2,500 Movies Challenge

#3,001. The Horror at 37,000 Feet (1973) - 1970s Made for Television

2026-01-01T05:00:00.029-05:00

Despite its goofy premise and a handful of even goofier scenes, The Horror at 37,000 Feet manages to overcome the silliness and deliver some honest-to-goodness thrills and chills.

A 747 piloted by Captain Ernie Slade (Chuck Connors) takes off late one evening from London’s Heathrow, enroute to New York City. Only nine passengers are aboard, in part because it is a semi-private charter, paid for by wealthy architect Alan O’Neill (Roy Thinnes). O’Neill is transporting the remains of an ancient Druid temple, complete with a stone altar, from England to the United States.

The temple originally stood on grounds owned by the ancestors of his wife, Sheila (Jane Merrow), and now O’Neill intends to rebuild the entire structure just outside his New York estate.

Among the flight’s remaining passengers is arrogant millionaire Glenn Farlee (Buddy Ebsen); former Catholic priest - and current alcoholic - Paul Kovalik (William Shatner); actor Steve Holcomb (Will Hutchins), who just finished shooting a western in Italy; and Dr. Enkalla (Paul Winfield).

Also aboard is Mrs. Pinder (Tammy Grimes), who tried to obtain a court order in London that would have prevented the O’Neills from removing the sacred temple. Having failed in the UK, Mrs. Pinder now wants to try her luck in the New York courts, on the off-chance they will force the O’Neills to return the temple to its original home.

Turns out Mrs. Pinder had reason for concern; shortly after take-off, the plane runs into trouble when, 25 miles out, it can no longer move forward!

As Captain Slade and his crew, co-pilot Frank Driscoll (H.M. Wynant) and navigator Jim Hawley (Russell Johnson, aka the Professor from Gilligan’s Island) work diligently to get the plane moving again, the passengers and stewardesses (Darleen Carr and Brenda Benet) begin to experience things they cannot explain, including noises from the cargo hold, flickering lights, and a freezing wind emanating from nowhere.

It is soon revealed that the stone altar the O’Neills are bringing back to America was, over 500 years earlier, used for human sacrifices, and is now is rumored to be the resting place of a centuries-old evil entity. Needless to say, this malevolent spirit is none too happy to be headed to America!

The Horror at 37,000 Feet has moments that will have you scratching your head, like when the plane stops, seemingly hovering in mid-air, despite moving at an estimated 630 MPH the moment it ground to a halt. Then there’s the sub-zero temperatures in the cargo hold, which freeze Mrs. Pinter’s dog (also in the hold) to death.

Confusion aside, The Horror at 37,000 Feet is a lot of fun, in part because its all-star cast takes every bizarre twist and turn very seriously, but also because this made-for-TV movie boasts some genuinely creepy moments. During a scene inside the cargo hold, something attempts to break its way out of a steel container, frightening Mrs. Pinter’s dog to the point that it tries to escape by chewing its way through the cage. Lights flicker, the plane shakes, and the freezing cold conditions in the cargo hold soon envelop the passenger area as well. On top of that, Mrs. O’Neill is hearing voices, and after passing out for a brief time starts talking in tongues, uttering random phrases in Latin.

Things get even stranger when the passengers, advised by Mrs. Pinter, take matters into their own hands, doing whatever they believe might keep the demon at bay. The fact that all this chaos is set in the narrow confines of a 747 plane dangling in mid-air only adds to the tension of it all.

Connors is at his heroic best as the Captain, while Paul Winfield and co-star Lyn Lowery (she plays the traveling companion of Shatner’s Paul Kovalik), are solid in support (Winfield is especially effective as the film’s sole voice of reason).

Then there is William Shatner as the former man of faith who nowadays believes only in drinking himself into a stupor. His Paul Kovalik dismisses all talk of deities, and the mere suggestion a spirit is vying for control of the aircraft is utterly ridiculous to him. Playing Paul as sarcastic and downright argumentative, Shatner delivers yet another memorable performance.

The climactic scenes of The Horror at 37,000 Feet are both chilling (especially when the passengers build a fire to try and ward off the entity) and unintentionally hilarious (Shatner has a pretty poignant moment that’s ruined by dated, truly awful special effects). Still, all things considered, I give The Horror at 37,000 Feet a hell of a lot of credit for working as well as it does. It may be ridiculous, but it’s never boring.
Rating: 6.5 out of 10

#3,000. Ride the Wild Surf (1964) - Films of the 1960s

2025-05-14T05:00:00.040-04:00

Ride the Wild Surf has little in common with other beach / surf movies of the 1960s, almost all of which are comedies. Directed by Don Taylor, this film might boast a laugh or two, but it is not a comedy; it’s a drama with moments (especially late) that cross into action / thriller territory.

Three surfer friends - Jody Wallis (Fabian), Steamer Lane (Tab Hunter) and Chase Colton (Peter Brown) - fly from Southern California to Hawaii. Their goal: ride the giant waves of Waimea Bay.

To prepare themselves for the day the huge swells arrive, they move into a beachside commune with some other surfers. The trio make a few friends along the way and even an enemy or two, including Eskimo (James Mitchum), the current champion of Waimea Bay.

The three new arrivals also have some luck with the ladies. Jody falls hard for Brie Matthews (Shelley Fabares), a pretty college student from the mainland who is on vacation. Chase, meanwhile, cozies up to free-spirit Augie Poole (Barbara Eden), who has a particular fondness for wrestling and firecrackers. As for Steamer, he goes after Hawaiian native Lily Kilua (Susan Hart), who lives on a nearby ranch with her mother (Catherine McLeod). Lily’s mom has no time for surfers (Lily’s father left the two of them to travel the world and surf, never to return), so Lily convinces Steamer to lie to her mother, claiming he works for a local auto mechanic.

Jody, Steamer and Chase spend the next few weeks surfing, all to prepare themselves for the day the big waves come in on Waimea. But for Jody, being the best means more than good times. Having dropped out of school, he is looking to make some money, which will only happen if he beats Eskimo and is crowned King of Waimea. Needless to say, Eskimo has other plans.

The opening scenes of Ride the Wild Surf set it up to be a “fun in the sun” kind of film, with the arrival of its main characters, all of whom immediately hit the beach and surf. The surfing sequences throughout the movie are exceptional, featuring actual surf footage interspersed with rear-projection studio shots of the stars paddling out and “riding” the waves (rear-projection is never foolproof, and seldom looks realistic, but it’s used better in this movie than I’ve seen in others).

Yet just as good as the surfing are the scenes in which Jody, Chase, and Steamer interact with their new girlfriends. Jody, whose family life has been pretty dismal, feels he has something to prove, and as Waimea’s big waves draw closer, he gets nervous, which makes him lash out at Brie.

Chase has always played it safe, so Augie makes it her mission to help him loosen up. A scene between the two in which Augie attempts to set off a huge firework specially designed for her, and a subsequent scene when a drunk Chase threatens to dive from the top of Waimea falls, are definite high points.

As for Steamer, he falls deeply in love with Lily, who feels the same for him. Steamer even contemplates moving to Hawaii so he can help Lily and her mother run the ranch, but must come clean with Lily’s mom about being a surfer before that can happen.

The surfing scenes are exciting, but it’s the moments with the leads and their girls, as well as the mounting tension of Waimea’s big waves, that keep you watching. I found myself so invested in the drama that, when a surfing scene suddenly popped up, it felt more like a happy bonus than it did the sole reason to watch Ride the Wild Surf (which I assumed might be the case when I started it).

All the actors do a fine job, but Fabian really impressed me, playing Jody as a guy you root for one minute and want to punch in the face the next (especially late, when he begins to lose his temper). As for the Waimea Bay competition that closes out the film, it’s pretty damn intense, and brings one of the best surf movies I’ve ever seen to a very satisfying end.
Rating: 9 out of 10

#2,999. Midsommar (2019) - The Films of Ari Aster

2025-05-07T05:00:00.056-04:00

It seems strange to say it now, but I was initially lukewarm on Ari Aster’s 2018 debut feature Hereditary. I think the issue was all the praise that had been heaped upon it by critics and genre fans, some anointing it the most frightening horror film they’d ever seen.

High praise, indeed. So, when I finally got around to watching the movie, these accolades had me prepared for the horror experience of a lifetime.

And it was not.

I liked Hereditary; it was skillfully made, and featured some excessively creepy moments. Still, it didn’t even make my year-end list of the top 10 horror films.

So, in 2019, I went into Aster’s follow-up movie, Midsommar, with more tempered expectations. I also avoided trailers and reviews, so as not to be swayed one way or the other.

It proved a good strategy: Midsommar absolutely blew me away! So much so that it inspired me to give Hereditary a second chance. I liked Hereditary a lot more on that follow-up viewing, and now acknowledge its standing as one of the great modern horror films.

Midsommar deserves a similar place of honor. It is the movie that showed me just how skillful a filmmaker Ari Aster is, how his methodical, detailed approach generates dread in a way the average viewer does not anticipate, where seemingly random moments move the story forward, and simple conversations reveal deep-rooted traumas.

Several months after the tragic loss of her entire family, college student Dani (Florence Pugh) agrees to tag along with her longtime boyfriend Christian (Jack Raynor) and his pals Josh (William Jackson Harper) and Mark (Will Poulter) on a trip to Sweden. They were all invited by exchange student Pelle (Vilhelm Blomgren) to visit the Hegra, a spiritual commune he calls home, during one of its biggest festivals of the year: the nine-day celebration of Midsommar.

Still reeling from the murder/suicide that claimed the lives of her parents and sister, Dani is hoping this trip will bring her closer to Christian, who, in recent months, has been pulling away from her. What Dani will find instead is an awakening of a different sort, where bizarre customs and unusual traditions force her to see her relationship with Christian in a new light, and embrace the possibility of finding the inner peace she desperately seeks, with or without him.

The pre-title sequence of Midsommar is as devastating as they come. Dani, reacting to a cryptic e-mail she received from her sister, as well as the fact she has been unable to reach either her or their parents, results in a nervous call to Christian. Christian, at the time, is at a bar with Josh, Mark, and Pelle. He tries to calm Dani, reassuring her everything will be fine, and that her sister is just looking for attention.

We see this exchange from Dani’s perspective as she sits alone, crying in her apartment. Once the call ends, the scene shifts to the bar, where Mark and Josh are telling Christian it’s time to finally break things off with Dani. They say she is too “clingy”, and has far too much emotional baggage. Christian defends Dani, but only slightly, as if he feels his friends may be right.

Then, the scene shifts back to Dani’s apartment, where we listen in on a call between her and a friend. Dani herself parrots what Christian’s pals were just saying, telling her friend she may be expecting too much from Christian, and might be pushing him away.

It is then that Dani’s call is interrupted with the terrible news: her suicidal sister Terri, by way of tubes connected to the exhaust of a car, flooded the family home with toxic carbon monoxide. The authorities found Terri and their parents, all dead in their beds.

Dani calls Christian, wailing and sobbing. We next see Christian walking, ever-so-slowly, through the snow-covered streets to Dani’s apartment. Her distressed screams are heard outside, and Christian hesitates, in no particular hurry to comfort her.

The actors play it wonderfully, especially Pugh, and in this explosive pre-title sequence, the characters and their relationships are firmly established. Dani is a wounded soul, now more than ever, and Christian (who grows increasingly more selfish as the film progresses) is not prepared to deal with either Dani’s grief or her emotional needs

Months later, at a party, Mark lets it slip that he and Christian will be accompanying Josh and Pelle to Sweden in a few weeks (Josh, whose thesis is on primitive European religious customs, is the reason everyone is going with Pelle to the Hegra). Later, when alone, Dani confronts Christian, asking why he never told her about the trip. Feeling cornered, Christian lies and says he was going to surprise Dani and invite her to come along as well (he wasn’t). Dani agrees to go, and only Pelle is pleased that she will be joining the group.

Once the setting shifts to Sweden, during the time of the midnight sun, Aster continues to explore Dani’s grief and Christian’s selfishness by way of the customs and traditions of this seemingly peaceful Swedish commune, where everyone is looked upon as a member of an extended family.

Of course, not all traditions are peaceful; the visitors witness the violent Attestupa ceremony, an extremely bloody ritual involving a pair of the commune’s elders. This shakes Dani as well as two other outsiders, British students Connie (Ellora Torchia) and Simon (Archie Madekwe), who are so horrified that they demand to be taken to the airport.

The Attestupa forces Dani to once again confront her own heartbreak, and it is too much for her. Yet when she too asks to leave, Christian refuses. Having been unsure up to that point of a topic for his college thesis, Christian decides to copy Josh’s project and study the Hegra commune. Josh is, of course, none too pleased, and accuses Christian of “academic laziness” by duplicating his efforts, while Dani once again must deal with the fact that Christian has no regard for her emotional needs.

It is a gripping study of a relationship that has gone south, even if neither Christian nor Dani are ready to admit it yet; and how Dani, with the help of Pelle and the others in the Hegra, comes to terms with her current situation while also recognizing the potential for a brighter future.

That’s not to say Midsommar is all about Dani and Christian. It is, without question, a horror film. There are moments when the festival is in full-swing that will chill you to the bone, and the climactic scene proves every bit as shocking as that of 1973’s The Wicker Man.

Aster does a masterful job combining all elements into a satisfying whole, bringing us along slowly, which makes the shocks and surprises all the more unsettling. And like Hereditary, Midsommar benefits from multiple viewings (especially the nearly 3-hour director’s cut, which provides more insight into the characters and their motivations).

A study of grief; a glimpse inside an ancient culture and its traditions; and, ultimately, a horror film that will rock you to your core, Midsommar is destined to become a genre classic.

In fact, I’d say it already is one.
Rating: 9.5 out of 10

#2,998. The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992) - The Muppets

2025-04-30T05:00:00.045-04:00

When Michael Caine was cast as Ebeneezer Scrooge in 1992’s The Muppet Christmas Carol, he told director Brian Henson that he was going to play the part straight, and not camp it up. In short, he was going to treat the role as if he was performing it on-stage in London, and not opposite an all-puppet cast.

This little factoid piqued my curiosity. How would a Muppet movie play when the key member of the human cast refused to treat them like The Muppets?

Well, it worked wonderfully. Not to worry, though; Henson and crew sneak plenty of Muppet family fun into the mix as well, making The Muppet Christmas Carol the best of both worlds.

Do I even need a synopsis for this story?

Well, maybe for this version I do.

It’s Christmas Eve, and, with author Charles Dickens (The Great Gonzo) and his faithful sidekick Rizzo the Rat (playing himself) as our guides, we are introduced to the most miserly landlord in all of England: Ebeneezer Scrooge (Caine). As the whole of London is celebrating Christmas, Scrooge is where he always is: at work, finalizing foreclosures, so that anyone late with the rent will be out on the street come Christmas morning.

A cruel taskmaster to employee Bob Cratchit (Kermit the Frog) and his team of rat assistants, Scrooge finds himself beset on all sides by the one thing he despises the most: Christmas! From his nephew Fred (Steven Mackintosh) inviting him to a party to a pair of good Samaritans (Professor Bunson Honeydew and Beeker) collecting for charity, Scrooge is reminded at every turn that it is the Christmas season.

After reluctantly agreeing to give Bob Cratchit the next day off to spend time with his wife (Miss Piggy) and kids, Scrooge heads home, ready to put the entire holiday behind him.

Alas, fate has other plans for Ebeneezer Scrooge.

Haunted by the ghosts of his dead partners, Jacob and Robert Marley (the always cantankerous Statler and Waldorf), Scrooge is informed he will be visited that night by three spirits, all of whom will expose the skinflint to the true meaning of Christmas.

I went into The Muppet Christmas Carol wondering which of the traditional Muppets would portray the three spirits: Christmas past, present, and future. But mirroring Caine’s insistence to play Scrooge as close to Dickens’ conception as possible, the spirits, though puppets, adhere to the original novel’s descriptions of them, with the Ghost of Christmas Past depicted as an angel-like girl, and Christmas Present as a boisterous, overly friendly man with a short-term memory problem. Keeping these spirits so close to the original work brought some weight to a story that, inherently, has its share of dark moments and intense situations, especially during the Christmas Yet to Be segment (I laughed when Gonzo and Rizzo, who had been taking us through the story to that point, announced that this segment was far too scary for them and checked out, saying we wouldn’t see them again until the finale).

Natrurally, The Muppet Christmas Carol is not all grim and serious. Henson and company pack the film with loads of Muppet goodness, including cameos by Fozzie Bear (as Scrooge’s old boss Fozziwig), Sam the Eagle (as Scrooge’s childhood schoolmaster), and Animal (doing what he does best: playing drums at Fozziwig’s holiday party). Even Miss Piggy, reduced to the minor role of Bob Cratchit’s wife, gets a few moments to shine in the final act.

Gonzo and Rizzo also give us plenty to laugh about as narrators, doing their best to keep up with the action (their funniest moment has them clinging to a rope, flying through the air with Scrooge and the Spirit of Christmas Past).

As with most Muppet movies, there’s music as well, written by the great Paul Williams. Each tune has its charms, though my favorites come right at the beginning: “Scrooge”, which introduced the character; and “One More Sleep Til Christmas”, performed by Kermit’s Bob Cratchit and the rats as they close up shop for the night.

The Muppet Christmas Carol was the first Muppet movie released after the death of founder Jim Henson, who passed away in May of 1990. But with his son Brian at the helm and the usual cast of voice actors (Dave Goetz, Frank Oz, Steve Whitmire) and puppeteers continuing their fine work, The Muppet Christmas Carol proved an absolute delight, a mostly faithful adaptation of Dickens’ time-honored Christmas tale that remains, at all times, a truly Muppet affair.
Rating: 9 out of 10

#2,997. The Devil's Disciple (1959) - George Bernard Shaw on Film

2025-04-23T05:00:00.027-04:00

Based on George Bernard Shaw’s 1897 play of the same name, The Devil’s Disciple features the third on-screen pairing of Kirk Douglas and Burt Lancaster (after 1947’s I Walk Alone and Gunfight at the O.K. Corral in 1957). Though Lancaster is top-billed and also served as co-producer, he stands aside time and again to let his old pal Kirk have the spotlight.

In fact, even Laurence Olivier, in a smaller role as an English general, steals more scenes than Lancaster.

Set in New Hampshire during the American Revolution, The Devil’s Disciple opens with the planned hanging of an alleged traitor to the British crown. The condemned man’s youngest son, Christie Dudgeon (Neil McCallum), darts into town and interrupts church services to ask Reverend Anthony Anderson (Lancaster) to intervene and save his father. Knowing full well the elder Dudgeon is a loyal British citizen, the Reverend agrees.

Unfortunately, they arrive too late: Christie’s father has already been hanged. What’s more, Major Swindon (Harry Andrews), second-in-command to General Burgoyne (Olivier) of the Royal Army, has ordered that the body remain strung-up in the public square, to serve as a warning for any potential revolutionaries. Reverend Anderson protests, but to no avail.

Later that night, a lone horseman rides into town, cuts down the body, and takes it to Reverend Anderson’s church for a proper burial. The horseman, it turns out, is none other than Richard Dudgeon (Douglas), the estranged eldest son of the deceased. A cynic who openly opposes the British, Richard Dudgeon, previously disowned by his family, is as shocked as anyone to discover that, when his father’s will is read, he stands to inherit the entirety of the family’s fortune!

Rev. Anderson, ignoring the pleas of his wife Judith (Janette Scott), attempts to befriend Richard Dudgeon, if for no other reason than to convince the now-wealthy revolutionary to live a peaceful life. But as the injustices carried out by the English army mount, including an arrest warrant issued for the Reverend himself for burying the elder Dudgeon, this man of peace begins to wonder if it isn’t time to join Richard Dudgeon and the other rebels to rid themselves of British tyranny once and for all.

This desire for justice grows even stronger when Richard Dudgeon is himself mistaken for Reverend Anderson, taken into custody, and condemned to death!

It might all sound very serious, and there are moments throughout The Devil’s Disciple that are, indeed, no laughing matter, beginning with the opening: the hanging of the elder Dudgeon. For most of the film, Lancaster’s Rev. Anderson also remains quite dour, a determined man who lets his faith steer his actions until pushed to his breaking point.

But it’s the humor of George Bernard Shaw that takes center stage whenever Douglas and Olivier are on-screen. Douglas’s Richard Dudgeon doesn’t seem to take anything seriously, and the initial exchange between he and Rev. Anderson is as witty as they come. Douglas is excellent in the part, and while Lancaster is also strong as the well-intentioned Anderson, Kirk outshines his frequent co-star at every turn. Also funny is Laurence Olivier as General Burgoyne, whose irritation at the frequent mistakes made by Major Swindon generate their share of laughs (especially funny is the sequence where Burgoyne and his army are making their way through a forest, only to be stopped every mile or so by a tree across the road, cut down by the rebels).

Lancaster does have his moments, especially towards the end when his character gets involved in a firefight between the British and Colonial armies (a scene that is simultaneously exciting and hilarious). That said, The Devil’s Disciple is, for the most part, the Kirk Douglas / Laurence Olivier show, and these two powerhouses absolutely deliver.
Rating: 9 out of 10

#2,996. Hiroshima (1953) - Arrow Video Releases

2025-04-16T05:00:00.038-04:00

On the morning of August 6, 1945, the Enola Gay, an American B-29, dropped the first atomic bomb in the history of warfare on Hiroshima, Japan. Detonating some 600+ feet above the ground, the bomb, nicknamed “Little Boy”, obliterated everything within one square mile while collapsing structures and starting fires as far as 4-miles away.

Though difficult to ascertain, original estimates put the dead at about 66,000, with many more severely injured. Due to the long-term effects of radiation poisoning, it was eventually believed as many as 200,000 perished as a result of the blast.

Those are the facts and figures, the information found in most accounts of the bombing. What 1953’s Hiroshima does is go beyond the statistics, covering this horrific event at ground level, from the point of view of those who suffered through it, and those who lost their lives.

Financed by the Japan Teachers Union, Hiroshima opens in 1953, as Mr. Kiligawa (Eiji Okada) and his pupils are listening to a radio broadcast about the bombing. Suddenly, one student, Michiko (Isako Machida), cries out for the program to stop. She is bleeding from her nose, and it is determined that Michiko, one of several students who actually experienced the bombing, is suffering from Leukemia, known as the “A-Bomb disease”.

From there, Hiroshima takes us back to that fateful day in August of 1945, as students are heading to school when the flash in the sky arrives. Those who survive, including a middle-school class and a mother frantically searching for her children, try to make sense of it all. The injured wander aimlessly, many burned beyond recognition, with some falling over and dying in the middle of the street. Endo (Yoshi Kato) and his sister are looking for their parents, only to learn their mother is dead and their father dying from radiation poisoning.

Directed by Hideo Sekigawa, Hiroshima plays like a docudrama, with citizens of the actual city, many of whom survived the bombing, serving as extras (mostly during the blast’s immediate aftermath). And while the film does utilize actual footage of the tragedy, including views of the city post-bombing and the injuries sustained by the survivors, such moments are kept to a minimum.

As Hiroshima also reminds us, the terror did not end with the bombing. The effects would be felt for months, even years afterwards. In some of the movie’s more poignant scenes, orphans learn how to beg for food, while a hospital caring for the sick and wounded plants radish seeds, in the hopes it might prove the ground is not poisoned. Perhaps most heartbreaking of all is an early scene in which the students of Mr. Kitagawa’s class are thumbing through a book titled Not For Us: Letters from the Youth of East and West Germany, in which German students, writing letters to their Japanese counterparts, state their belief that Japan was used as the “guinea pig” for the atomic bomb, and not Germany, because of their race and the color of their skin (I have heard that Truman was reluctant to use the bomb on Germany for this very reason).

Yes, Hiroshima is an accurate account of the chaos and confusion, the anger and sorrow, that followed in the wake of the bombing. It is based in part on the book Children of the A-Bomb, a first-hand account of kids who survived the ordeal. But unlike history books, facts were of secondary concern to the filmmakers. Hiroshima is about the emotion, the trauma, and, ultimately, the fear of further wars that swept through Japan. A horrifying glimpse of the aftermath of the atomic bomb and a dramatically charged anti-war film, Hiroshima delivers its message like no history book ever could.
Rating: 9 out of 10

#2,995. Sam Whiskey (1969) - Burt Reynolds Film Festival

2025-04-09T05:00:00.035-04:00

When asked about his 1969 film Sam Whiskey, Burt Reynolds called it a movie “way ahead of its time”, because he was “playing light comedy and nobody cared”. Hard to believe, I know, considering Reynolds would, in later years, be known for his comedic performances, notably the films he made with longtime pal, director Hal Needham (Smokey and the Bandit, Hooper, The Cannonball Run). With Sam Whiskey, we get a hint of things to come, of the Burt that made audiences flock to theaters in the ‘70s and ‘80s and transformed the actor into a box-office sensation.

Set in the old west, Sam Whiskey stars Reynolds as the title character, a gambler and womanizer who’s had some scrapes with the law. He is approached by wealthy widow Laura Breckenridge (Angie Dickenson), daughter of a prestigious Midwest businessman, who wants Sam to help her out of a sticky situation.

It seems Laura’s late husband, a crooked politician, stole $250,000 worth of gold bars from the U.S. Mint in Denver, a theft that won’t be discovered until the government’s next inspection. To save her family name, Laura wants Sam to retrieve the gold from a sunken steamboat in the Platte river, then break into the Mint and replace the phony bars her husband left behind with the real deal, all before the authorities realize what’s happened.

Confused by this strange request but intrigued by her promise of a hefty reward, Sam agrees to help the lovely Miss Breckenridge, and recruits blacksmith Jed Hooker (Ossie Davis) as well as old pal O.W. Bandy (Clint Walker) to help pull off this crazy caper.

What the trio doesn’t know is that they are being followed by Fat Henry Hobson (Rick Davis), an accomplice of Breckenridge’s husband who wants the gold for himself.

For Sam Whiskey, director Arnold Laven assembled a solid supporting cast. Ossie Davis’s Jed Hooker is the film’s straight man, a quiet observer of the chaos who, when the chips are down, can be relied on to get the job done. Though primarily known for action / adventure westerns like More Dead Than Alive and Yuma, Clint Walker here proves himself a gifted comedian, getting a few laughs as the strong but subtle O.W. And while Angie Dickenson isn’t given much to do short of providing story exposition and hopping into bed with Sam, the chemistry between she and Reynolds makes their scenes together enjoyable.

That said, it’s the guy these talented actors are “supporting” who steals the movie. With Sam Whiskey, we see the beginnings of what would become the trademark Reynolds character, the wise-cracking but amiable rogue whose carefree attitude masks an inner decency which, more often than not, would make its way to the surface before the end credits. From early on, when he tries to steal a bath from Jed, to the final act set inside the Mint (a sequence that also features a handful of suspenseful moments), Reynolds combines the physicality and charm that would, in the coming years, see him canonized as his generation’s Cary Grant.

To watch Reynolds doing comedy nearly a decade before his Hal Needham era proved a treat, and Sam Whiskey is a movie that any fan of Burt’s must check out.
Rating: 8 out of 10

#2,994. Circus World (1964) - The Films of Henry Hathaway

2025-04-02T05:00:00.063-04:00

In 1952, Cecil B. DeMille’s The Greatest Show on Earth sought to wow audiences with its depiction of circus life, and the behind-the-scenes drama that went with putting on such grand entertainment. DeMille infused his movie with the same epic sensibilities that he poured into many of his films, doing his best to ensure The Greatest Show on Earth would be a big-screen extravaganza to rival his own The Ten Commandments.

The problem was the story wasn’t worthy of such a herculean effort, and felt more like a soap opera overflowing with love triangles and backstage drama than it did a grand spectacle. The Greatest Show on Earth has its moments, for sure, including a train wreck towards the end that at least approaches its director’s lofty intentions. But ultimately, I was unimpressed, and wonder why such an overblown motion picture won out over High Noon and John Huston’s Moulin Rouge at the Academy Awards as the year’s Best Picture.

Hell, Singin’ in the Rain was a better movie, and it wasn’t even nominated!

Flash forward a dozen years, when another showman with big ideas, Samuel Bronston, tackled another Big Top-themed movie, 1964’s Circus World. With Henry Hathaway in the director’s chair and John Wayne headlining an all-star cast, Circus World had all the makings of a circus epic.

Circus World came up short as well, but not quite as short as The Greatest Show on Earth. Whereas DeMille’s film was pompous and heavy-handed, Circus World is hoaky, but also kind of sweet, and that sweetness would win out in the end.

Circus owner Matt Masters (Wayne) has just wrapped the show’s American tour. Instead of packing up for the season, he decides to take his troupe overseas.

Unfortunately, things don’t go well for Matt or his team. Upon their arrival in Europe, the cruise ship carrying the circus capsizes and sinks. Matt and his crew manage to save all performers and animals, but lose their most important asset: the big top tent!

Matt does his best to salvage the tour, but his real reason for taking the circus overseas was to track down Lili (Rita Hayworth), an old flame and the mother of Matt’s adopted daughter (and fellow circus performer) Toni (Claudia Cardinale). Lili left Matt and Toni behind 14 years earlier after the tragic death of Toni’s father, a trapeze artist who plummeted to his death during a performance. Matt and Lili do eventually reunite, but are reluctant to tell Toni the truth about their own relationship, and what really happened to her dad on that fateful night all those years ago.

Right out of the gate, Circus World had a mawkishness to it, with character introductions and comedic asides that would have been more at home in a kid’s movie. Even the big scene, the sinking of the cruise ship (unlike DeMille’s film, which saved the train wreck for the final act, this tragedy occurs in the first 30 minutes), featured over-the-top sequences that had me rolling my eyes, including a moment when Wayne’s character subdues an angry lion in the ship’s hold, using a whip to force it back into its cage while sporting a western outfit and ten-gallon hat!

But as Circus World pressed on, it began to win me over. The relationship between Matt and Toni had a tenderness to it, as did the romance that blossomed between Toni and fellow performer Steve (John Smith). Even the inevitable return of Toni’s mother, played quite well by Hayworth, was a welcome turn in the story.

Like The Greatest Show on Earth, Circus World never achieved that epic feel it was reaching for; even the circus performances, though well-executed, don’t quite get there. In its quieter moments, I was absolutely tuned in to Circus World, and this connection to the characters and their situations gave the final scenes, when things get “big” again, a gravity that was lacking early on.

As a producer, Samuel Bronston often reached for the stars, telling big stories in grand fashion. He sometimes hit the mark (El-Cid, The Fall of the Roman Empire) and sometimes came up way short (55 Days at Peking). Circus World falls somewhere in the middle, and, though occasionally corny, is just endearing enough to be worth a watch.
Rating: 7 out of 10

#2,993. X (2022) - The Films of Ti West

2025-03-26T05:00:00.050-04:00

As I sat watching Ti West’s X on the big screen in 2022, I knew I was experiencing something special. A gritty, hard-hitting motion picture, it would go on to rank #1 on my list of the year’s Top 10 horror films.

Having just seen it again, I can’t shake the feeling I may have shortchanged it that first time around. X is, far and away, the best movie of the 2020’s. Period. All genres. On top of that, it’s the first film of the decade to crack my 250 Favorite Movies list.

Yes, X is that good.

The year is 1979. Night club owner Wayne (Martin Henderson) aspires to make a name for himself in the porn industry, and convinces both his stripper girlfriend Maxine (Mia Goth) and talented employee Bobby-Lynne (Brittany Snow) to star in his first X-rated film. With Jackson (Kid Cudi) as the male lead, and film student RJ (Owen Campbell) and RJ’s girlfriend Lorraine (Jenna Ortega) handling the technical side of things, Wayne predicts they’re all going to make a boatload of money.

Packing everyone and everything into a van, the troupe makes its way to rural Texas, where Wayne has rented a guest house situated on the property of elderly farmer Howard (Stephen Ure), who lives alone with his wife Pearl (also played by Mia Goth).

Once they’ve settled in, Wayne and the others get down to business, shooting one sex scene after another, all the while hoping Howard won’t figure out what they’re up to in his guest house.

But Howard isn’t the one they need to worry about, as Maxine discovers when Pearl takes a liking to her. Pearl may seem like a frail old woman, but the obsession driving her, which is not unlike the one pushing Maxine to excel in the adult entertainment industry, makes Pearl more dangerous than anyone could have imagined

Exploring themes of sexuality, desire, and a burning passion to be the best, X is also a loving tribute to the horror movies of the 1970s, films like The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (West duplicates several shots from Tobe Hooper’s masterpiece, including the darkened silhouette of Wayne standing in the doorway of Howard’s farmhouse, asking if anyone is home); Hooper’s 1976 follow-up Eaten Alive (a pond on Howard’s property is home to an enormous alligator); and John Carpenter’s Halloween (it’s no coincidence that, during the scene when X first takes on the characteristic of a slasher film, Blue Oyster Cult’s “Don’t Fear the Reaper” fills the soundtrack).

Along with these nods to the past, X matches the down-and-dirty look of both a ‘70s grindhouse flick and a porno from the same era. West never backs down from his subject matter, filling the screen with graphic nudity and, eventually, graphic violence, making. X the perfect first entry in what would become an intriguing trilogy (followed by the prequel Pearl, also 2022, and the 2024 sequel MaXXXine).

The film tackles both fame and sexual desire by way of the passions driving Pearl and Maxine, each played wonderfully by Mia Goth. Having not read or seen anything about the movie prior to my initial viewing, I didn’t even know until afterwards that Goth also played the elderly Pearl (she disappears behind excellent make-up)! Her performance as these two pivotal characters, each as ambitious as the other, will blow you away.

Maxine is determined to become a star, even if it takes appearing in pornos to get her there. Pearl, who we discover also once had dreams of making it big in show business, now longs for the vitality of youth, the sexual intensity that Maxine so expertly conveys in front of the camera (Pearl was secretly peering through the window when Maxine shot her first sex scene). Pearl becomes fixated on Maxine, a preoccupation that at first struck me as a sexual attraction. But on second watch, I see that Pearl coveted Maxine’s good looks, her vitality, her charisma. Much like Elizabeth Bathory, the 16th century Hungarian noblewoman and convicted serial killer rumored to have bathed in the blood of virgins to retain her youth, Pearl wanted to draw from Maxine’s life essence, to make her more desirable to both Howard and several members of Wayne’s crew. Her dreams of stardom may have faded over time, yet she still longs to be the center of attention, and It’s when Pearl fails at seduction (save one very memorable bedroom scene with Howard) that she becomes dangerous.

The parallels drawn between Maxine and Pearl, as well as its various homages to horror classics and the occasional jab at the adult film industry (RJ, who says he wants to make an ‘artistic’ porn flick, has no problem shooting one sex scene after another until his girlfriend Lorraine decides she also wants to be in the movie), transform X into what I consider the best film of the admittedly young decade, and a movie that, over time, could very well prove to be one of the greatest ever made.
Rating: 10 out of 10

#2,992. Ozone (1993) - The Films of J.R. Bookwalter

2025-03-19T05:00:00.023-04:00

J.R. Bookwalter turned out 1993’s Ozone for only $3,500. That, in and of itself, is not what is impressive. I mean, it is impressive, but what makes the movie a true wonder is that, despite its meager budget, Ozone is so damn good!

Detectives Eddie Boone (James Black) and Mike Weitz (Tom Hoover) are on a nighttime stake-out, hoping to catch drug dealer Richter (Bill Morrison) in the act. When things go south, Eddie and Mike give chase. Eddie eventually catches up with Richter, who, during the melee, injects the detective with a new narcotic called “ozone”.

As Eddie soon discovers, Ozone has some severe side effects, turning a good many addicts into mindless zombies. Eddie continues his investigation into the trafficking of Ozone, even as he begins to change, both physically and mentally, leaving him to wonder if the drug’s effects will eventually wear off, or if they are permanent.

Ozone is, first and foremost, a body horror film, and it’s an outstanding body horror film. From the exploding head that kicks off the movie to the many transformations to follow, the make-up and effects are beyond impressive. In one of the film’s best scenes, Eddie meets Justine (Lori Scarlett), who is addicted to ozone. During their brief encounter, the two undergo a metamorphosis that completely alters their appearance, resulting in a scene that is as gross as it is amazing.

Bookwalter also made the interesting choice of having each Ozone addict experience different side effects to the drug; not everyone becomes a zombie. During his investigation, Eddie encounters a bloodthirsty mob of Ozone addicts that force him to fight a cage match against a much bigger opponent; and later goes toe-to-toe with a trio of cannibals that corner him in a darkened alley. Keeping the effects of the drug random not only made for a more interesting film, but kept things moving at a brisk pace (the film’s 81-minute runtime feels half that long).

With performances better than you’d find in most low-budget direct-to-video productions (James Black does an amazing job in the lead role) and special effects that are shockingly good, Bookwalter managed to take $3,500 and turn out a movie as entertaining as any $200 million Hollywood production.
Rating: 8.5 out of 10

#2,991. Hell Fest (2018) - Films of the 2010s

2025-03-12T05:00:00.031-04:00

Released in 2018, Hell Fest is a modern take on the slasher subgenre. What’s more, it’s an amazing slasher, introducing to the world a masked killer every bit as terrifying as Michael Myers or Jason Voorhees.

College student Natalie (Amy Forsyth) returns home to visit her best friend Brooke (Reign Edwards), and is surprised to discover that Brooke is now roommates with Natalie’s former adversary, the overbearing Taylor (Bex Taylor-Klaus). Annoyed at first, Natalie chills out when Brooke informs her that not only are the three of them going to Hell Fest, a legendary traveling horror attraction, later that night, but the VIP tickets for the event were secured by none other than Gavin (Roby Attal), who has the hots for Natalie.

Along with Brooke’s boyfriend Quinn (Christian James) and Taylor’s beau Asher (Matt Mercurio), the trio and Gavin head to Hell Fest, hoping it will live up to its reputation as the greatest horror attraction of all-time.

But the six will get more than they bargained for when a real-life serial killer (Stephen Conroy), donning a mask that makes him look like just another park employee, sets his sights on Natalie. And this particular killer never stops until he’s finished the job.

One of the best things about Hell Fest is its setting. Laid out like an amusement park, Hell Fest boasts dozens of rides and mazes to get the pulse pounding. Many of the attractions are damn creepy, as are the actors working them (the haunted school was especially eerie).

More than this, Hell Fest proves the perfect setting for a slasher film because the killer can take someone out and patrons will assume it’s all part of the show! Bloodied carcasses become just another prop. We get a sense of this early on, when Taylor and Brooke tell Natalie about a tragedy from a few years earlier in Orange Grove, when a girl was stabbed to death at a haunted attraction, then strung up, hanging there for days until her body started to stink (the movie’s opening scene features this very murder, the victim portrayed by Cynthea Mercado).

The actors playing the friends / potential targets of Hell Fest have great chemistry together. We really care about all of these characters, and while we accept not everyone can make it out alive, we root for them anyway. Most impressive of all, though, is Stephen Conroy as the killer. Hidden behind a mask the entire time, he moves methodically, never running or even walking at a fast pace. Like Michael Myers in Halloween or Jason Voorhees in the Friday the 13th sequels, the killer in Hell Fest doesn’t need to rush around. He knows he will catch up with his targets eventually, making those moments when he does all the more intense (a scene with Natalie in a rest room had me on the edge of my seat).

There is also a great reveal at the end of Hell Fest, a final scene so strong it will have you wishing a sequel, perhaps even an entire franchise, was in the works. As of this writing, that doesn’t look to be the case, and that’s a real shame.

A solid horror film and a terrific entry in the slasher subgenre, Hell Fest is sure to become an October staple for genre fans, and will stay one for many years to come.
Rating: 9 out of 10

#2,990. Halloween Pussy Trap Kill! Kill! (2017) - Films of the 2010s

2025-03-05T05:00:00.043-05:00

October 31, 2004. Islamabad, Pakistan. U.S. troops are engaged in a firefight with Islamic forces. The Americans are heavily outnumbered, and those left alive at the end of the skirmish are taken prisoner.

Two are executed, while a third is tortured by having the skin peeled from his face. Now badly deformed, this soldier vows revenge.

Shot mostly hand-held, this opening features some genuine excitement. Still, it’s not exactly how you’d expect a movie titled Halloween Pussy Trap Kill! Kill! to kick off, is it?

Jump ahead to a modern-day Halloween night. The all-girl rock band Kill, Pussy, Kill has just finished a gig, and are on their way to an even bigger venue when they stop for gas. While there, one of the band’s members, Misty (Kelly McCart), disappears without a trace.

Searching for their friend, the rest of the group, aka Amber (Sara Malakul Lane), Cat (Lauren Parkinson), Natalia (Nicole Starling), Bridgette (Kelly Lynn Reiter), and their manager Roger (Tristan Ott), are approached by the station attendant Dale (Richard Greico), who claims he was asleep in back and has no idea of Misty’s whereabouts. To add to their problems, Roger’s van suddenly won’t start.

Informing the distressed musicians that his uncle has a van they can borrow while theirs is being repaired, Dale drives the group a few miles down the road, then gases them, rendering them all unconscious.

When they come to, Roger and the girls find themselves locked in a basement, where they are informed by an ominous voice (over a loudspeaker) that they are going to be tested. Those lucky enough to survive the test will gain their freedom.

Of course, not everyone will survive, as they discover when their first test is revealed: move to the next room and locate a hidden gun. The person who finds the gun must then kill one of the others!

Borrowing heavily from Saw, Halloween Pussy Trap Kill! Kill! has its share of violent scenes, some of which are effective (like when the gun is found by one of the girls), and some that are spoiled by wonky CGI (especially bad are the various explosions littered throughout). The film also introduces us to the Mastermind of this “game” (played by Jed Rowen but voiced by Dave Mustaine) and a few members of his “family”, including Bertha (played by producer Kelly Erin Decker) and an elderly little person in a child’s dress (Zahra Susan Ingersoll), a trio that gives the film something of a Texas Chain Saw Massacre vibe as well.

Considering Halloween Pussy Trap Kill! Kill! is a low-budget affair, the acting is fairly good, especially the girls in the band, who struggle with the decisions they are forced to make while under the control of the Mastermind.

Also turning up to help the girls is DJ Speed (Demetrius Stear) and his buddies (Tim Casper and David Oakes). DJ Speed is a former bandmate who was tossed out of the group earlier that night for forcing himself on Misty. He’s pulled into the chaos when he stops at the same gas station and notices Roger’s van off to the side. Though late to the “party”, the scenes with DJ Speed are fairly intense, and prove to be some of the film’s best.

Alas, Halloween Pussy Trap Kill! Kill! loses its way a few times, notably in the scenes involving the Mastermind’s family and how they handle the trick-or-treaters who knock on their door throughout the evening (they are literally in the middle of nowhere. Who in their right mind would walk several miles for a single piece of candy?). Intended to be funny (they aren’t), these scenes add nothing to the film. I also didn’t buy the Mastermind’s motivation for putting strangers through such a terrible ordeal, claiming it’s to help them appreciate their freedom (an even more egregious rip-off of Saw, and not a convincing one).

In addition, the music that plays throughout Halloween Pussy Trap, Kill! Kill! isn’t memorable, and even the band’s trip through the torture chamber eventually wears thin.

It’s hard not to feel some affection for Halloween Pussy Trap Kill! Kill!. Writer / director Jared Cohn is clearly a fan of the horror genre, and he and his cast did their part to make it an entertaining homage to several classics that came before it. Unfortunately, the results are mixed, and while I’m not unhappy that I saw it, I doubt I’ll be adding Halloween Pussy Trap Kill! Kill! to my October watchlist anytime soon.
Rating: 5.5 out of 10

#2,989. Ghost Team One (2013) - Films of the 2010s

2025-02-26T05:00:00.026-05:00

Best friends Sergio (Carlos Santos) and Brad (J.C. Villarreal) are throwing a wild party at the house they share with bad-tempered roommate Chuck (Tony Cavalero), who has been a real drag since he sobered up. Strapping a GoPro camera to a helmet, a drunken Sergio stumbles from room to room, capturing the insanity of a party that is spiraling out of control.

Ready to crash before the party ends, Sergio makes his way upstairs, only to hear sexual moans coming from behind a closed door. Chastising the lovers, he throws the door open.

There is nobody in the bed.

Suddenly, he hears the moans again, this time in the closet. Again, Sergio opens the door. Again, there is nobody to be found. Confused, he steps out into the hallway, where he has a frightening encounter with what could only be the ghost of a woman.

These opening moments of 2013’s Ghost Team One get the movie off to a chilling start. But as its story plays out, the scares give way to laughs, and while it is neither the funniest nor most frightening horror / comedy ever made, if is still an entertaining watch.

Initially reluctant to admit their house might be haunted, both Sergio and Brad have a change of heart when the gorgeous Fernanda (Fernanda Romero) shows a keen interest in the paranormal, and offers to help the two investigate these strange occurrences. Sergio, who is single, is immediately smitten with Fernanda. Brad is attracted to her as well, despite the fact he’s been dating Becky (Meghan Falcone) on and off for a while now.

As their probe into the house’s ghostly history intensifies, Sergio and Brad begin competing with one another to win Fernanda’s heart, never realizing that the spectral entity sharing room and board with them is becoming increasingly more dangerous.

With its emphasis on comedy over horror, Ghost Team One does have its share of funny scenes, most of which center on the leads’ attempts to win the affections of Fernanda, who is herself too busy obsessing on the supernatural to even notice. Also getting a few laughs is Tony Cavalero as Chuck, who is always confronting his roommates over what he sees as their lack of respect for the house they share (when we first meet Chuck, it’s the night after the party, and he’s screaming at Sergio and Brad after discovering someone took a shit in their kitchen sink).

Ghost Team One also boasts a couple of effective jumps scares, but horror is definitely not the film’s strength. And while the ghost does seem ominous at times (it turns out the angry spirit is that of a Filipino prostitute who once resided there), the film’s final 10 minutes, which feature a very unusual “possession”, are just silly enough to undermine the entity’s effectiveness.

I am definitely not a fan of how Ghost Team One ended, but it didn’t ruin all that came before, and with decent performances from the main cast and a handful of funny sequences, I ultimately had a good time with it.
Rating: 6 out of 10

#2,988. Untraceable (2008) - Films of the First Decade of the 2000s

2025-02-19T05:00:00.031-05:00

Director Gregory Hoblit’s Untraceable delivers its message of internet desensitization a bit heavy-handedly, but as a thriller, it’s one hell of a tense ride!

FBI agent Jennifer Marsh (Diane Lane) and her partner Griffin Down (Colin Hanks) have teamed with detective Eric Box (Billy Burke) of the Portland police department to track down a serial killer, one who live-streams his murders over the internet. In fact, the more visitors the killer’s website (killwithme.com) receives, the faster his victims perish, often in the most brutal ways imaginable.

An expert in cybercrime, Marsh does what she can to pinpoint the killer’s whereabouts, only to be frustrated at every turn. And now that the investigators have put themselves in this psychopath’s crosshairs, it may only be a matter of time before one of them becomes his next victim.

Diane Lane is superb as Agent Marsh, a dedicated investigator juggling her professional responsibilities with being a single mom (her daughter Annie is played by Perla Haney-Jardine), while Hanks, Burke, and Mary Beth Hurt (as Marsh’s mother, Stella) are solid is support.

It’s the story of an internet killer, though, and the manner in which his victims are slaughtered, where Untraceable truly distinguishes itself. Using everything from heat lamps to sulfuric acid, the killer leaves it up to his audience as to how quickly his “subjects” die. The more viral the video goes, the faster the death. And these killings are vicious! The subjects do not die quickly; even late in the film, when the viewership numbers jump exponentially by the second, these poor souls suffer for what seems like an eternity, making each fresh kill tougher to watch than the last.

Director Hoblit and screenwriters Robert Fyvolent, Mark Brinker, and Allison Burnett also throw us for a loop at one point. The killer’s identity remains a well-kept secret until just before the movie’s halfway mark, at which point we the audience finally see his face. Yet his motives, his exact whereabouts, even his identity remain a mystery. It is as if the filmmakers were toying with us in much the same way the killer toys with the police and the FBI. In most thrillers, an early glimpse of the villain functions as an “a-ha” moment, an exposé that answers a few questions we might have had up to that point. In Untraceable, we see his face. That’s all we get, and just like before this slight reveal, we’re relying on Agent Marsh to fill in the rest of the blanks.

As mentioned, Untraceable is not subtle about what it’s trying to teach us. The internet has made the world a much smaller place, granting anyone and everyone access to grisly real-life images and shocking news videos from around the world. With mayhem and murder a simple Google search away, we have become passive observers, taking in real-life violence as if it were nothing more than a TV show, with no concern whatsoever for the people whose lives have been forever changed.

Yet while Untraceable may deliver its message with all the delicacy of a sledgehammer, this does not detract at all from the film’s overall effectiveness. A taut police procedural and a first-class thriller, Untraceable will have you nervously biting your nails from start to finish.
Rating: 8.5 out of 10

#2,987. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969) - The Films of Ronald Neame

2025-02-12T05:00:00.036-05:00

Several months ago - September 27th 2024 to be exact - we lost the incomparable Maggie Smith. One of the all-time great actresses of stage and screen, Ms. Smith died in London at the age of 89. The very day she passed, as my way of commemorating her long and distinguished career, I watched (for the first time) the movie that netted Dame Maggie her very first Academy Award, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie.

And she was phenomenal in it!

It’s the early 1930s, and Jean Brodie (Smith) is a teacher at the Marcia Bline School for Girls in Edinburgh, Scotland. Though her assigned subject is history, Jean Brodie often discusses art and poetry with her students, which puts her at odds with stuffy headmistress Miss Mackay (Celia Johnson). A free spirit, Jane also has an active love life, and is avoiding the amorous advances of married art teacher Teddy Lloyd (Robert Stephens), with whom she recently had an affair, to instead forge a relationship with the dull but kindly music teacher, Gordon Lowther (Gordon Jackson).

More than anything, though, Jean Brodie is dedicated to her pupils, four of whom: Sandy (Pamela Franklin), Jenny (Diane Grayson), Monica (Shirley Steedman), and newest student Mary McGregor (Jane Carr), have formed a group known around the school as the “Brodie Girls”. Taking them on weekend field trips and tours of the city, Jean Brodie is especially fond of her Brodie Girls, and believes she is preparing them for very bright futures.

But when Jean, who is no stranger to controversy, crosses a line by extolling the virtues of fascism to her students, it may spell the end of her academic career.

Everything about Ronald Neame’s The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, from the costumes, sets, and locations to the music (“Jean”, written and performed by Rod McKeun, won that year’s Golden Globe for Best Original Song), impressed the hell out of me.

Across the board, the performances are solid. Robert Stephens, who at the time was married to Maggie Smith, is cocky as the oversexed Teddy Lloyd, yet has genuine feelings for Jean Brodie, to the point that he believes she may be the only woman he has ever loved. Also good are Gordon Jackson as Jean’s other romantic entanglement, a man who is dependable yet not near her league, and Celia Jackson as the uptight headmistress whose attitude towards Jane may be driven as much by envy as a genuine distaste for the outspoken teacher’s methods.

The finest of the supporting turns, however, is delivered by Pamela Franklin as Sandy, the most gifted of the “Brodie Girls”. At the start, Sandy and the others idolize Jean Brodie, and want to spend as much time with her as possible. But as the girls mature, (the film’s events span several years), Sandy takes special notice of the failings of Jean Brodie, some genuinely observed, others brought on by Sandy’s own jealousy (she, too, has an affair with Teddy Lloyd). Playing a character whose age ranges from 12 to 17 over the course of the movie, Miss Franklin perfectly conveys the wide-eyed innocence of youth as well as a budding, independent young woman.

At the center of it all, though, is Maggie Smith as Jean Brodie. Talking at times as if she were a character in an Oscar Wilde play (especially in her opening scenes, addressing her class on the first day back at school), Jean Brodie is a force of nature in this movie. She is outgoing, energetic, dedicated, and flamboyant, and we see almost immediately why both men and her students are drawn to her. Jean is fiercely independent, refusing to adhere to a curriculum so that she can broaden the horizons of her pupils, and a scene in which she stands up to Miss Mackay, who is demanding that Jean resign, is one of the film’s high points.

But as The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie reveals, Jean is far from perfect, and it’s a credit to Maggie Smith that, even in those scenes in which her character is crossing a line, or allowing her own selfish plans to get in the way of what’s best for her girls, she does not hold back. Perhaps most controversial, for both the story and the film’s potential audience, is Jean’s insistence that Fascism is the wave of the future, and should be embraced. On holiday, Jean spends her free time in Italy, and expresses admiration for “Il Duce”, Bentio Mussolini. Even when her support for Franco’s efforts in Spain results in a tragedy that rocks the Brodie girls, Jean does not waver. From start to finish of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, the title character oozes charisma, and has a magnetic personality. Our opinions of her may change over the course of the film, but Jane herself does not change.

My favorite Maggie Smith performance is in Robert Altman’s Gosford Park, where she plays the witty but snobbish Aunt Constance. Part of an amazing ensemble, Smith still managed to steal every scene, and though she didn’t play the most likable character in Gosford Park, I couldn’t help but admire her. The same can be said of her Jean in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. Whether we love her or detest her, Jean Brodie is the film’s most fascinating individual, and we are as drawn to her as the film’s characters.

And the late, great Maggie Smith is the reason why.
Rating: 9 out of 10

#2,986. Abigail (2024) - Films of the 2020s

2025-02-05T05:00:00.001-05:00

The opening few seconds of the 2024 horror / comedy Abigail had me grinning from ear-to-ear. Already aware going in that it was a vampire flick (the trailer made sure to spoil that little surprise), I got a bit giddy when Tchaikovsky’s "Swan Lake" started playing over images of a child ballerina, dancing her little heart out on-stage. "Swan Lake" was, of course, the very music that kicked off 1931’s Dracula, the classic Universal vampire film and the movie that practically spawned the horror genre in America. That cool homage was enough to convince me directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett are horror fans like the rest of us, and I figured that, for the next 110 minutes, I was in good hands.

And then Abigail proceeded to exceed my expectations and blow me away!

The young ballerina is our title character, Abigail (Alisha Weir). She doesn’t know it yet, but she is being stalked by a team of kidnappers, a group of criminals and outcasts each with their own specific skillset. The goal: kidnap young Abigail and hold her in a remote mansion hideaway until her rich daddy coughs up a $50 million ransom.

For security reasons, the kidnappers do not know each other’s names. Instead, their employer, Lambert (Giancarlo Esposito), assigns them aliases inspired by the Rat Pack. Frank (Dan Stevens) is the unappointed leader of the group, mostly because his pissed-off demeanor intimidates the others. Joey (Melissa Barrera) obviously has some medical training, and is there to watch over Abigail. Sammy (Kathryn Newton) is a computer hacker who does it for kicks, while the dim-witted Peter (Kevin Durand) is the muscle. Rounding out the team are Dean (Angus Cloud), the stoner who is also a hell of a getaway driver, and Rickles (Will Callett), the ex-military weapons expert.

The kidnapping goes off without a hitch. Abigail is tied up and tucked away in one of the mansion’s upstairs bedrooms. Frightened and confused, the young girl is comforted by Joey, and a bond forms between them. As for the others, they have nothing to do but wait for Lambert to return in 24 hours with their share of the ransom money, and spend their time enjoying the amenities of their luxurious hide-out.

It isn’t long, though, before the criminals realize they are not alone, and that someone… or something… is stalking them. As the hours drag on, the odds that any of these criminals will survive the ordeal grow longer and longer.

As mentioned above, the trailer spoiled the fact that Abigail, which opens as a crime / thriller, transforms into a vampire film at some point (much like the trailer for Robert Rodriguez’s From Dusk Till Dawn ruined a similar twist in that film). Now, for those of you who have not seen the trailer, I will reveal nothing more. But for those who have watched the trailer and not the movie, rest easy. Abigail features additional twists and turns, each as surprising as the last.

The primary reason these surprises work is the film’s superior cast. Melissa Barrera, Dan Stevens, and the others do a masterful job bringing this diverse set of kidnappers to life. Their various interactions are at the core of this film, from the camaraderie that builds between some (Sammy and Peter flirt a little early on, which develops into mutual trust and genuine affection once things get real) to the antagonism that blossoms amongst others (Frank and Joey engage in a battle of wills that only intensifies with each new scene).

When all is said and done, however, the finest performance in Abigail is given by Abigail herself, Alisha Weir. Her range is phenomenal, and she is convincing as both a frightened child and a bad-ass in complete control. Ms. Weir steals every scene in Abigail. And that is no exaggeration. Every… damn… scene! I would go so far as to rank her turn as Abigail up there with Hailee Steinfeld’s Mattie Ross in 2010’s True Grit as one of the greatest child performances ever captured on film. There are many reasons to watch Abigail, and Alisha Weir is at the top of that list.

What else does Abigail have going in its favor? Well, it’s a horror / comedy that works on both levels, with copious amounts of blood spewed in every direction (though enhanced digitally, the majority of the gore scenes were done practically, and it shows) and plenty of laughs (often times, the funniest moments are the ones featuring graphic violence). Abigail proved an incredibly entertaining motion picture, and if you have not yet seen it, you should absolutely treat yourself and watch it right now!
Rating: 9.5 out of 10

#2,985. Late Night with the Devil (2023) - Films of the 2020s

2025-01-29T05:00:00.001-05:00

Taking a page from Ghostwatch and The WNUF Halloween Special, 2023’s Late Night With The Devil, written and directed by siblings Colin and Cameron Cairnes, centers on a live television program that aired on Halloween night.

This time around, the year is 1977. Night Owls, a late-night talk show hosted by Jack Delroy (David Dasmalchian), has been a perennial runner-up in the ratings since its debut six years earlier, finishing second to Johnny Carson’s The Tonight Show. Having recently returned to Night Owls following a long sabbatical, during which he mourned the death of his beloved wife Madeleine (Georgina Haig), Jack is hoping this Halloween special will finally catapult him to the number one spot on the ratings chart.

Joined as always by his trusty sidekick, Gus (Rhys Auteri), Jack has invited guests who specialize in the paranormal, including psychic Christou (Faysaal Bazzi); former magician-turned-skeptic Carmichael Haig (Ian Bliss); and author / paranormal investigator June Ross-Mitchell (Laura Gordon), who believes that her protégé, 13-year-old Lilly (Ingrid Torelli), the lone survivor of a demonic cult, is possessed by an evil entity.

Things go from bad to worse during the broadcast. Christou claims at one point to be receiving signals from a powerful spirit, and has a violent reaction to it. Then, with Carmichael Haig continually alienating the audience by way of his assertions that the supernatural is phony, Jack decides to up the ante, and convinces a reluctant June Ross-Mitchell to “contact” the demon living inside Lilly… live on the air!

The Night Owls sequences throughout Late Night With the Devil, where Jack and his guests are in front of the cameras, broadcasting to the entire country, are a hell of a lot of fun. Starting with Christou’s psychic readings of audience members (where his results are hit-and-miss) through to the terrifying moment when the demon inside Lilly bursts to the surface, we believe we are watching a live TV show.

Yet it’s what separates this film from others like it that really impressed me. Throughout the entireties of both Ghostwatch and The WNUF Halloween Special, never once do the filmmakers break format. At all times, what we are seeing in those two excellent films is exactly what anyone who watched the programs “live on TV” would have seen. In contrast, Late Night with the Devil also features “behind-the-scenes” footage (shot in B&W), supposedly captured during the commercial breaks. Throughout these asides, we eavesdrop on conversations between Jack and his longtime producer Leo (Josh Quong Tart) discussing the best way to maximize ratings, all as Gus and a few others in the crew express their concerns that things are getting out of hand.

By including these extra scenes (which are too polished to have actually been shot during the breaks), the Cairnes are essentially “stripping away” the realistic vibe that the earlier films went to great lengths to maintain, all in an effort to increase the tension (when Gus is volunteered to be the subject of a demonstration staged by Carmichael Haig late in the movie, the studio audience doesn’t know what we know: that Gus is already scared out of his mind!).

The Cairnes’ do a fine job recreating the look and feel of a ‘70s late-night talk show, right down to the cheap set pieces and gaudy clothes; and David Dasmalchian gives a solid performance as Jack Delroy, a guy just charismatic enough that we believe he’d be the host of his own show, yet at the same time mediocre enough to convince us he’ll never beat Carson in the ratings (Jack always goes for the obvious joke). Yet it’s the approach that Late Night with the Devil takes in telling its story, and its willingness to occasionally suspend the realism other movies of its ilk strive to preserve, that helps it stand apart from the rest.
Rating: 8.5 out of 10

#2,984. Christmas Bloody Christmas (2022) - The Films of Joe Begos

2025-01-08T05:00:00.054-05:00

Listen, I love Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and A Charlie Brown Christmas as much as anyone. But every December, as it draws closer to the big day, I find myself needing more than the standard family-friendly holiday entertainment. At that point, sitting down with a quality Christmas-themed horror or action film to dilute the overdose of televised sweetness becomes top priority.

There are always the standards to fall back on, of course: Black Christmas, Silent Night Deadly Night, Die Hard, and Lethal Weapon, just to name a few. But every so often a new Christmas genre film comes along that blows me away. And that’s exactly what writer / director Joe Begos’ 2022 Christmas Bloody Christmas has done.

A sci-fi horror mash-up that’s a cross between Silent Night Deadly Night and The Terminator, Christmas Bloody Christmas stars Riley Dandy as Tori, the proprietor of a small-town record / video store. It’s closing time on Christmas eve, and Tori begrudgingly accepts an invitation from her lone employee, Robbie (Sam Delich), to join him for a few drinks at a nearby bar. After first visiting her best friend Lahna (Dora Madison) and Lahna’s husband Jay (Jonah Ray), who own the local toy store, Tori and Robbie spend the next few hours at the bar getting shitfaced.

But this isn’t going to be a silent night; the main attraction at Lahna’s and Jay’s toy store this holiday season is a robotic Santa. Using technology created by the military, this Santa is as advanced as they come, with a full range of motion and a vocabulary of over 9,000 words. Before the night is out, the Cyborg Santa (played by Abraham Benruni) will go ballistic, grabbing an ax and murdering everyone in its path. And it isn’t long before it sets its sights on Tori and Robbie.

As he did with Bliss, director Joe Begos floods Christmas Bloody Christmas with color, neon reds and greens that both evoke the holiday and lend an otherworldly feel to it all, especially during the film’s chaotic final half hour. Also true to form for the writer / director is the violence on display, which is graphic and often extreme.

Christmas Bloody Christmas feels like an ‘80s film, specifically a slasher. Comparisons to Silent Night Deadly Night are obvious: both feature a Santa that goes on a killing rampage. But this movie owes just as much to James Cameron’s 1984 sci=fi classic The Terminator. A highly-advanced cyborg, the Santa in Christmas Bloody Christmas is, like the T-800 played by Schwarzenegger, an unstoppable force of nature that will not quit until it has killed every person in its path. A scene set at a police station (yet another nod to The Terminator, which featured a similar showdown) is executed to perfection, ratcheting the tension up to a whole new level while informing the audience of the killer’s unwavering resolve and seeming invincibility.

Unlike the futuristic assassin of The Terminator, though, the robotic Santa of this 2022 film does not have a specific target. It slaughters anyone and everyone it encounters, and will not stop until the last person is dead.

My good friend and fellow podcaster Jason Pyles has insisted that 1984’s The Terminator is as much a slasher movie as Halloween or Friday the 13th. Christmas Bloody Christmas may be his best argument in support of that theory. A blood-soaked holiday horror film and an homage to the slashers of yesterday, Christmas Bloody Christmas is a great addition to that list of alternative Holiday entertainment.
Rating: 9 out of 10

#2,983. Battleground (1949) - The Films of William A. Wellman

2025-01-01T05:00:00.038-05:00

“This story is about, and dedicated to, those Americans who met General Heinrich von Luttwitz and his 47 Panzer Corps and won for themselves the honored and immortal name – ‘The Battered Bastards of Bastogne’”.

The Battle of the Bulge, which stretched from December 16, 1944 to January 25, 1945, marked the final German offensive of WWII, a last-ditch effort by the Nazis to catch the Allies off-guard. And for a while, they managed to do just that, surrounding (among others) the U.S. Army’s 101st Airborne Division. With heavy fog preventing bombing runs, and cut off from supplies, the 101st and their comrades held out as long as possible until reinforcements could arrive.

It proved to be the turning point in the war, and director William A. Wellman puts us in the middle of the fighting, following a group of soldiers as they freeze, starve, and begin to lose hope. Wellman recreates the conditions and events of the Battle of the Bulge wonderfully, but as with many of his movies it’s the characters that transform Battleground into one of the finest World War II films ever made.

Battle weary and in need of a little relaxation, the 2nd squad 3rd platoon of the 327th Glider Infantry Regiment, which is assigned to the 101st Airborne, have been given a temporary leave, and hope to spend the next few days unwinding in Paris. The Germans, however, have other plans for them, and launch a surprise attack. With their leave cancelled, the bitter men of 2nd squad head first to the city of Bastogne, then deep into the forests of the Ardennes, where they are to await further orders.

Cut off from the outside, they have no idea they are being surrounded by the Germans, and are heavily outnumbered. Still, even with heavy fog and freezing conditions settling in, the hungry troops continue to fight, praying that the Allies will quickly come to their rescue.

No stranger to war films (having directed 1927's Wings, the first movie ever to win the Academy Award for Best Picture), William A. Wellman knew how to stage a dramatic battle scene, and Battleground would also go on to win an Oscar for Best B&W Cinematography (courtesy of Paul C. Vogel). Yet before any battle is staged, and before the brilliant shots of the snowy Ardennes landscape, Battleground introduces us to its characters, and we spend a good deal of time with them prior to the skirmishes.

Van Johnson, playing the sarcastic PFC Holley, is technically the lead, yet in the end we know him about as well as we do the other men of 2nd squad. Pvt. Jim Leyton (Marshall Thompson) is the newest arrival, a raw recruit thrust into a situation for which he is not prepared, alongside a group of men he has barely met. Pvt. Donald Jarvess (John Hodiak) worked as a reporter for a local paper, and regularly praised the Allied efforts against the Nazis in his columns. Now, on the ground and part of the fighting, he has a slightly different outlook on war.

Pvt. Johnny Roderigues (Ricardo Montalban) is a native of Los Angeles, and is excited to experience the first snowfall of his life, while his good friend Pvt. “Pop” Stazek (George Murphy) has received word he is going home. Unfortunately, at the time the squad was sent to Bastogne, Pop’s official orders had not yet arrived.

Staff Sgt. Kinnie (James Whitmore) is a hardened veteran who leads the men into battle, but is also just ‘one of the guys’. Pvt. “Kipp” Kippton (Douglas Fowley), having heard that regulations state a soldier must have at least six of his own teeth to continue serving in the army, at one point knocked all of his teeth out with the butt of his rifle. Instead of a discharge, though, the army gave him a set of false choppers. Then there’s Pvt. Bettis (Richard Jaeckel), who suffers from battle fatigue.

This is just a sampling; there are more characters, and the personalities, fears, and idiosyncrasies of each and every one are front and center.

ames Whitmore was nominated for Best Supporting Actor, and while he does a fine job, definitely delivering an Oscar-worthy performance, he is no more impressive than any other actor throughout Battleground, his Sgt. Kinnie no more memorable than any other soldier. If the Academy had an award for Best Ensemble, this film would have walked away with it.

The men of the 101st Airborne were a part of history, and as Battleground shows us, they had no idea just how important it was at the time. In one key scene, a dispatch has made its way through, and as Jarvess is reading it to the others, he refers to the battle they are engaged in as “Bulge”. It was the first that the men ever heard that word, not realizing that their families back home, and people around the world, knew the word all too well by this point, and were following the action intently. Yes, it was an historic battle, and Battleground does a wonderful job recreating the harsh conditions. But history would have to wait; for these men who lived through it, it was all about survival, and getting themselves and their buddies out alive. We see and feel their struggles, their suffering, and even their victories. Wellman and his crew ensured that we lived it right along with them, and that is why Battleground is damn near a masterpiece.
Rating: 9.5 out of 10

#2,982. All the King's Men (1949) - Best Picture Nominees

2024-11-16T05:00:00.038-05:00

Political corruption has been a key plot point in Hollywood movies for decades, from the “aw shucks” mentality of Frank Capra’s Mr. Smith Goes to Washington to the pessimism of Alan Pakula’s All The President’s Men. In Robert Rossen’s fantastic 1949 film All The King’s Men, we are introduced to a crusader who ends up playing both sides of the political fence, starting out as bright and optimistic about government as Jimmy Stewart’s Jefferson Smith, only to be transformed into the very man he initially wanted to overthrow.

Newspaper reporter Jack Burden (John Ireland) is assigned to cover the campaign of Willie Stark (Broderick Crawford), a small-town yokel running for Treasurer. Burden has been told that Stark is a rarity in the world of politics: he’s an honest man. While following Stark, who is harassed at every turn by his political rivals, Burden realizes everything he’s heard about Willie is true.

Burden writes a series of articles on Stark, who he sees as a decent yet naïve man who ultimately has no hope of winning the election. Sure enough, when the votes are tallied, Willie has been defeated.

As a reward for accepting the assignment, Burden takes a vacation, traveling home to spend time with his mother (Katherine Warren) and family friends, including Judge Monte Stanton (Raymond Greenleaf), the Judge’s nephew Dr. Adam Stanton (Sheppard Strudwick) and Adam’s sister Anne (Joanne Dru), with whom Burden is deeply in love.

Something happens, however, in the months that follow Willie Stark’s defeat: an accident in a school building kills a dozen children, the result of shoddy construction. Which just so happens to be one of the issues Willie Stark was trumpeting during his campaign: construction contracts going to family and friends of the current council members, regardless of qualifications. Remembering his stance on the issue, the public heralds Stark as a voice for the common man, and this newfound popularity lands him a nomination for Governor of the state.

With Burden and Sadie Burke (Mercedes McCambridge) as his advisors, Willie Stark makes a series of informative but uninspiring speeches, not realizing until it’s too late that his nomination was nothing more than a sham, a move designed to split the vote of the “common man” to clear the way for the crooked incumbent to return to office.

Those who set Willie Stark up to take this particular fall, however, come to regret their actions. As it turns out, they’ve only managed to awaken a sleeping giant.

All at once, an angry Willie Stark transforms into a political dynamo, delivering fiery speeches and riling up the “hicks”, who, like him, have had enough of the current administration. Within 4 years, Willie Stark is elected Governor, winning in a landslide.

But he is not the same man he once was; in fact, as his term stretches on, Willie Stark proves himself the most corrupt politician of them all, a fact that grows more apparent to his old pal Jack Burden with each passing day.

Broderick Crawford won an Academy Award for his portrayal of Willie Stark, the political optimist who, before long, lets power and his role as “the voice of the people” go straight to his head. Early on, Crawford plays Stark as a lovable fool, a man who has good ideas but lacks the grace and tact to get them across to the voters. The moment of his transformation (which, incidentally, also comes the day after he got drunk for the very first time) is a tremendous scene, with Willie, enraged by the realization he was just a patsy, delivering a speech that riles up the very people he was meant to corral and placate. Crawford plays it wonderfully, and, like Burden and Sadie, we the audience are happy that Willie Stark has finally unleashed his inner politician.

Willie rides this newfound vigor all the way to the State Capital, where, over time, he’ll make backroom deals with shady characters, doing so for what he calls the “greater good” (this includes the construction of a free hospital that he wants Adam Stanton to run). But as director Rossen shows us, in a hard-hitting manner, all power corrupts, and it isn’t long before Willie Stark has become the type of government official he had initially fought against.

Mercedes McCambridge, in her screen debut, also won a much-deserved Academy Award for her turn as the cynical Sadie, who falls for Stark’s rhetoric a bit harder than most. In addition, Rossen’s expert direction brings an interesting flow to the story: mannered at the outset, frantic in the final act, mirroring first Willie Stark’s humble beginnings, then his meteoric rise.

Even by 1949, corruption of power was a time-honored (read cliché) topic for motion pictures to explore. Yet All The King’s Men does it in a way that never feels like it’s treading on familiar ground. It is a movie that continues to resonate, and is just as vital as ever.
Rating: 9 out of 10

#2,981. Dead Man's Burden (2012) - The Wild West

2024-11-09T05:00:00.031-05:00

I’m convinced that, of all genres, the western holds the greatest potential for uncovering a hidden gem. From big-budget productions to low-budget indies, filmmakers across the globe have been exploring the American west for well over a century now. Just imagine how many thousands, if not tens of thousands, of westerns are out there for the taking. When I sit down to watch a new western, I always hold out hope that it will be something special.

Dead Man’s Burden, the 2012 directorial debut of Jared Moshe, is something special.

Set a few years after the American Civil War, Dead Man’s Burden tells the tale of two siblings attempting to reconnect, each hiding a secret from the other that could ruin any chance of a happy reunion. Wade McCurry (Barlow Jacobs), a former Sergeant-Major in the Army, receives word that his estranged father is dead. Having stayed away from the family’s New Mexico farm for ten years, Wade finally arrives home, where he is reunited with his younger sister Martha (Clare Bowen), now the wife of Heck Kirkland (David Call).

With their father gone, Martha intends to sell the farm to a mining company, whose representative E.J. Lane (Joseph Lyle Taylor) has made them a very generous offer. Though disappointed (he was hoping to settle down and farm the land), Wade quietly steps aside to allow Martha and Heck to do as they please.

It isn’t until he visits family friend Three Penny Hank (Richard Riehle) that Wade discovers his father’s death might not have been an accident (the old man supposedly fell off his horse). Hank even believes Lane may have had a hand in it (Wade’s and Martha’s father refused to sell, while Martha let it be known she was anxious to move as far away as possible).

Armed with this new information, Wade attempts to bring Lane to justice, though the truth of what really happened to his father may be more than he can bear.

Writer / director Moshe doesn’t conceal either Wade’s or Martha’s secrets from the audience. In the film’s opening scene, we watch Martha gun down her father (played briefly by Luce Rains) as he is riding away. As for Wade, while still making his way home, he has a run-in with two brothers (Adam O’Byrne and Travis Hammer) who are out hunting. Wade tells them his family originally hailed from Texas, but when they ask which Confederate General he served under, Wade is hesitant to reply. That’s because Wade did not fight for the Confederacy. He was a Union officer, which is what caused the initial rift between he and his father. In fact, when Wade first arrives at the farm, Martha believes he’s an imposter because she was told Wade had died years earlier while on his way to enlist with the Confederates.

Yet even with their secrets, a fondness develops between Wade and Martha, who have a genuine love for one another. Martha tells Heck that Wade was always more a father to her than their actual dad, while Wade is clearly pleased that the young girl he left behind has matured into a smart, hard-working woman. We know more than they do, of course, and once the truth is out about them both, their relationship will likely be ruined. One of the film’s strengths is that, because we see the love they have for one another, the weight of their inevitable falling out grows heavier with each passing scene.

Moshe does a fine job developing his characters while also taking advantage of the picturesque New Mexico landscape (there are some truly stunning shots in this film). Still, Dead Man’s Burden does stumble a little in the third act when a gunfight breaks out. While most of the movie was shot in a classical style, a la John Ford, this firefight took a more modern approach, with rapid cuts that not only feel out of place, but make the action confusing and hard to follow.

Fortunately, this was the film’s lone weakness. A dramatic, well-crafted tale of family bonds stretched to their breaking point, and featuring a cast of mostly unknowns, Dead Man’s Burden did, indeed, prove to be a hidden gem.
Rating: 8 out of 10

#2,980. The Devil Incarnate (1979) - Paul Naschy Extravaganza

2024-11-02T05:00:00.034-04:00

Initially titled The Traveler, The Devil Incarnate is a fascinating, occasionally riotous take on the human condition, all from the point of view of an outsider. A cynic of potentially supernatural origin, the film’s lead character is convinced there is very little good to be found in people, and spends the majority of the movie trying to prove this hypothesis.

Writer / director Paul Naschy stars as Leonardo, who, over the course of the film, will use his wits and quick thinking to get the upper hand on everyone he meets. With Tomas (David Rocha), a young man he rescued from a cruel master, as his companion, Leonardo lies, cheats, steals, screws, and murders his way through 16th century Spain.

Tomas believes Leonardo is a very intelligent man, the perfect mentor to instruct him in the ways of the world. But the truth is Leonardo may not be a “man” at all. In fact, all the evidence points to him being the devil in human form!

More a series of random adventures than a straightforward narrative, Naschy’s The Devil Incarnate is a bleak sermon on the baser elements of humanity, a sermon the filmmaker delivers with gusto to spare. After killing the first person he meets (a down-on-his-luck soldier) and saving Tomas, Leonardo makes his way to a small farm, where he seduces Ines (Silvia Aguilar), the farmer’s wife, before making off with she and her husband’s entire savings. Though a sweet girl when they first meet, Leonardo lures Ines into bed with a few choice words. Once the deed is done, he humiliates her, takes her money, and carves his “brand” into her backside. Tomas expresses regret at how Leonardo treated Ines, but Leonardo excuses his actions by reminding his young companion she was, in the end, a fornicator who was more than happy to cheat on her husband.

The Devil Incarnate progresses in much the same way from that point on: Leonardo coerces potential victims into wrongdoings, bringing their greedy or lustful ways to the forefront before robbing them blind. Naschy gives a bravura performance as the “devilish” Leonardo, spewing cryptic dialogue on the weaknesses of humanity, yet doing so with such exuberance that it’s clear he had a blast playing the part.

Leonardo’s saddest encounter comes when he enters the home of Dona Aurora (Sara Lezana), a once-proud member of the aristocracy who has fallen on hard times. Her husband dead and her money all but gone, Dona Aurora is also mourning the inevitable loss of her young daughter, who doctors say is suffering from a fatal illness. Leonardo claims he can save the girl, but only if Dona Aurora will afterwards spend the night with him. She agrees, and the girl immediately recovers, leading to a prolonged sequence in which Leonardo and Dona Aurora make love (being a ‘70s genre film, there is no shortage of nudity and sex in The Devil Incarnate, this scene included). Without spoiling it, what eventually happens to Dona Aurora after her encounter with Leonardo results in the film’s most heartbreaking moment.

That said, there is plenty of comedy to be found in The Devil Incarnate as well, everything from a humorous showdown with a stuttering moneylender (Pepe Ruiz) and his nagging wife (Paloma Hurtado) to a romp at a brothel, sped up via fast-motion, that features music and physical humor so outlandish it could have been lifted from an episode of Benny Hill. Naschy also shows off his range as a director, infusing The Devil Incarnate with an energy that never falters while also capturing some truly remarkable images (a late “crucifixion scene”, set in the ruins of a monastery, is striking in its beauty).

On top of everything else, the actor / director offers up “food for thought” throughout The Devil Incarnate, providing one shocking revelation after another on the human condition. At one point, Tomas laments the state of the world, and tells Leonardo he is holding out hope that the future will be much brighter. With a smile, Leonardo predicts his young friend will, that very night, dream of the future. When Tomas closes his eyes, he is horrified by images (via black and white stock footage) of the atrocities of World War II, everything from Nazi bombings to concentration camps. Naschy’s point is clear: mankind’s barbarity remained not only constant through the centuries, but has gotten worse.

This is certainly not an uplifting message, yet The Devil Incarnate somehow manages to be an uplifting film, for both the craft on display and the sheer joy that Naschy took in making this movie. His efforts would be rewarded: The Devil Incarnate was nominated for Best International Film at the Fantosporto Festival, and took home an award at 1978’s Eurocon. And the film feels just as fresh and original today as I’m sure it did upon its initial release.

The Devil Incarnate is a movie to treasure.
Rating: 9.5 out of 10

#2,979. Inquisition (1977) - Paul Naschy Extravaganza

2024-10-26T05:00:00.035-04:00

The first directorial effort of Paul Naschy, who by then had firmly established himself as a star of the horror genre, 1977’s Inquisition tells a story of religious fanaticism during the middle ages, when so-called “holy” men went from town-to-town, executing anyone accused of witchcraft.

Set during the days of the French Inquisition, the film stars Naschy as Bernard de Fossey, whose sole purpose is to expose heretics and those who are in league with Satan. Along with his assistants Nicholas (Ricardo Merino) and Pierre (Tony Isbert), de Fossey makes his way to the prosperous French village of Peyriac, where he informs the authorities that witchcraft is running rampant in the area.

Shortly after his arrival, de Fossey falls in love with Catherine (Daniela Giordano), the daughter of the town’s mayor. Catherine, however, is already in love with Jean (Juan Luis Galiardo), who has promised to marry her.

Like a good many of these movies, Inquisition points out how easy it once was to execute someone for witchcraft, and how the accusers themselves were often as evil, if not more so, than the condemned. A servant named Renover (Antonio Iranzo), who is blind in one eye, had been constantly ridiculed by the young women of Peyriac, and he takes revenge on them by accusing first one and then another of witchcraft. Each girl is brutally tortured until she confesses (the interrogation of Denise, played by Jenny Llata, is particularly tough to watch). Once convicted, they are burned at the stake.

But Inquisition goes a step further than most by including scenes with actual witches, who have given themselves over to the darkness. When Jean is found murdered on the side of the road, a distraught Catherine turns to her good friend Madeleine (Monica Randall) for comfort. Madeleine takes the grieving Catherine to visit Mabille (Tota Alba), a purported expert in the black arts. Mabille promises to reveal the identity of Jean’s killer to Catherine if she, in turn, dedicates her life to Satan. Convinced that de Fossey had a hand in Jean’s death, Catherine also seduces the holy man in an effort to discredit him among his peers. Already attracted to Catherine, de Fossey proves easy prey. As disturbing as the initial scenes of Inquisition are, when innocents are sent to their deaths, it’s in the second half, when witchcraft and devil worshipping take center stage, that the film delves even further into the horrific.

Along with its well-paced story, Inquisition features costumes, settings, and even make-up effects (during one of her “trips” to the sabbat, or black mass, Catherine encounters a demon that looks damn eerie) that convincingly transport us back to this most unfortunate moment in human history.

In later interviews, Naschy himself said he was proud of this movie, claiming the reviews at the time of its release praised his efforts, especially as a novice director. And rightly so: Inquisition stands alongside The Witchfinder General and Mark of the Devil as one of the best entries in this particular subgenre of horror.
Rating: 8.5 out of 10

#2,978. Frankenstein Unbound (1990) - Roger Corman Presents

2024-10-19T05:00:00.035-04:00

Having not directed a film in almost two decades (the last being 1971’s Von Richthofen and Brown), B-movie guru Roger Corman was lured (by a $1 million payday) to helm 1990’s Frankenstein Unbound. It would prove to be his final directorial effort.

A sci-fi / horror mash-up, Frankenstein Unbound has more in common with Corman’s Poe films of the 1960s than the low-budget but entertaining schlock he churned out in the decades that followed.

The story opens in the year 2031, in the city of New Los Angeles. Dr. Buchanan (John Hurt) has developed a powerful weapon that emits a particle beam, one strong enough to vaporize enemy combatants, yet at the same time precisely focused, meaning it will not damage the surrounding environment. Unfortunately, Buchanan’s weapon has one very serious side effect: it fractures time and space, and opens a portal that transports him to the past.

Finding himself in Switzerland in the year 1817, Buchanan meets none other than Victor Frankenstein (Raul Julia), who is reeling from the recent death of his younger brother. Justine Moritz (Catherine Corman), the child’s former caretaker, has been accused of killing the boy and is currently standing trial. But Buchanan knows the truth: it was the monster that Frankenstein himself created (played here by Nick Brimble) who committed the murder.

Eager to save Justine from the gallows, Buchanan enlists the help of Mary Godwin (Bridget Fonda), a young writer who has taken a keen interest in the trial. Recognizing her as the eventual author of Frankenstein, and therefore perhaps the only person who can prove Justine’s innocence, Buchanan visits Mary on a nearby island, where she is vacationing with her lover Percy Shelley (INXS’s Michael Hutchence) and Shelley’s friend and fellow poet Lord Byron (Jason Patric).

But there is more at stake here than the life of an innocent nanny. It seems the monster, which continues to roam the countryside, is demanding a mate, and has threatened to kill Frankenstein’s fiancé Elizabeth (Catherine Rabett) unless Frankenstein creates one for him. With his knowledge of electricity, Buchanan might be able to help Frankenstein save Elizabeth, but is he willing to assist in bringing yet another potentially violent creature into the world?

It is a fascinating story, with strong performances by Hurt, Brimble, and especially Raul Julia, whose Victor Frankenstein proves at times even more monstrous than his creation. Yet as he did with such Poe outings as The Masque of the Red Death and The Tomb of Ligeia, it’s the world - or should I say worlds - Corman and his team conjured up throughout Frankenstein Unbound that most impressed me. Starting with the future’s New Los Angeles (brought to life via futuristic gadgets, matte paintings, and Buchanan’s pretty kick-ass talking car) through to early 19th century Switzerland, the sets and costumes are all very convincing.

The same can’t be said for the special effects (including one rather strange scene where a Mongol emerges from the time rift and attacks Buchanan), which are on-par for a film from this time period, meaning they have not aged well. That said, the make-up (especially that of the monster) and various gore effects all looked awesome, and did their part to update this classically-themed story for modern-day horror aficionados.

All this, plus the film’s thought-provoking ending (in which Buchanan is forced to contemplate his own life’s work and its parallels to Victor Frankenstein’s), served as proof positive that Roger Corman hadn’t lost his touch. As gorgeous, as entertaining, and as challenging as anything he made previously, it’s a damn shame that Corman didn’t direct more movies after Frankenstein Unbound.
Rating: 8.5 out of 10

#2,977. Amok Train (1989) - Spotlight on Italy

2024-10-12T05:00:00.040-04:00

Also released as Beyond the Door III, director Jeff Kwitny’s 1989 horror film Amok Train is a movie so insane, so amazingly, impressively crazy, that, even as you’re watching it, you won’t believe your eyes.

A class of American students is invited to Yugoslavia to observe a ritual that is performed once every hundred years. When they arrive at their destination, they are met by Professor Andromolek (Bo Svenson), who guides them to a remote countryside village. The students are led to some rundown shacks and told to rest up from their long journey. As they do so, the locals board up the doors so that the students cannot escape, then set fire to the structures.

One student, Richard (Jeremy Sanchez), is killed in the blaze. The others manage to escape, and take off running into the woods.

The group eventually makes its way to some train tracks, and attempts to hop a passing train. Four students; Christie (Sarah Conway Ciminera), Kevin (William Geiger), Angel (Alex Vitale), and Beverly (Mary Kohnert), climb on board, while two others, Larry (Ron Williams) and Melanie (Renee Rancourt), are left behind.

But none of them are out of danger just yet. It seems that Beverly, who is of Yugoslav descent, is destined to play an important part in the upcoming ritual. In fact, she has been chosen as the future bride of Lucifer himself! And not even a speeding train can outrun pure evil.

Shot on-location in Belgrade, Amok Train is even wilder than the above synopsis might suggest. Soon after the frightened students board the train, its conductor Milutin Micovic), spots some burning timbers lying across the tracks, and stops in order to clear them off. As he is doing so, the train rolls forward, crushing Milutin and decapitating him. At the same time, Milutin’s assistant (played by Ratko Tankosic), who is still on the train, is sucked by an unseen force into the fires of the coal engine.

As this is happening, the cars carrying the other passengers break away, crushing the engineer (Mario Novelli) in the process and leaving Beverly and her friends alone on a runaway train.

The gore in the above scene is not the most convincing, but it’s good enough, and sets the stage for more carnage to come. And while this sequence would surely rank high on the insanity meter, it can’t top the absurdity of what transpires over the remainder of Amok Train!

Combining a number of different scenarios (Beverly’s realization of her fate; the other students attempting to stop the train; Larry and Melanie on foot trying to make their way to safety; and the railroad executives wondering why the train refuses to make its scheduled stops), Amok Train takes its audience on a ride ten times wilder than any rollercoaster, with scenes so outlandish that it’s impossible to predict what’s to follow. For example, I always thought a train needed a track to get from point “A’ to point “B”. Well, a regular train does, I suppose, but a train under the control of pure evil? Seems like it can do anything, go anywhere, hunt anyone!

What’s more, we eventually find out that the students aren’t as alone on the runaway train as they thought. Sava, a stowaway thief (Savina Gersak), and Marius (Igor Pervic), a mysterious man in a cloak who never stops playing the flute, are also along for the ride.

There are some brutal deaths in this film (one in particular, involving two train cars, is especially gory), and there’s no shortage of impending catastrophes, chief among them the runaway train, which somehow turns completely around and starts traveling in the other direction (don’t ask how… you have to see it for yourself), putting it on a collision course with another passenger train!

And just when you think you’ve seen it all, there’s the grand finale, where Satan himself makes a cameo.

A lot of what happens in Amok Train doesn’t make a lick of sense, and you’re just as likely to laugh out loud as be frightened and amazed by it all. But it is a relentless movie. Amok Train does not let up! From the moment the kids run into the woods to escape the fire, Amok Train barely stops to take a breath.

Whether you’re having a good time with the lunacy or rolling your eyes throughout, the one thing I guarantee is you will never, ever be bored by Amok Train!
Rating: 7 out of 10