Recently, Hollywood box-office analysts have noted an alarming drop-off in 3D revenue during new films’ opening weekend releases. Whereas a year ago 3D made up 60 percent or more of opening weekend ticket sales, the percentage has dropped to about half that number in current weeks. Are audiences getting tired of the gimmick and paying the extra bucks for the extra-viewing dimension? Or are the films themselves just not so special to warrant the higher prices and to have a big piece of plastic sitting on the bridge of your nose for two hours?

When I was asked to write an article on a long-forgotten genre gem, there were several that came to mind, but one stood out as a sequel that never got the respect it deserved. Though the original ILSA: SHE WOLF OF THE SS is essential exploitation cinema, its sequel ILSA, HAREM KEEPER OF THE OIL SHEIKS is, in this writer’s opinion, just as fun, if not a better movie than its predecessor.

On the eve of the big-budget Sony remake’s opening, it seems like the perfect opportunity to revisit the original 1990 Arnold Schwarzenegger smash TOTAL RECALL. Making such a reevaluation easier, New York City’s Film Forum (209 West Houston; [212] 727-8110) begins a special one-week engagement (thanks to a sharp DCP restoration) of the first RECALL from Friday, August 10 through Thursday, August 16, with more cities to follow courtesy rerelease distributor Rialto Pictures.

You’d think an empire is typically built up, and subsequently torn down.

In Nagisa Oshima’s 1978 noirish nightmare, however, the titular empire—based in fleeting moments of illicit passion— preternaturally extends below into an interpersonal hell, ripping its two main characters to shreds in the process. It’s an unsettling picture, the least of which is the ghost’s fault.