'Dawn of the Dead' a Gruesome Gem

Ten years ago, a little horror picture called "Night of the Living Dead," made by Pittsburgh-based film maker George A. Romero as his first feature, surfaced on the exploitation circuit without any warning to become a key cult film of the past decade and a genuine horror classic.

In essence, what Romero did with formidable skill was to trap a group of people in a Western Pennsylvanian farmhouse besieged by rapidly increasing numbers…

One-Armed Foe for Samurai

One of the most successful film series ever is the Zatoichi movies starring veteran actor Shintaro Katsu as a blind samurai.

Like all long-running hits, the Zatoichis thrive on variety. So from time to time Katsu, who is his own producer, has pitted himself against other popular oriental screen heroes.

He persuaded Toshiro Mifune to play opposite him as Yojimbo, that scruffy, wise sword-for-hire Mifune essayed twice for Kurosawa.

And now in Number 22 of the…

'Swept Away... Unusual'

"Swept Away... by an unusual destiny in the blue sea of August" (at the Avco Center Cinema No. 2, Westwood, Wednesday) is a bittersweet, comedy in a timeless classic manner that combines elements of "The Taming of the Shrew" and "Robinson Crusoe" in a highly contemporary context.

Ironically, lots of women may well hate this scintillating film--even though it was written and directed by a woman, Italy's Lina Wertmuller, one of today's leading film-makers who won international…

Violence Bared in 'Supervixens'

In its first few minutes "Supervixens" comes on like vintage Russ Meyer, a hilarious, rambunctious combination of fast action and busty babes.

But quite abruptly Meyer, the original King of the Nudies, freezes the smile on our faces with a dazzlingly staged, truly terrifying sequence that, in making a direct connection between sex and violence, is truly one of the most imioned expressions of the battle of the sexes ever filmed.

SuperAngel (Shari Eubank), the spoiled…