an angelic face and the makings of a angelic form were it not for a pair of after-market add-ons do her no justice. In any case, she has been capped topless or better in over 20 movies plus a few cable shows. These caps came from a disk entitled Private Dances 3. Strip and wiggle performances from Lorissa and Danni Ashe and two others no one has ever seen before...or since. Lorissa' part of the disk is called "Lorissa Oil Me Down." 'Tis a bit confusing since the title seems to be neither a command nor a quote and Lorissa does all the oiling, so just who is talking to whom? No matter. Lorissa does the triple-B wiggle for 16 collages, including some open-legged gynocam views.

And then there were a bunch of photos in the gallery that I stuck together for six more collages. Every dad-gum inch of Lorissa makes an appearance in one collage or another.