As of this writing, former NFL All Pro defensive lineman Rosey Grier is still kicking at the ripe old age of 93. We’re football fans here at Missile Test, but we associate Rosey with his post-football days, when, among many other activities, he graced us with his presence on the silver screen, most notably in The Thing With Two Heads. In 1979’s The Glove, directed by Ross Hagen from a screenplay by Hugh Smith and Julian Roffman, Rosey plays Victor Hale, an ex-con who was beaten and abused by prison guards. After release, Hale seeks revenge. He suits up in prison riot gear, including a 5-pound steel glove, and hunts down his former custodians, beating them to death. Continue reading “The Glove”
Some of Those Responsible: Jack Carter
Alligator
If one is going to do a Jaws ripoff, this is how it should be done — with tongue planted firmly in cheek, and none of the dour mood that pervades a film like Orca.
Directed by Lewis Teague from a screenplay by the immortal John Sayles, Alligator tells the tale of a mutated alligator that lives in the sewers of Chicago and likes to munch on any hapless person who wanders by.
Following a popular urban legend of the day, a young girl receives a baby alligator as a souvenir from a trip to an alligator farm in Florida and, after the family returns home to Chicago, it is unceremoniously flushed down the toilet, landing unharmed, and probably quite annoyed, in the city sewers. Fast-forward to many years later, and the baby gator is now all grown up, and then some. Continue reading “Alligator”