tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13875091601079745902024-03-14T06:39:11.701-07:00The Universal Horror ArchiveA collection of reviews of horror movies and thrillers released by Universal Pictures from the beginning of the horror movie genre to the present day.Steve Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11263633883997493518noreply@blogger.comBlogger65125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1387509160107974590.post-17024281887955377162021-10-04T10:04:00.000-07:002021-10-04T10:04:00.235-07:00No doubt that 'Shadow of a Doubt' is great<b>Shadow of a Doubt (1943)</b><br />
Starring: Teresa Wright, Joseph Cotton, Macdonald Carey, Henry Travers, and Patricia Collinge<br />
Director: Alfred Hitchcock<br />
Stars: Ten of Ten Stars<br />
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Ennui-ridden teenager Charlie (Wright) finds her drab world filled with life and hope of excitement when her legendary, globe-trotting Uncle Charlie, the man she is named for, pays a surprise visit to her and family. But Charlie's delight soon gives way to suspicion, then fear, then terror as she gradually comes to realize that he is hiding a dark secret -- that he is a serial killer on the run.<br />
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This is said to be Hitchcock's personal favorite among all the movies he made, and he was well within his rights to be very, very proud of it. With a script that is absolutely perfect in every way, a setting that captures the essence of the idyllic small American town so perfectly that Ray Bradbury would be moved to tears, and a cast that all deliver great performances in parts it seems they were born to play, there simply is not a single sour note in this movie.<br />
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It starts with a script that deftly sets up all its characters and manages to draw them as fully realized, three-dimension people within minutes of their first appearances on screen... usually through subtle character actions or exchanges. The most impressive of these is the film's lead character, a typical whiny restless teenager who in a script from lesser writers and interpreted by a lesser director would have been extremely annoying and someone you might wish ill upon. However, the character is so deftly written here and her reactions so believable--a mixture of childishness and adult and perception of what it means to be an adult--that you are rooting for her almost from the moment she is introduced into the story. <br />
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The same is true of the opposite side of the coin, the film's other Charlie... a man on the run with a secret, who may or may not be a serial killer. Like Young Charlie, he is deftly established a few touches that are followed up with further development that lends texture and deep character to him. <br />
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These two characters, and the oft-referenced "special bond" that exists between them, are the solid center around which story and other characters rotate, each developed as they relate to the two Charlies and each eventually emerging as fully realized as they are. Even the "special bond" ends up taking on personality, evolving from childish imaginings born of coincidences to something more real and that gives sinister weight to either Charlie when the younger of the two promises she will kill the older one if he hurts her mother.<br />
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Heck, this script is so perfect that the insta-romance the develops between Young Charlie and one of the detectives who come into town on Uncle Charlie's tail doesn't bother me one bit. Where this has nearly ruined a couple other Hitchcock films for me, here it <br />
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Of course, as well-written as these characters are, they would have withered in the hands of the wrong actor. Here, the casting is so absolutely perfect that the actors have an exponential impact when it comes to breathing life into the characters. Casting Joseph Cotton as a serial killer, who up to this point in his career had played nothing but lovable good guys, was a stroke of genius, and petite Teresa Wright nails her teenaged character perfectly despite being 25 at the time this film was made. Even the bit-players--like the small town's librarian and traffic cop--fit their roles perfect and instantly make the audience feel they know the person in question.<br />
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The great script and the perfectly cast actors are further supported by a great location and even better sets. A problem I sometimes have with Hitchcock's American films is sometimes jarring and obvious difference between footage made on sets or the studio back lot versus footage made on location. The quality of the environments change so drastically that I am sometimes pushed out of being absorbed in the movie. Not so here. Location and sound stage merge seamlessly and undetectably to form a perfect whole.<br />
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If you only watch one Hitchcock film, this is the one to choose.<br />
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</center>Steve Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11263633883997493518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1387509160107974590.post-54219170789640164572021-08-08T01:23:00.007-07:002021-08-08T01:23:00.195-07:00'Hold That Ghost' has flaws but Lou Costello makes it lots of fun<b>Hold That Ghost (1941)</b><br />
Starring: Lou Costello, Bud Abbott, Joan Davis, Richard Carlson, and Evelyn Ankers<br />
Director: Arthur Lubin<br />
Rating: Six of Ten Stars<br />
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Two friends (Abbott and Costello) inherit a derelict roadhouse within which a gangster may have hidden a large fortune. Upon being stranded there one stormy night with several strangers (inlcuding Ankers, Carlson, and Davis), they discover it may be haunted by murderous ghosts as well.<br />
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"Hold That Ghost" is a spoof of once popular 'dark old house' thriller genre, which included such great early films as the original <a href="https://moviesinbw.blogspot.com/2011/11/cat-and-canary-is-cool-silent-flick.html" target="_blank">"The Cat and the Canary"</a> and the straight-forwardly named <a href="https://moviesinbw.blogspot.com/2009/11/karloff-is-present-barely-in-old-dark.html" target="_blank">"The Old Dark House"</a>. It is sort of a precursor to the many horror spoofs Abbott & Costello would make a decade or later involving the various iconic Universal Monsters.<br /><br />
Unfortunately, this film is flawed at its foundation. While all the actors are clearly game and do the best they can with the material, almost every character in this film feels flat and entirely too much of the plot only works because the characters are stupid even by comedy standards, or very forgetful. Even worse, while Abbott's character is often brusque and even mean toward Costello's character, he is often excessively so in this film. I think this may be the first Abbott & Costello film I've seen where I don't understand why the two main characters want anything to do with each other.<br />
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On the positive side, the weaknesses mentioned above are largely made up for by Lou Costello giving some really funny performances, especially relating to the running gag that he is almost always the only person who happens to see the mysterious going-ons in the creepy roadhouse the characters are stuck in. He also has a cute dance routine with Joan Davis, who, in an unusual twist for an A&B film, shows romantic interest in Costello without having an ulterior motive. Another positive of the film is the elaborate sets that make up the dilapited roadhouse and the moody lighting within it.<br />
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In the final analysis, "Hold That Ghost" isn't be best of Abbott & Costello's films, but it is still well worth your time, especially if you enjoy the creepy house horror/mystery films.<br />
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Starring: Lon Chaney Jr., Anne Gwynne, Evelyn Ankers, Elizabeth Risdon, and Lois Collier<br />
Director: Reginald Le Borg<br />
Rating: Eight of Ten Stars<br />
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While studying native rituals and superstitions, an anthroplogy professor (Chaney) falls in love with marries the daughter of an old mentor (Gwynne). Upon his return to the United States, he discoversn that his wife is a fervent believer in the native gods and that she has been practing rituals that she believes will protect him from the evil intentions of one of his colleagues (Ankers). Appalled that his wife believes in such supersitious nonsense, he forces her to destroy all the charms and fetishes she owns... but as soon as he does this, his life and career start falling apart.<br />
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"Weird Woman" is a decent adaptation of one of Fritz Leiber's best novels, "Conjure Wife". It features a nice, tight script, great performances by the entire cast, and a surprise ending that at the same time manages to reinforce and cast doubt on the film's central premise--that the "powers of the supernatural" are nothing but supersition and fear causing believers to act in ways that create self-fulling prophecies.<br />
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Of particular note in this film is by Lon Chaney Jr., who is seen giving one of the best performances of his entire career. The character he is playing could easily have come across as a self-satisfied jerk in the hands of an lesser actor. His attitude toward his wife and her beliefs is obnoxious in the extreme, and some of his interactions with the staff and students of the college he teaches at borders on high-handed with a wiff of false humility. But Chaney infuses the character with an air of insecurity that makes the viewer accept and even forgive his behavior.<br />
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"Weird Woman" is one of the best entires in the "Inner Sanctum" movie series, and it's one of the best films to come out of the Universal Pictures' horror revival in the 1940s. Fans of classic mystery films, the Universal Pictures horror collection, and Lon Chaney Jr. will all find a lot to like in this one.<br />
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Steve Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11263633883997493518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1387509160107974590.post-20422233677324840722021-03-08T16:44:00.004-08:002021-03-08T16:44:02.917-08:00'The Cat and the Canary' is excellent silent horror<b>The Cat and the Canary (1927)</b><br />
Starring: Laura La Plante, Creighton Hale, Martha Mattox, Tully Marshall, Gertrude Astor, Flora Finch, Forrest Stanley, Arthur Edmund Carewe, George Siegmann, and Lucien Littlefield<br />
Director: Paul Leni<br />
Rating: Seven of Ten Stars<br />
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Twenty years to the hour after the death of millionaire Cyrus West, his relatives gather for the reading of his will; West loathed all of them, and he was determined to make them wait to pick at his dead reamins. His strange will leaves everything to his niece (La Plante) but only if she is certified sane by a doctor before dawn. If she is not declared mentally fit, a back-up heir--supposedly unknown to any living soul as the name is on a paper in a sealed envelope--will receive West's estate. As the relatives spend the night, soon the mansion becomes filled with strange and terrifying events... which may or may nt be in the mind of the young heiress--or perhaps even caused by her! Is she insane, or is someone attempting to drive her insane, so that they might gain the West fortune?<br />
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The grand-daddy of all Dark Old House mystery films and a collection of what would become standard fare in 1930s horror flicks and B-thrillers--gnarled grasping hands, masked killers, vanishing bodies, secret doors and passages, stylish damsels in distress, inept leading men, and just about anything else you can think of--this film is great fun and a must-see for anyone with a serious interest in the horror genre as an art form, or just a love for the gothic horror genre.<br />
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Your level of enjoyment of the early part of the picture will be dictated by your tolerance for the acting style of silent movies, but once the will has been read things start revving into high gear and the tension and action keeps building until the "big reveal" of the villain at the end. What's more, the bits that were supposed to be suspenseful in 1927 remain so today, and the same goes for the bits that were supposed to be funny. <br />
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There are a couple of disconnects story-wise--such as the point where one character talks another out of going for the police by saying that she'll do it and then never goes anywhere--but those are more than made up for by scenes such as the one with the main character fleeing in terror down a curtain-lined hallway, the stylish arrival of the police on the scene, and the action-filled climax that is equal-parts funny and frightening and which cuts back and forth between a milk-cart speeding through the night and a furious battle between the comic relief character who's emerged as the film's hero and the caped, murdering madman.<br />
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If you enjoyed just about any old horror film, you should check out this flick, even if you have yourself convinced you "hate silent movies." This film shows that the folks at Universal Pictures knew how to make a good horror film from the beginning.<br />
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Steve Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11263633883997493518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1387509160107974590.post-53426052419702807162021-01-18T16:24:00.001-08:002021-01-18T16:24:00.365-08:00'The Frozen Ghost' is a nifty chiller<b>The Frozen Ghost (1945)</b><br />
Starring: Lon Chaney Jr., Evelyn Ankers, Milburn Stone, Elena Vergougo, Martin Kosleck, and Tala Birell<br />
Director: Harold Young<br />
Rating: Six of Ten Stars<br />
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When a heckler dies during one of his performances, a celebrated stage mentalist (Chaney) becomes convinced that he has a genuine ability to kill people with his mind. He retreats from public life and into the refuge of a wax museum run by friend (Vergougo) while his agent (Stone) and fiance (Ankers) try to help him deal with guilt and delusions. But when strange events start occurring at the museum, including the disappearance of its owner, he grows ever more convinced of his supernatural powers... while the police become ever more convinced that he is a murderer.<br />
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"The Frozen Ghost" is the fourth entry in Universal's "Inner Sanctum" series starring Lon Chahey Jr. in a different role each time (with frequent co-star Evelyn Ankers similarly showing up in several of them). It's another quirky mystery that walks the line between thriller and horror while delivering a series of twists and turns, some of which will be not be surprising to most modern veiwers both others are as effective now as they were in 1945 when the film was first released.<br />
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Lon Chaney Jr. is in fine form as the tortured and perpetually confused Alex Gregor, as he basically spends the film as a sad-sack whose life keeps collapsing in the most nightmarish ways--be it on the professional, romantic, or completely mundane front. Gregor is a character who can't even go for a walk without some horrible development cropping up to make him even more miserable... and to make it even more certain that he is doomed.<br />
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On first glance, it might seen a little overkill that have a mentalist with apparently real psychic powers hiding in a creepy wax museum with an even creepier staff who may or may not have sinister motives, and who has friends who may or may not be trying to hide bad intentions behind their helpful smiles, but it works here. The film remains engaging and entertaining from beginning to end. Fans of Chaney and of classic Universal horror and mystery films should check it out.<br />
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</iframe></center>Steve Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11263633883997493518noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1387509160107974590.post-27059042656245572052020-12-09T12:12:00.000-08:002020-12-09T12:12:02.830-08:00'Secret of the Blue Room' is a lesser effort from the Golden Age of Universal Horror flicks <b>Secret of the Blue Room (1933)</b><br />
Starring: Paul Lukas, Gloria Stuart, Lionel Atwilll, Edward Arnold, William Janney, Onslow Stevens, and Robert Barrat<br />
Director: Kurt Neumann<br />
Rating: Six of Ten Stars<br />
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On the night Irene (Stuart) turns 21, three men hoping to marry her (Janney, Lukas, and Stevens) agree to prove their bravery and worthiness of her hand by each spending successive nights in the supposedly haunted Blue Room of her castle home. Their actions seem to awaken a deadly curse that has been dormant since shortly after Irene's birth... a curse that has already claimed three lives and will soon claim more.<br />
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"Secret of the Blue Room" is a locked room mystery crossed with the "dark old house" sub-genre of thrillers/horror that flourished during the 1930s and into the mid-1940s--and it was filmed on the same sets used for the 1932 film of the same genre <a href="https://moviesinbw.blogspot.com/2009/11/karloff-is-present-barely-in-old-dark.html" target="_blank">"The Old Dark House."</a>. It was made during what was a Golden Age for Universal and horror films, although it is one of the lesser efforts.<br />
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While this is a far more workman-like picture than "Frankenstein" or "The Invisible Man" or <a href="https://moviesinbw.blogspot.com/2010/10/werewolf-of-london-aka-unholy-hour-1935.html" target="_blank">"Werewolf of London"</a>, I have a hard time judging how much of what seems flawed in this picture is a result of the passage of time, and how much is weakness that was present from the beginning. This kind of story has been told and retold so many times since 1933, so it could be that what was effective then is less so now.<br />
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From a story perspective, the film suffers from the mystery at its core not being much of a mystery. I had the broad strokes of the story figured out once the three suitors agreed to prove their courage by braving the possibility of death by sleeping in a cursed room. When Bad Things started happening, I was proven right... and although attempts were made at misdirection--a creepy stranger who is somehow in cahoots with the shady butler; the lord of the manor (played by Lionel Atwill) obviously trying to hide something; and a sleazy chauffeur and the nosy maid who may or may not be up to something--none really presented anything close to an alternate explanation to the mysterious events in the Blue Room. Although everything played out in a predictable fashion, the film at least unfolded at a rapid pace, and features such an excellent cast of actors that it wasn't dull. I felt the climactic chase and running gun-battle in a secret basement under the castle went on a bit too long, but otherwise I felt the pacing was spot on.<br />
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When it comes to the films cast, I feel like they all gave excellent performances. I particularly enjoyed Paul Lukas, who at the beginning of the film felt to me like a poor man's Bela Lugosi, but by the end I wanted to see what might be in store next for his character. On the other hand, I enjoyed Gloria Stuart from the beginning, but became disappointed as the film wore on. It wasn't that she gave a bad performance, she just wasn't as good as she was in "The Old Dark House", where she basically outshone all the other cast members. Here, she has less to do from the outset and she fades into the background as the movie continues. This film is a prime example of why Stuart's film career never really got off the ground; she just didn't get enough interesting roles to play.<br />
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Speaking of Paul Lukas and Gloria Stuart, as much as I liked them in the film, their characters have a very creepy relationship. As mentioned above, the film opens on a young lady's 21st birthday... and there are four men in attendance: Her father (Lionel Atwill), a would-be suitor her age, a would-be suitor five or ten years older (Oslow Stevens), and a would-be suitor old enough to be her father (Paul Lukas). It's slightly gross to think of Lukas's character wanting to marry and bed a woman less than half his age... and for her father to be sitting right there and approving of the idea. It tainted the character--who is otherwise honorable and heroic--for me, and the movie in general.<br />
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"Secret of the Blue Room" is an adequate picture that I think hasn't weathered the passage of time as well as others in the same genre. If you like "it was a dark and stormy night"-type mysteries, I think you'll enjoy it... but at the same time, you should now there are better entries in the genre out there. <br />
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Steve Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11263633883997493518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1387509160107974590.post-66923313315973290132020-11-29T15:53:00.002-08:002020-11-29T16:09:19.215-08:00'House of Horrors' contains both good and bad<div><b>House of Horrors (1946)</b></div><div>Starring: Martin Kosleck, Rondo Hatton, Virginia Grey, Robert Lowery, Bill, Goodwin, Alan Napier, and Joan Fulton</div><div>Director: Jean Yarbrough</div><div>Rating: Six of Ten Stars</div><div><br /></div><div>Marcel (Kosleck), a sculptor of meager talent, manipulates a psychopathic killer known as The Creeper (Hatton) into murdering critics he feel ruined his career as an artist.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lKHL7UoG0F4/X4PyZt6EMLI/AAAAAAAAYRQ/mDKUpoxjZVUoYQSwySVi2uFFHJPSLbagwCLcBGAsYHQ/s472/HouseofHorror1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Rondo Hatten and Martin Kosleck in "House of Horrors" (1946)" border="0" data-original-height="355" data-original-width="472" height="301" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lKHL7UoG0F4/X4PyZt6EMLI/AAAAAAAAYRQ/mDKUpoxjZVUoYQSwySVi2uFFHJPSLbagwCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h301/HouseofHorror1.jpg" title="Rondo Hatten and Martin Kosleck" width="400" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>"House of Horrors" is a well-acted, fairly well-written film that is elevated by stylish camera-work stylishly shot with sets and camera angles and lighting that takes full advantage of the black-and-white medium. Like most the Universal horror films from the 1940s and 1950s, it's a film that's worth watching for the quality cinematography alone. It makes this already briskly paced film go by even faster. The chilling scenes where Rondo Hatton's character is preparing to kill Virginia Grey and Joan Fulton respectively are also definite highlights of not only this movie, but horror films of the 1940s in general.</div><div><br /></div><div>Among other highlights are Alan Napier (perhaps best remembered as Bruce Wayne's butler in the 1960s "Batman" television series) as an art critic you'll want to see murdered; fine performances by Martin Kosleck and Rondo Hatton as a pair of very different maniacs; and Robert Lowery and Virginia Grey who have a sort-of lowkey on-screen chemistry that make them very believable as a couple in a steady relationship.</div><div><br /></div><div>So why did I only give "House of Horrors" a Six of Ten rating? </div><div><br /></div><div>Well, for one, the script moves a little <i>too</i> briskly. While I got that the psychopath was so grateful to the artist for saving his life that OF COURSE he's willing to kill those who have done harm to his new (and only) friend. What I want to know is how did Marcel know that the psychotic killer he fished from the harbor would be willing to kill for him?</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vfy7BZOFXIQ/X4QvkFZj6hI/AAAAAAAAYRY/F0E6h3R0uJ0qWLnOUDMU9ZbE5PEu8IR9gCLcBGAsYHQ/s544/HouseOfHorrors3a.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Virginia Grey in "House of Horrors" (1946)" border="0" data-original-height="456" data-original-width="544" height="335" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vfy7BZOFXIQ/X4QvkFZj6hI/AAAAAAAAYRY/F0E6h3R0uJ0qWLnOUDMU9ZbE5PEu8IR9gCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h335/HouseOfHorrors3a.jpg" title="Virginia Grey" width="400" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Second, while I like the fact the film has a sort of in media res feeling vis-a-vis Rondo Hatton's serial killer character, I still think the film would have stronger if they'd filled in a little more of his backstory. It might have given an opportunity to explain why Marcel knew he would "weaponize" him successfully. (On the other hand, it allowed me to fill in the blanks with something far more interesting than what the writers probably would have provided. Still, there is such a think as leaving too much to the imagination, and I think this is an example of that.)</div><div><br /></div><div>Finally, although generally well-written, I found some of the actions taken by the film's heroine, played by Virginia Grey, to be so annoyingly stupid they almost ruined the character entirely. I can't get specific, but they fall squarely in the Stupid Character Syndrome (SCS) that's caused by writers who are either too sloppy or lazy to make their plot flow , so one or more characters has to do monumentally stupid things to make sure the story keeps movie toward the resolution. When Grey's character does the first stupid thing, you may think she's just hungry for a scoop to fill her weekly arts column, but when she does the next stupid thing, you'll see the full-blown case of SCS for what it is. It's a shame more care wasn't spent on those parts of the plot, because it drags the whole movie down. </div><div><br /></div><div>Although not perfect, "House of Horrors" is still well worth our time, especially if you're looking for some light viewing to get ready for Halloween.</div><div><br /></div><center>
<iframe frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=US&source=ss&ref=as_ss_li_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=stevemillesdo-20&language=en_US&marketplace=amazon&region=US&placement=B0085EG5YS&asins=B0085EG5YS&linkId=8f63ca0b54e27c35bda791f7c2458896&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true" style="height: 240px; width: 120px;"></iframe> </center>Steve Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11263633883997493518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1387509160107974590.post-53725166092079211512020-10-15T15:03:00.001-07:002020-10-15T15:06:42.238-07:00The 'Strange Case of Doctor Rx' is worth investigating<div><b>The Strange Case of Doctor Rx (1942)</b></div><div>Starring: Patric Knowles, Anne Gwynne, Mantan Moreland, Edmund McDonald, Shemp Howard, Samuel S. Hinds, and Lionel Atwill</div><div>Director: William Nigh</div><div>Rating: Seven of Ten Stars</div><div><br /></div><div>A successful private detective (Knowles) puts off early retirement at the behest of both a friend in the police department (McDonald) and a high-powered attorney to mob (Hinds) whose clients are being murdered by a seemingly invisible, intangible assassin.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5MRXenPgRrw/X3KF39OefpI/AAAAAAAAYLY/8DVugE0phtsJwwrr6yyRQYBVsMIgwL_bwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1317/the-strange-case-of-doctor-rx4a.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Promotional photo for "The Strange Case of Doctor Rx" (1942)" border="0" data-original-height="1317" data-original-width="1199" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5MRXenPgRrw/X3KF39OefpI/AAAAAAAAYLY/8DVugE0phtsJwwrr6yyRQYBVsMIgwL_bwCLcBGAsYHQ/w364-h400/the-strange-case-of-doctor-rx4a.jpg" title="Anne Gwynne and Patric Knowles" width="364" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>"The Strange Case of Doctor Rx" is a fast-paced comedy-thriller starring a solid cast of mostly under-appreciated B-movie actors who are working with a script full of snappy dialogue and an intriguing murder mystery that deepens and becomes more convoluted as the film unfolds. In fact, everything about this film becomes more convoluted as it unfolds.</div><div><br /></div><div>By the time "Strange Case" came to an end, I had the amusing thought that someone had challenged writer Clarence Upton Young to include every single mystery B-movie mainstay into one script... and he accepted. As this film unfolds, we get a charming gentleman detective and his befuddled manservant; a go-to-any-lengths-to-get-the-story lady reporter; cops who are tough but not bright; a rich, possibly crooked lawyer with a possibly even more crooked wife and family; gangsters and a gun moll; a suspicious mystery man who may or may not be the killer; a mad scientist; and a guy in a gorilla suit. In the end, nothing makes a whole lot of sense--and it feels a little like Young was hard-pressed to even formulate a satisfactory resolution to the everything-but-the-kitchen-sink mess he'd created. (I was left with one major question at the end, a question that was obviously left unanswered on purpose as it gave Mantan Moreland an opportunity to give us one final, mildly disturbing laugh.</div><div><br /></div><div>Speaking of Mantan Moreland, this is another one of those films where he's more of a hero than any of the other characters give him credit for; his character isn't as smart as the one he portrayed in 1941's <a href="https://moviesinbw.blogspot.com/2010/02/cinematic-black-history-milestone-first_19.html" target="_blank">"King of the Zombies"</a>, but he absolutely key to the main hero's success and he makes a great personal sacrifice in the process. So, Moreland is perfectly cast here, as is everyone else. Most of the players in the film are at their best, with Moreland, Anne Gwynne, and Shemp Howard (of Three Stooges fame) are particularly fun to watch, even if Gwynne's performance is undermined a bit by the disjointed manner in which her character drifts through the story. Lionel Atwill plays a small but crucial role in the film, and the presence he lends is more a result of brilliant casting than anything Atwill does on screen. (Although, given his ability to slather on the villanous attitude, perhaps the harmless air he air he has about him in the few scenes he's in is remarkable. At any rate, Atwill just being there brings with it certain expectations that help drive the story along and make it that much more entertaining.</div><div><br /></div><div>"The Strange Case of Doctor Rx" is one of five movies included in the "Universal Cult Horror Classics" collection, despite the fact even the most creatve marketing executive or inventive critic could come with a good reason for why it should be considered a horror film. Nonetheless, it's fun flick, and it's presence is one of the many reasons why the set is worth owning if you enjoy old-time B-movies.</div><div><br /></div><center>
<iframe frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=US&source=ss&ref=as_ss_li_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=stevemillesdo-20&language=en_US&marketplace=amazon&region=US&placement=B0085EG5YS&asins=B0085EG5YS&linkId=8f63ca0b54e27c35bda791f7c2458896&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true" style="height: 240px; width: 120px;"></iframe> </center>Steve Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11263633883997493518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1387509160107974590.post-13196568352363123262020-01-27T10:31:00.000-08:002020-01-27T10:31:08.894-08:00'The Mad Ghoul' is worth knowing<b>The Mad Ghoul (1943)</b><br />
Starring: George Zucco, David Bruce, Evelyn Ankers, Turhan Bey, and Robert Armstrong<br />
Director: James Hogan<br />
Rating: Seven of Ten Stars<br />
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College chemistry professor Alfred Morris (Zucco) re-discovers a formula for a gas that ancient Central Americans used turn people into pseudo-living zombies, as well as a means for reversing the transformation. He uses his assistant, Ted (Bruce), as an unwitting human test subject while trying to put the moves on Ted's opera-singing fiance (Ankers)... but when the antidote for the gas turns out to only be temporary, Morris's life and Ted's psuedo-undeath become a lot more complicated.<br />
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"The Mad Ghoul" is a horror film from Universal Pictures--the studio that bought the world "The Mummy", "Dracula", and "Frankenstein"--that sounds like a film from Monogram or PRC, with its mad scientist with an even madder scheme, a young couple being threatened by evil, and a crusading reporter who is going to stop the monster the police have been unable to catch.<br />
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What the writers and director does with those elements are a great change of, though: The crusading reporter ends up, the young couple's romance is revealed to have been over even before the film starts, and the mad doctor's mad scheme keeps getting more insane, first because he was cocky and had to cover up a failed experiment and then because he wanted to remove all rivals for the woman with whom he believes he shares a mutual attraction. (Some of my favorite parts of the film is when George Zucco and Evelyn Ankers' characters are talking past each other; Zucco thinks they are expressing their love for each other while Ankers thinks she's just unloading her sorrows to a sympathetic ear. These scenes feature some nice acting and even better writing, because they perfectly communicate the notion that Zucco's character later expresses, after he realizes he was mistaken: "Sometimes we see what we want to see.")<br />
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The cast of "The Mad Ghoul" all provide good performances. Zucco is in particularly fine form, playing the crazed heavy he specialized in but with a tiny bit of nuances thrown in. Robert Armstrong is also fun as the "I'm smarter than the cops" newsman who populates films of this type, and while I saw his brutal end coming before it actually happened, I was a little sad to see him go. Meanwhile, Ankers and Bey play the kinds of characters they portrayed in many other films, and they do it with their usual skill. Finally, David Bruce, in one of his few starring roles, is good as what initially comes across as the standard, fairly bland romantic lead, but becomes an increasingly interesting and nuanced character as the film unfolds. <br />
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Steve Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11263633883997493518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1387509160107974590.post-90837180242411389842011-06-15T09:30:00.000-07:002020-01-27T10:31:34.998-08:00One of Universal's best horror efforts from the 1940s<b>Man Made Monster (1941)</b><br />
Starring: Lon Chaney Jr., Lionel Atwill, Anne Nagel, Frank Albertson, and Samuel S. Hinds<br />
Director: George Waggner<br />
Rating: Seven of Ten Stars<br />
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After a carnival sideshow worker (Chaney) is the only survivor from a mass electrocution during a traffic accident, the world's leading electro-biologists (Hinds) invites him to become a research subject so the reason for his survival can be discerned. The scientist's evil assistant, however, subjects the unsuspecting man to illicit experiments that turn him into an electrically charged superhuman killer.<br />
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"Mad Made Monster" is a far-fetched tale of mad science of supercharging the naturally occuring electrical systems of the human body with high voltage in ways that Baron Frankenstein wouldn't have imagined in his wildest dreams. You'll barely have time to digest the pseudo-scientific whackiness because the film moves so fast.<br />
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Further, you'll find yourself buying to just about every aspect of the film thanks to some truly great performances by its cast. Lon Chaney Jr. is almost as good here as he was in anything he ever made, playing a kindhearted, trusting Everyman whose faith in his doctors ends up dooming him. Meanwhile, Lionel Atwill will have you hating him through-and-through as his characters' manipulative, self-centered ways seem all the more evil because he is exploiting and abusing such a nice guy as Chaney's character. The supporting cast are all likewise excellent in their parts, but it is Atwill and Chaney who make this movie and who elevate it to a level that almost equals Universal Studio's spectacular horror films of the early 1930s. <br />
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"Mad Made Monster" is of the very best films from the studio's 1940s horror output, and it is well worth a look by anyone who loves classic horror and monster movies.<br />
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Steve Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11263633883997493518noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1387509160107974590.post-27372654568159461192010-12-29T00:02:00.000-08:002020-01-27T10:32:38.756-08:00'The Skeleton Key' is full of badly used cliches<b>The Skeleton Key (2005)</b><br />
Starring Kate Hudson, Gena Rowlands, Peter Sarsgaard, and John Hurt<br />
Director: Iain Softley<br />
Rating: Four of Ten Stars<br />
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Caroline (Hudson), a hospice nurse with personal issues, is hired to help an elderly woman (Rowlands) with her dying, paralyzed husband (Hurt). They live in a creepy old Southern mansion, deep in the bayou, and surrounded by even creepier villages. Caroline soon discovers that there is more going on in the creepy house than meets the eye and that the man she is tending to is more likely the victim of a magical curse than a stroke. Soon, this young non-believer is drawn into a world of folk-magic, curses, and southern discomfort!<br />
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"The Skeleton Key" does a nice job of drawing the viewers into the strange environment into which Caroline enters, and it does a fine job at pacing the story, but when it comes to staying involved with the story, viewers have to be willing to accept the fact that everything Caroline does is dictated by plot concerns and horror movie "stupid character" cliches. If viewers don't mind a character who lives her life by "Things Every Horror Movie Character Must Do in Order to Live Up to Bad Writing Principles," the suspense in "The Skeleton Key" never lets up.<br />
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When it comes down to it, "The Skeleton Key" is yet another paint-by-numbers supernatural thriller that brings nothing new to the table. It could almost have been a neat film like "Cursed," except that it uses too many of the cliched elements badly. Caroline's behavior and actions is the most glaring of these. The "twist ending" is also so well-worn that I can't comment on it without spoiling the entire movie... but I could have done without it.<br />
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Steve Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11263633883997493518noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1387509160107974590.post-46611794236117856782010-10-31T16:04:00.000-07:002010-10-31T16:12:08.093-07:00Happy Halloween 2010!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>This may not be the busiest of my blogs as far as new posts go, but it still showcases some of the greatest monster movies ever made... the Universal Pictures fright features from the 1930s and 1940s. These are monster movies that should be at the heart of any Halloween, and they are movies that any horror fan MUST see.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/__FB9waRXJB0/TM3y4lFpVbI/AAAAAAAAESk/XVPFigf363M/s1600/frankensteinvswolfman.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="253" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/__FB9waRXJB0/TM3y4lFpVbI/AAAAAAAAESk/XVPFigf363M/s400/frankensteinvswolfman.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Concept art for Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man</td></tr>
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">If you haven't already, you really should check out those great movies. They're even easy to acquire. Click on the links to read my take on some of the best creature features to ever be unleashed upon mankind! And have a happy Halloween!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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<a href="http://universalhorrorarchive.blogspot.com/2009/06/dracula-legacy-collection.html" target="blank">The Dracula Legacy Collection</a><br />
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<a href="http://universalhorrorarchive.blogspot.com/2009/06/frankenstein-legacy-collection.html">The Frankenstein's Monster Legacy Collection</a><br />
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<a href="http://universalhorrorarchive.blogspot.com/2009/06/mummy-legacy-collection.html" target="blank">The Mummy Legacy Collection</a><br />
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<a href="http://universalhorrorarchive.blogspot.com/2009/06/invisble-man-legacy-collection.html"target="blank">The Invisible Man Legacy Collection</a><br />
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<a href="http://universalhorrorarchive.blogspot.com/2009/07/wolf-man-legacy-collection.html" target="blank">The Wolf Man Legacy Collection</a><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="http://universalhorrorarchive.blogspot.com/2009/08/last-prowl-for-classic-universal.html">Abbott and Costello Meet the Monsters</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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</div>Steve Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11263633883997493518noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1387509160107974590.post-22946599706243273132010-08-25T21:02:00.000-07:002020-01-27T10:33:17.484-08:00'Eye See You' isn't worth looking at<span style="font-weight: bold;">Eye See You (aka "D-Tox") (2002)</span><br />
Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Charles Dutton, Kris Kristofferson, Tom Berenger, Polly Walker, Robert Patrick, and Christopher Fulford <br />
Director: Jim Gillespie <br />
Rating: Four of Ten Stars<br />
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When his girlfriend is murdered by a serial killer who has targeted him and other cops, FBI Agent Jake Malloy (Stallone) falls apart. After a suicide attempt, he checks himself into an isolated rehab center that specializes in helping police officers. The killer vowed to stay after Malloy, however, and as a blizzard cuts the facility off from the rest of the world, it appears that he may have be making good on his promise. <br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/__FB9waRXJB0/TGi19vV1aXI/AAAAAAAADjQ/5HCbizqExjU/s1600/eyeseeyou.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" height="224" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5505850616745126258" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/__FB9waRXJB0/TGi19vV1aXI/AAAAAAAADjQ/5HCbizqExjU/s400/eyeseeyou.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" width="400" /></a><br />
"Eye See You" is a charmless spin on the "Ten Little Indians"-type mystery--a group of strangers in an isolated setting, one among them is a killer who is bumping off the rest--with a heapin' helpin' of slasher-film style violence added.; Unfortunately, most of the characters never evolve beyond annoying stereotypes and there are a couple of really glaring plotholes that should have been fixed before this movie went anywhere near the public. To make matters worse, the acting is nothing special, except in a negative sense where Stallone is conccerned. He is so awful in this film that if I hadn't just seen "The Expendables", I would be wondering.. the guy could act at one time, right? I'm not misrembering, am I?). <br />
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Oh... and the ending is one of those infuriating ones where the hero ends up devolving almost to the level of the bad guy and lowers himself to a status of little more than a murderer himself. <br />
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There's nothing new or even particuarly good here. Don't bother seeing "Eye See You."<br />
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Steve Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11263633883997493518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1387509160107974590.post-9886907219350718092010-07-15T00:06:00.000-07:002019-12-03T02:09:18.111-08:00A different sort of action move that misfires<span style="font-weight: bold;">End of Days (1999)</span><br />
Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Gabriel Byrne, Robin Tunny, Kevin Pollack, Rod Steiger, and Udo Keir<br />
Director: Peter Hyams<br />
Rating: Six of Ten Stars<br />
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Jericho Cane (Schwarzenegger), a world-weary detective, must fight against personal temptation, Satanists, a secret sect within the Catholic church,and Satan himself (Byrne) to protect a young woman named Christine (Tunny) and prevent the End of Days from occurring as the 20th century gives way to the 21st.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/__FB9waRXJB0/TDGiR4kGsUI/AAAAAAAAC_E/kuo9jEabDgg/s1600/arnold_schwarzenegger_end_of_days.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" height="302" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5490347848866640194" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/__FB9waRXJB0/TDGiR4kGsUI/AAAAAAAAC_E/kuo9jEabDgg/s400/arnold_schwarzenegger_end_of_days.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" width="400" /></a><br />
"End of Days" is a collage of cliched characters, stereotypes, and action scenes that resolve themselves pretty much as one would expect. It's to the supernatural thriller as "Predator" was to the monster movie, although not quite as expertly paced, nor as well acted. (While Gabriel Byrne makes for a great Satan, Schwarzenegger doesn't quite have the range that the part of Jericho Cane calls for--he can't pull off depressed OR religiously enraptured, and the role needs an actor who could have done both.)<br />
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The biggest weakness of "End of Days", which causes it to barely rate a Six, is that the director didn't know when it was time to start the climax of his movie. He seemed to feel obligated to cram in one more chase and explosion in the NYC subway even though dramatically the movie should have moved to its resolution once Jericho rescued Christine from the gathering of Satanists on New Year's Eve.<br />
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Although entertaining, and its creators deserve credit for attempting to make a different sort of action movie, "End of Days" is just too flawed to rise above average. You can easily save watching this movie until end-of-the-world mania comes back into style in 2011 and 2012.<br />
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Steve Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11263633883997493518noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1387509160107974590.post-14095348979999503332010-06-01T00:04:00.000-07:002012-11-12T22:47:12.449-08:00'Wolfman' remake is a dissapointment<b>The Wolfman (2010)</b><br />
Starring: Anthony Hopkins, Benicio Del Toro, Emily Blunt and Hugo Weaving<br />
Director: John Johnston<br />
Rating: Five of Ten Stars<br />
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Actor Larry Talbot (Del Toro) returns to his ancestral home in England after his brother mysteriously disappears. While trying to solve the mystery, he is attack by a werewolf.<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/__FB9waRXJB0/TAR5C1jwdxI/AAAAAAAACqE/yhTHlMspkMs/s1600/Wolfman2010.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477636136433121042" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/__FB9waRXJB0/TAR5C1jwdxI/AAAAAAAACqE/yhTHlMspkMs/s400/Wolfman2010.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 225px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a><br />
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"The Wolfman" is a remake of the classic Universal "The Wolf Man," arguably the period at the end of the Golden Age of monster movies. It is one of the best of werewolf movies to ever be made, but that's damning with faint praise, as a glance at <a href="http://terrortitans.blogspot.com/search/label/Werewolves">this selection of reviews from sister blog Terror Titans</a> shows. There aren't all that many good werewolf movies, so it's not hard to be among the best.<br />
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The first and biggest problem with the film is that it abandons the "Universal Gothic" setting, that strange Never-ever Land where torch- and pitchfork-wielding peasants and spell-casting gypsies existed side-by-side with European modernity in favor of a late 19th-century England that ends up feeling more like the American West when London becomes a shooting gallery as the Wolf Man runs rampant in the city. <br />
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An almost as big a problem is that instead of forging an identity and story of its own--which one might think the writers and director would have wanted to do, given the abandonment of the classic Universal horror environment--it keeps referencing the werewolf movies that spawned it, such as the original "The Wolf Man" and the very first (commercially disastrous yet artistically superior "Werewolf of London" films). From the origin of the secret curse that afflicts the Talbot family (inspired by "Werewolf of London") through the chasing of a beautiful woman through a fog-bound forest (inspired by "The Wolf Man") admirers of the old movies will see them reflected and echoed throughout this picture. Unfortunately, these "homages" will primarily remind you of how empty of ideas and substance this film truly is instead of making you admire it for building upon a grand creative legacy. Oh, and let's not even dwell on the shoehorning of Jack the Ripper into the film.<br />
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Where "Werewolf of London" saw its protagonist heroically stand up to evil, and "The Wolf Man" saw its protagonist(s) break under the weight of tragedy brought about by random events, "The Wolfman" has no real moral or emotional core. It's a superficial and melodramatic, all flash and no substance. Del Toro seems to have been cast primarily for his similarity in appearance to Lon Chaney Jr.; Blunt seems to have been cast primarily for her ability to look gorgeous, and twice-so when crying; Weaving is just there to fill space, like the Jack the Ripper backstory his character is tied to; and Hopkins is there... to be Anthony Hopkins. I think he may have retired from acting some time in the early 1990s and now just shows up to run lines. As for Hugo . None of these actors are bad and they are easily as good as the material they are working with, but there is no depth here. And that shallowness is what separates this modern Universal werewolf movie from the old ones from the 1930s and 1940s. And as flawed as "The Wolf Man" was, it wasn't shallow.<br />
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If you're looking for a film that will entertain you, spook you, and even gross you out (the transformation scenes will put you off your lunch I think), this is a movie to check out. Just know that it's not the classic that "Werewolf of London" is... and that unlike "Werewolf of London" or even the original "The Wolf Man," no one will be talking about this film more than seventy-eighty years after its release.<br />
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And this is a shame, because the talent brought to bear to make this movie should have been able to come up with something far better.<br />
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Steve Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11263633883997493518noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1387509160107974590.post-88180570312038254402010-05-12T21:00:00.000-07:002019-12-03T02:08:41.102-08:00Be careful they don't slip into the tub...<strong>Slither (2006)</strong><br />
Starring: Nathan Fillion, Michael Rooker, Elizabeth Banks, Gregg Henry, and Tania Saulnier<br />
Director: James Gunn<br />
Rating: Nine of Ten Stars<br />
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An alien life-form lands on Earth and turns the citizens of a small town into parts of his hivemind. Unless Chief of Police Bill Pardy (Fillion) and an ever-dwindling group of survivors can stop the menace now, the entire world will be consumed.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/__FB9waRXJB0/S-t4UMCxe-I/AAAAAAAACdQ/jMFfYcM42Sg/s1600/zslither.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" height="314" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5470598460597173218" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/__FB9waRXJB0/S-t4UMCxe-I/AAAAAAAACdQ/jMFfYcM42Sg/s400/zslither.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" width="400" /></a><br />
"Slither" is a movie fans of monster films and B-horror flicks have been waiting their whole lives to see: It's a B-movie style monster film with a decent budget, a great script, and a cast of fabulously talented actors. It is, quite possibly, the greatest monster movie so far this decade, and it takes a well-deserved place among the best of Universal Picture's horror flicks.<br />
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Skin-crawlingly creepy, expertly filmed, rich in snappy dialogue and dark comedy, and full of unexpected character twists, this film delivers everything horror movie fans could ask for. Even gorehounds will feel satisfied as the end credits begin to roll.<br />
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Although this movie bombed at the box office, it is one recent horror movie that deserved more attention than it got.Steve Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11263633883997493518noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1387509160107974590.post-25484946323596019332010-03-08T16:45:00.000-08:002020-11-29T16:20:49.959-08:00'Horror Island' is barely worth visiting<strong>Horror Island (1941)</strong>
Starring: Dick Foran, Leo Carillo, Peggy Moran, Hobart Cavanaugh and Foy Van Dolsen
Director: George Waggner
Rating: Six of Ten Stars
A struggling businessman (Foran) organizes a "mystery weekend" excursion to an old, supposedly haunted pirate hideout as part of a new tourism venture. He and his customers are soon haunted by a very real killer.
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/__FB9waRXJB0/S4RHvWxVkwI/AAAAAAAABjM/0djc3vusrzE/s1600-h/movhorrorisland.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/__FB9waRXJB0/S4RHvWxVkwI/AAAAAAAABjM/0djc3vusrzE/s320/movhorrorisland.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5441553128662340354" /></a>
This is a minor horror film from Universal that's more spoof than horror, poking fun at the style of mystery/thriller films where a cast of characters are stuck in a creepy house and stalked by a killer. The film is amusing enough, especially once the action moves to the island, but it would have been a stronger film if a little more time had been spent on the mystery/thriller aspect of the film. Instead of trying to come up with a decent story, the writers instead seem like they were simply trying to cram as many movie mystery cliches into the story whether they belong or not. For example, a gangster on the run with his gun moll go on the tour of the island, but they are neither effective red herrings nor particularly sympathetic so we don't really care if they live or die. All they do is waste space and film running time.
"Horror Island" does manage to present a villain that is both amusing and creepy, as well as provide a third act twist that comes as a genuine surprise. The cast is also universally good, even if some of them are just wastes of space in the film and story. The sets and cinematography are all solid and add to the film's atmosphere. Aside from the weak script, everything else is solid enough... not spectacular but good enough.
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<br /><iframe frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="https://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?lt1=_blank&bc1=000000&IS2=1&bg1=D9C1C1&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=stevemillesdo-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&m=amazon&f=ifr&md=10FE9736YVPPT7A0FBG2&asins=B000WNHTCC" style="height: 240px; width: 120px;"></iframe></center>Steve Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11263633883997493518noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1387509160107974590.post-48507503376910116162010-02-05T05:13:00.001-08:002012-07-18T13:31:38.855-07:00'A Perfect Getaway' is not a perfect thriller<strong>A Perfect Getaway (2009)</strong><br />
Starring: Steve Zahn, Milla Jovovich, Timothy Olyphant and Kiele Sanchez<br />
Director: David Twohy<br />
Rating: Four of Ten Stars<br />
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A honeymooning couple (Jovovich and Zahn) on a multi-day nature hike in Hawaii discover that brutal killers targeting tourists may have taken refuge in the same area. Can their new friends (Olyphant and Sanchez) be the murderers? <br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/__FB9waRXJB0/S2wZrGEaJcI/AAAAAAAABX0/UOXdjLTmp3o/s1600-h/PerfectGetaway02.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 178px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/__FB9waRXJB0/S2wZrGEaJcI/AAAAAAAABX0/UOXdjLTmp3o/s320/PerfectGetaway02.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5434747078483518914" /></a><br />
"A Perfect Getaway" is a weakly written thriller that is elevated by good performances by its stars and nice cinematography. While it pulls off its Big Reveal with some skill and "plays fair" for the most part--allowing the viewers to try to solve the mystery of who the murderers are before the filmmakers do--the writer/director's assumption that the viewer will buy into the fact that someone is ex-military or used to work as a butcher makes them spooky and creepy and viable murder suspects is moronic and probably an notion that only someone born and bred in Los Angeles and Hollywood would buy into. Other red herrings presented as the film unfolds are even weaker, leading the film be rather dull and boring.<br />
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Unless, of course, you think military people and outdoorsy types are somehow inherently spooky and scary. If you do, then you'll probably find the film to be all sorts of kinds of exciting and thrilling. <br />
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That sensation may dissapate, however, when you realize that the murderers are rather idiotic, in that they box themselves in on a dead-end trail and then call attention to their location by notifying the authorities and putting an innocent couple in a really flimsy frame that would break at the slightest scrutiny. (I'm aware that the driving force behind the killers is the psychotic goal one of them has to "live 100 lives" but they can't have been doing it for as long as the story implies if they've been as stupid as they are shown to be here).<br />
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It's too bad the good performances here are wasted on such a weak script. All the stars come across as perfectly normal and likeable people (assuming Southerners and military men don't scare you out of hand) and it's especially nice to see Jovovich in a role unlike those she usually plays. And it's surprising that the writer/director who brought us such fun B-movie romps as "Warlock" and "Pitch Black" would blow it so badly when making a more "respectable" thriller. But then that may have been the problem. He was going for "realism," but instead ended up putting Hollywood biases on display?<br />
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</center>Steve Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11263633883997493518noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1387509160107974590.post-3274203727139808332009-12-21T00:03:00.000-08:002009-12-21T08:44:35.650-08:00Alfred Hitchcock's greatest thriller?<strong>Psycho (1960)</strong><br />Starring: Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh, John Gavin and Vera Miles<br />Director: Alfred Hitchcock<br />Rating: Ten of Ten Stars<br /><br />Marion Crane (Leigh) steals $40,000 from her employer and heads off to start a new life with her lover, Sam Loomis (Gavin). Before she can meet up with him, however, she vanishes without a trace. Sam and her worried sister, Lila (Miles) track her to the isolated Bates Motel, where a soft-spoken young man named Norman (Perkins) struggles under the heavy hand of his shrewish, possessive mother. But Norman is a man who has many dark secrets....<br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/__FB9waRXJB0/Sy6GzHODFgI/AAAAAAAABCQ/IoLtoGVBuBw/s1600-h/psycho1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/__FB9waRXJB0/Sy6GzHODFgI/AAAAAAAABCQ/IoLtoGVBuBw/s320/psycho1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5417415614442706434" /></a><br />I think everyone reading this knows what Norman is hiding, as well as where Marion and the $40,000 vanished to... but in case someone hasn't seen one of the greatest horror films ever made, I'll keep to my policy of not offering any spoilers.<br /><br />Suffice it to say that I think this movie must have been absolutely, jaw-dropping in its audacity with the plot-twist that happens about 15-20 minutes in. I doubt anyone could have been prepared for it, and "Psycho" is still remarkable for flawless way it pulls it off... few films can take such a shocking left turn and not spill the audience on the curve. Instead, after the shock wears off--and it IS shocking if you aren't expecting it, even in this day and age when movies go back for reshoots to add violence and nudity--the audience is even more captivating. Where can the movie go from there, they're asking themselves.<br /><br />"Psycho" is one of Hitchcock's finest movies. The cast is perfect; the script is perfect; the sets are amazing; the camerawork and creative use of lighting is astonishingly creative and effective; and the Bernard Hermann score is absolutely mindblowing (even if I'm not as fond of the "Murder Theme" as so many others are... there are far better bits of music in the film).<br /><br />If you haven't see it, or if you've seen the pale imitation that was released in 1998 under the guise of a "remake" (and it was an imitation... to call that travesty a "remake" is an insult to genuine remakes, no matter how bad they might be), you need to see "Psycho". It's a film every movie lover should experience.<br /><br /><center><br /><iframe src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?lt1=_blank&bc1=000000&IS2=1&bg1=D9BFBF&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=stevemillesdo-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&m=amazon&f=ifr&md=10FE9736YVPPT7A0FBG2&asins=B001CC7PP8" style="width:120px;height:240px;" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0"></iframe><br /></center>Steve Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11263633883997493518noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1387509160107974590.post-664623197995262872009-12-20T13:52:00.000-08:002010-02-23T13:15:16.061-08:00Whole made up of great parts, but something is missing<strong>Night Monster (aka "House of Mystery")</strong><br />Starring: Don Porter, Irene Hervey, Ralph Morgan, Doris Lloyd, Fay Helm, Leif Erickson, Bela Lugosi, Robert Homans, Nils Asther Francis Pierlot, Frank Reicher, Lionel Atwill and Janet Shaw<br />Director: Ford Beebe<br />Rating: Seven of Ten Stars<br /><br />A wealthy, imbittered cripple (Morgan) invites the doctors he blames for his state (Atwill, Peirlot and Reicher) to his mansion in order to witness the miracle he hopes will cure him: A swami (Asther) has discovered a way to use mindpower to materialize matter from thin air, and he believes this method can be used to give him new limbs. Other house-guests include a mystery writer friend to the crippled man(Porter) and a psychologist (Hervey) visiting to help his troubled younger sister (Helm) with her mental problems. When a murderer that seems to materialize and dematerialize at will starts killing members of the household staff and guests, everyone one and anyone can be the next victim... or possibly even the killer. <br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/__FB9waRXJB0/SyQEmRVXsoI/AAAAAAAAA5Q/_3KKg63fWJU/s1600-h/nightmonster2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 220px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/__FB9waRXJB0/SyQEmRVXsoI/AAAAAAAAA5Q/_3KKg63fWJU/s320/nightmonster2.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5414457707540755074" /></a><br />"Night Monster" is a mystery film with horror overtones that is as crowded with plots as it is with characters. The writers and director do a better job keeping all the threads flowing than is the case in many films similar to this, making good use of all characters and managing to not tangle the plots too badly. The filmmakers even manage to throw in enough red herrings and plausible suspects that the true nature and identity of the killer isn't certain to viewers until the Big Reveal at the end of the movie. (The only suspect that never seems likely is the bulter played by Bela Lugosi, even if I'm sure the director was expecting viewers to automatically assume he was nefarious because <em>it's Bela Lugosi</em>.)<br /><br />The film is also impressive for the dark mood that pervades it. While there are a couple of "comic relief characters" in the film, they are more subdued than is often the case if movies of this vintage, and their bufoonery is deployed to augment the darkness of the film rather than dispel or undermine it... like where they find the body of one of the victims. The expressions of cowardice are comical, but they enhance the grim mood of the film rather than lighten it.<br /><br />Each of the murders (or close brushes with the killer) are also very expertly presented. As is to be expected, we never see any actual killings, or even dead bodies, but we don't need to because the scenes are so expertly staged. Even more powerful is when the mysterious killer prowls the marshes around the mansion--the otherwise ever-present sound of croaking frogs suddenly ceases. The silence is even more unnerving than the screams of the victim that soon follow.<br /><br />This is not a perfect film, however, and the filmmakers don't quite manage to keep all the balls in the air for its full running time, as they stumble badly when it comes to the third act. As it comes to its feiry conclusion, the filmmakers start to lose track of the characters and subplots, with Bela Lugosi's character vanishing from the scene entirely and a bit of involvement of the deus ex machina that makes the attentive viewer wonder why a certain character could have let things get so far out of hand and/or didn't speak up sooner. However, these are problems that won't come to mind until after the film is over, and until they do, you will be in for a very enjoyable ride.<br /><br />Reportedly, Alfred Hitchcock believed "Night Monster" was an important film as it was being made. If he was basing his opinion on footage as it was assembled into the final product, I can see why he might say that. It is a film made up of some very finely crafted parts, even if there ultimately seems to be a piece or two missing.<br /><br /><center><br /><iframe src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?lt1=_blank&bc1=000000&IS2=1&bg1=D9C1C1&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=stevemillesdo-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&m=amazon&f=ifr&md=10FE9736YVPPT7A0FBG2&asins=B000WNHTCC" style="width:120px;height:240px;" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0"></iframe><br /></center>Steve Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11263633883997493518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1387509160107974590.post-28495065539250904932009-12-07T12:12:00.000-08:002009-12-10T09:58:37.971-08:00'The Ghost and Mr. Chicken'delivers a few chills along with with laughter<strong>The Ghost and Mr. Chicken (1966)</strong><br />Starring: Don Knotts, Joan Staley, Liam Redmond, Dick Sargent and Skip Homier<br />Director: Alan Rafkin<br />Rating: Eight of Ten Stars<br /><br />When the timid typesetting at small-town newspaper (Knotts) has a shot at acheiving his dream of becoming a reporter by spending the night in a local haunted house, his tale of the ghostly manifestations turn him into a local hero, gets him the respect of his boss (Sargent), a chance to romance the girl of his dreams (Staley) and show up a bullying co-worker (Homier). But when he is later challenged to show others the haunting, everything is quiet and he may lose everything. What is going on in the Murder House?<br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/__FB9waRXJB0/Sxg2YLoDE7I/AAAAAAAAAyE/8A4ZgLEIOlE/s1600-h/ghostandmrchicken.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 237px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/__FB9waRXJB0/Sxg2YLoDE7I/AAAAAAAAAyE/8A4ZgLEIOlE/s320/ghostandmrchicken.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5411134741351175090" /></a><br />"The Ghost and Mr. Chicken" is a great family movie that should entertain young kids and adults equally. While Don Knotts is best in small doses, the story here of the sweet nerd who comes out ahead should appeal to everyone.<br /><br />The cast is good, with Knotts, Sargent, and Redmond (whose turn as the strangely manipulative janitor provides some of the films most puzzling and funny moments, until the Big Revelation occurs) being particularly good. Staley is a bit of a dead spot, but she's only here to be the Cute, Sensitive Love Interest, so her apparent limited ability doesn't harm the film much. The soundtrack is also good, featuring a single theme used in different enough ways that it doesn't become repetitive, and which manages to both be small-townish, funny, and spooky all at once. <br /><br />The only real complaint I have with the film is that the director and technical crew should have spent a little more time on lighting. The night and day shots are lit the same way, and the house and grounds are no where near as spooky as they should be, due to the flat lighting throughout.<br /><br />Still, it's an entertaining, good-natured film that's worth your time. Check it out.<br /><br /><center><br /><iframe src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?lt1=_blank&bc1=000000&IS2=1&bg1=DFCACA&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=stevemillesdo-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&m=amazon&f=ifr&md=10FE9736YVPPT7A0FBG2&asins=B00023P4JM" style="width:120px;height:240px;" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0"></iframe><br /></center>Steve Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11263633883997493518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1387509160107974590.post-56636484321886223742009-12-02T19:57:00.000-08:002018-12-28T13:17:48.633-08:00'Woman on the Run' is worth chasing after<strong>Woman on the Run (1950)</strong><br />
Starring: Ann Sheridan, Dennis O'Keefe, Robert Keith and Ross Elliot<br />
Director: Norman Foster<br />
Rating: Eight of Ten Stars<br />
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When artist Frank Johnson (Elliot) witnesses a gangland slaying and is subsequently target by the killer, he panics and goes on the run. When the police detective (Keith) in charge of the case contacts his wife, Eleanor (Sheridan) he finds an imbittered woman who is strangely uninterested in helping to locate him. But, once the police are gone, Elanor sets about tracking down her husband herself, first alone, then with the help of scoop-seeking reporter Danny Leggett. But, as Elanor draws closer to finding Frank, she unknowing leads the killer to him as well... a killer who is desperate to eliminate anyone who might identify him.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/__FB9waRXJB0/Sxc2ieiuz1I/AAAAAAAAAuQ/P2FJCRToouM/s1600-h/womanonrun.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" height="400" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5410853443251130194" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/__FB9waRXJB0/Sxc2ieiuz1I/AAAAAAAAAuQ/P2FJCRToouM/s400/womanonrun.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" width="337" /></a><br />
"Woman on the Run" is a well-scripted, perfectly paced film-noir style crime drama. The dialogue is particularly well-crafted, as is Elanor's gradual transformation from a surly film-noir dame to a wife who discovers that she and her husband still have a marriage worth saving. The way the film reveals the identity of the killer--who is much closer throughout the film than anyone suspects--and the casual way it demonstrates exactly how murderous and coldblooded he is, are also stellar examples of quality screen-writing and filmmaking.<br />
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With fine performances by all actors featured, an excellent script, great photography that takes full advantage of the black-and-white film medium, and a perfect music score to round out the package, "Woman on the Run" is a film that's undeserving of its obscurity... and it's a film that makes the 50-movie DVD collection "Dark Crimes " (which is where I saw it) worth the purchase price almost all by itself--which is why it's such a shame its going out of print. There are many great films in the set that will be even harder to find than they already are.<br />
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Steve Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11263633883997493518noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1387509160107974590.post-83695839904040464642009-12-02T18:38:00.000-08:002009-12-02T18:47:35.295-08:00Hammer + Universal = Great Vampire Movie<strong>Kiss of the Vampire (aka "Kiss of Evil")(1962)</strong><br />Starring: Edward DeSouza, Cifford Evans, Jennifer Daniel, Noel Willman, and Barry Warren<br />Director: Don Sharp<br />Rating: Eight of Ten Stars<br /><br />When a honeymooning British couple, Gerard and Marianne (DeSouza and Daniel) run out of gas on an isolated road, local nobleman Dr. Ravna (Willman) comes to their aid. Their gratefulness soon turns to horror, as Ravna is the leader of a cult of vampires, and he has chosen Marianne to the latest addition to the membership roster.<br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/__FB9waRXJB0/Sxcj8qqMNMI/AAAAAAAAAuA/dZEzIWkOd7o/s1600-h/kissofvampire2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 175px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/__FB9waRXJB0/Sxcj8qqMNMI/AAAAAAAAAuA/dZEzIWkOd7o/s320/kissofvampire2.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5410833002459313346" /></a><br />"Kiss of the Vampire" is one of Hammer's best vampire movies. Although a bit slow at times, it opens strong, offers one of the creepiest sequences in any Hammer movie, and a very unusual and refreshing ending. <br /><br />The overall structure of the film reminds me more of an unofficial remake of Edgar Ulmer's Boris Karloff/Bela Lugosi film "The Black Cat" from 1934 <a href="http://boriskarloffcollection.blogspot.com/2009/03/title-by-poe-creep-factor-by-karloff.html#links" target="blank">(review here)</a> than it does any other Hammer vampire film. In fact, as I think about it, the story here is almost exactly like that of "The Black Cat", except the cultists are vampires instead of Satanists. <br /><br />Whether you're a lover of all things vampires, or someone who can appreciate a finely told gothic horror tale, this is a movie you should seek out. That goes double if you enjoyed "The Black Cat", as this unofficial remake/"inspired by"/"ripped off from" little-noticed Hammer classic is definately a film you'll get a kick out of.<br /><br /><center><br /><iframe src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?lt1=_blank&bc1=000000&IS2=1&bg1=E3C3C3&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=stevemillesdo-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&m=amazon&f=ifr&md=10FE9736YVPPT7A0FBG2&asins=B0009X770O" style="width:120px;height:240px;" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0"></iframe><br /></center>Steve Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11263633883997493518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1387509160107974590.post-11341149922485674962009-11-14T23:35:00.000-08:002009-11-23T08:10:21.628-08:00A stylish movie that flopped in its day<strong>The Old Dark House (1932)</strong><br />Starring: Gloria Stuart, Melvyn Douglas, Raymond Massey, Lilian Bond, Charles Laughton, Ernest Thesiger, Eva Moore, Bremer Wills and Boris Karloff<br />Director: James Whale<br />Rating: Nine of Ten Stars<br /><br />A violent storm forces five travelers to take shelter in an isolated house in the Welsh mountains. Before the night is over, love will come to some of the inhabitants of the house, while death will come for others.<br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/__FB9waRXJB0/Sv-xR5CH5dI/AAAAAAAAAcg/fYcNPIUF26c/s1600-h/movdarkoldhouse2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 217px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/__FB9waRXJB0/Sv-xR5CH5dI/AAAAAAAAAcg/fYcNPIUF26c/s320/movdarkoldhouse2.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404232998793504210" /></a><br />"The Old Dark House" is a quirky horror film from the days when the genre was still taking shape. It features an even mix of romance, dark comedy and melodramatic horror action in a household so riddled with insanity that even the House of Usher looks like the Cleavers by comparison. It's a tone and mixture of elements that has only rarely been achieved, with films like "Drag Me to Hell" and "Dead Alive" coming closest in the past decade.<br /><br />When it was first released, it failed to appeal to the public nor to most critics, due in a large part to a marketing campaign that centered on Boris Karloff, who had just been featured in the mega-hit "Frankenstein." Marketing and top billing aside, Karloff's role in this film is rather minor, and he is more red herring than monster. Although a definate ensamble piece, the actors who fill the key roles in the flick are Gloria Stuart, whose character is threatened in turn by every one of the menacing figures in the old dark house; Melvyn Douglas, whose roguish war veteran character is the heroic and romantic center of the film; and Bremer Wills, whose late-arriving character is nonetheless the most memorable in the entire picture.<br /><br />Although those three actors are the lynchpins keeping the film together, everyone does a remarkable job. Also of particular note are Lilian Bond, who is perhaps better here than in any other film she would make; Charles Laughton, who actually sympathetic for once; and Ernest Thesiger, who manages to be funny and scary at the same time.<br /><br />The staging of each shot is also remarkable, as is the attention paid both to the visual composition of each scene, as well as the careful deployment of sound throughout. There is no music score for the film, but the sounds generated by the storm raging outside the house provide far more drama than any orchestra could do.<br /><br />Because the film was a commercial disaster both in 1932 and during its re-release in 1939, Universal Pictures considered it worthless. They sold remake rights to Columbia Pictures and let all of its rights revert to estate of the novelist whose work the film had been based on in 1957, and the negatives were left to rot in storage in New York City. If not for a concerted effort on the part of filmmaker Curtis Harrington--a fan of the film and friend of director James Whale--it might have been lost forever by the late 1960s. Even the best available print shows some damage, despite the restoration efforts.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/__FB9waRXJB0/SwohfZ80kdI/AAAAAAAAAlU/fuQ4Go8xJcQ/s1600/movstuartoldarkhouse1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/__FB9waRXJB0/SwohfZ80kdI/AAAAAAAAAlU/fuQ4Go8xJcQ/s320/movstuartoldarkhouse1.jpg" border="0" alt="Gloria Stuart and Boris Karloff in The Old Dark House" /></a><br />Fortunately, the film has been now digitized and released on DVD for all of us to enjoy again and again. And this is a film that has definate replay value, as there are many subtle interplays between characters and stylistic touches that might not be noticed on the first time through. Also, the careful composition of scenes and use of sound make it as worthy of study as more celebrated early horror films, like "The Mummy" or "White Zombie." <br /><br />Or it's worth seeing again and again for the excellent performances. Based on the job she does here, it's a shame that Gloria Stuart was not given any further decent parts at Universal and an even bigger shame that she basically quit acting in 1939.<br /><br /><center><br /><iframe src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?lt1=_blank&bc1=000000&IS2=1&bg1=E5D1D1&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=stevemillesdo-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&m=amazon&f=ifr&md=10FE9736YVPPT7A0FBG2&asins=B00000ILEU" style="width:120px;height:240px;" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0"></iframe><br /></center>Steve Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11263633883997493518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1387509160107974590.post-54283651881345357072009-11-12T22:11:00.001-08:002012-05-28T12:49:41.506-07:00Universal distribution deal brought forth one of Hammer's very best films<strong>Night Creatures(aka Captain Clegg)(1964)</strong><br />
Starring: Peter Cushing, Patrick Allen, Michael Ripper, Oliver Reed, and Yvonne Romain<br />
Director: Peter Graham Scott<br />
Rating: Ten of Ten Stars<br />
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Captain Collier (Allen) of the King's Navy marches into a small swamp-bound coastal village that is a suspected hub of smuggling, not to mention the center of activity by ghostly nightriders on skeletal horses. He is soon matching wits with the masterminds behind the smuggling operations--the kindly Reverend Blyss (Cushing) and coffin maker Jeremiah Mipps (Ripper), both of whom hide secrets deeper and darker than a mere smuggling ring.<br />
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I love this movie.<br />
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"Captain Clegg" ("Night Creatures" in the U.S. market, so retitled by Universal Pictures when they picked it and seven other Hammer productions up for distribution) is perhaps one of the finest movies ever be produced by Hammer Films.<br />
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Set in the 18th century against a backdrop of smuggling and piracy, "Captain Clegg" is an excellent melodrama that's got a thrilling, well-paced story, with compelling, likable, and complex characters, and a near-perfect ending. <br />
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High points of the film include the opening scenes with an old man running from spectral riders in the marshes, only to be finished off by a nightmarish scarecrow with human eyes; the sequence where Mipps and his fellow smugglers set out in the hopes of making their scheduled delivery of fine French wines right under the nose of Captain Collier and his men; the breakfast scene where Collier thinks he finally has the goods on Blyss, and the build-up to the film's climax as Blyss's past comes back to haunt him and the smuggling operation starts to come unglued.<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/__FB9waRXJB0/Svz2yJgD8CI/AAAAAAAAAbo/qPePLpVAuo8/s1600-h/movcushingcapclegg.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 159px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/__FB9waRXJB0/Svz2yJgD8CI/AAAAAAAAAbo/qPePLpVAuo8/s320/movcushingcapclegg.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5403464994342039586" /></a><br />
"Captian Clegg" is also beautifully filmed and expertly directed--on par with some of Terence Fisher's Hammer work, I think--with Cushing and Ripper giving excellent performances. In fact, Cushing may well give the finest on-screen performance of his career as the enigmatic country vicar with a rebellious streak. Cushing's range as an actor is shown more clearly in this film as in no other I've seen (and I've seen most of them).<br />
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I can't recommend this film highly enough. If you order the Hammer Horror Series pack from Amazon.com I think "Captain Clegg" alone is woth the purchase price for Cushing fans. (The inclusion of another of his greatest films--"The Brides of Dracula"--is icing on the cake. <a href="http://universalhorrorarchive.blogspot.com/2009/06/style-by-hammer-distribution-by.html">Click here</a> to read my review of it and two other of the films in the set.)<br />
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