Monster (2014)

Monster kicks ass! The 2014 bloody thriller about revenge on a serial killer is nail-biting (and sometimes a bit funny) throughout every bit of its almost two hours. Four star kudos to Lee Min-Ki, Kim Go-Eun and Ahn Seo-Hyun for involving and dedicated performances (especially the latter considering she was only ten years old when the movie was filmed) and writer/director Hwang In-Ho for holding me spellbound.

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Let There Be Zombies (2014)

Let There Be Zombies is a decent B-flick (on Amazon Prime now) with a script that has some characterization and is not laden with ridiculous actions by the protagonists. It's definitely a funny zombie movie although some of the jokes fall flat, and it's obvious writer/director Andrew Patterson knows his genre as there were shots that seemed direct homages to Night of the Living Dead. It's not scary and it's not very bloody but I still got drawn in by the story and the actors - who were very good in their respective roles - and it's got that social commentary thing running through it.

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Coherence (2013)

Coherence is touted as a science fiction movie but has more in common with Donnie Darko than Star Trek. Writer/director James Ward Byrkit's 2013 film is a fascinating movie with a great script and development back story. Don't read anything about this movie before seeing it although how you'll manage to do that without reading what I wrote before seeing it is certainly a conundrum; maybe Coherence is the missing piece of this three lines puzzle?!

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Housebound (2014)

It's not often that I want to watch a movie again right after I've seen it for the first time but that's exactly what I did with Housebound, the fantastically funny horror film from New Zealand written and directed by Gerard Johnstone. Morgana O'Reilly and Rima Te Wiata are spot on as a mother and daughter forced to spend eight months together in their haunted, childhood home. In spite of (or because of) the story cues from ABC Movie Of The Week, it is an almost perfect movie.

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Billy Club (2013)

Billy Club is not earth-shatteringly bad or resoundingly refined. It's a typical revenge slasher film with a denouement I've seen before. It wasn't badly filmed, kept my attention (especially the truck kissing scene with writer/director/actor Nick Sommer) and had a premise about bullying but that's all I got.

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Rebound (2013)

Although Rebound starts out as cheesy crap (despite the bra on the girl in the sex scene), it definitely proved itself as worthy of attention. I was never sure who was the bad guy and once the answer was clear it still went in a number of atypical directions. It doesn't break any new ground but writer/director Megan Freels creates a creepy movie with some nice camera work; certainly worth a watch for those into the horror genre.

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The Cottage (2012)

Wow, David Arquette must really need the money for alimony and child support to have taken the lead role as a Manson-like pedophile in The Cottage, a cinematic piece of shit posing as a Lifetime drama. The script is misogynistic, the characters and situations stock, and the only redeeming values are the cottage (a beautiful property on which most of the movie takes place), Arquette's nude swim and the little seen movie poster in the style of Saul Bass. I posted a JPG and created a triptych so you can go on with your day.

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Scourge (2008)

Scourge doesn't trod any new ground but it's decently involving and the titular corrigia, created using CGI, was well-done. For this type of B-movie the script could've been worse and the acting was decent; when the femme lead was fighting the corrigia she actually looked like she was fighting the corrigia - in spite of the fact that she was fighting nothing. It might've been better had the movie answered some of the questions asked by the characters themselves regarding the corrigia (which means shoelace while scourge means whip) but you can't have it all.

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Mary, Queen Of Scots and the First Snuff Film?

Mary, Queen Of Scots (aka Mary Stuart) was six days old when her father, King James V of Scotland, died and she became the Scottish queen, but the real controversy surrounding this royal occurred when the very Catholic Queen Mary I of England died and was succeeded by her half-sister, the very Protestant Elizabeth I - both fathered by King Henry VIII. In the eyes of many Catholics, Elizabeth was illegitimate, and Mary Stuart, as the senior descendant of Henry VIII's elder sister, was the rightful queen of England. Katherine Hepburn and Vanessa Redgrave both played her on film but Mary Stuart's first cinematic appearance was in 1895 when the Edison Laboratory created a short film depicting her execution; the jump cut right before the beheading was so convincing to audiences of the time that many (would have) believed it to be the first snuff film - had that term been in the lexicon of the 19th century.

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Fedora (1978)

After watching Fedora I have no feeling that the title character, a famously reclusive movie star, had anything special because director Billy Wilder miscast the pivotal role - the film's downfall. The story is intriguing (and thematically ripe for a remake starring Renée Zellweger!) but I thank author Tom Tryon for that because the whole presentation feels like a B movie. It was interesting to see Stephen Collins (yes THAT Stephen Collins) play a young William Holden but Marthe Keller is just wooden and Hildegarde Knef is no Gloria Swanson ... or Greta Garbo.

Watch Fedora on YouTube now

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The Crowded Sky (1960)

In The Crowded Sky (based on the best-selling novel) every woman is a self-described tramp (except Hollis Irving as the virginal dog) and every man has a non-sexual flaw (except Keenan Wynn as the lothario). All of these peccadilloes are revealed in the first 90 minutes of the film which is followed by an exciting mid-air plane crash and its consequences. The crowd is populated by Rhonda Fleming, Anne Francis, Patsy Kelly, Troy Donahue, John Kerr, Dana Andrews and Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. (the latter two switching the pilot roles they played 15 years later in Airport 1975) but too many flashbacks and voiceovers make this precursor to the disaster films of the 70s unintentionally funny until the nicely filmed denouement.

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The Uninvited (1944)

1944's supernatural tale The Uninvited isn't the most horrifying ghost story but it does have the following things going for it:

• Charles Lang's Oscar-nominated cinematography
• Gail Russell's performance as Stella By Starlight (the pop standard based on the movie's theme)
• a story that engrosses up to the somewhat unexpected denouement
• a hint of mid-40s lesbianism offered up by Cornelia Otis Skinner

With Russell, Skinner and Ruth Hussey, Ray Milland comes off even more bland than usual, and frankly a little ridiculous. Fortunately though, we can watch Russell as she takes over the screen with her bedroom eyes, full lips and hauntingly delicate performance - 17 years before she died from alcoholism at the age of 36.

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About Miss Shirley Booth

Streaming on Amazon Prime (and not available on DVD) is About Mrs. Leslie, a wonderfully romantic movie starring the actress with the biggest heart in Hollywood, Miss Shirley Booth. This film was the followup to her film debut Come Back little Sheba and demonstrates (again) how Miss Booth's luminescent talent can light up the screen - this time as a saucy nightclub singer (à la Belle Barth) whose life is transformed by a same time next year relationship. A host of well-recognized character actors do excellent work supporting the genteel Miss Booth and her rugged co-star Robert Ryan in this emotional tale of (un?) requited love.

• Philip Ober (Vivian Vance's husband and I Love Lucy guest star)
• Ellen Corby (Grandma Walton)
• Amanda Blake (Gunsmoke)
• Mabel Albertson (Jack's sister and the lady with the jewels in What's Up, Doc)
• Kasey Rogers (Louise Tate in Bewitched)
• Jack Larson (Jimmy Olsen in TV's Superman)
• Maidie Norman and Harry Morgan post-dating their wonderful work in The Well

In this YouTube premiere, Miss Booth as Vivian Keeler sings Kiss the Boys Goodbye (lyrics by Frank Loesser) and I'm In The Mood For Love

If interested in downloading this out-of-print film,
email me for a link.

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Bobbie Gentry's Spring Thing (1969)

The Spring Thing is a 1969 television special co-hosted by Bobbie Gentry and Noel Harrison (son of Rex and co-star of The Girl From U.N.C.L.E.). Unfortunately, there is no surviving video footage of this musical salute to spring which featured performances from Goldie Hawn, Shirley Bassey, 60s rock group Harpers Bizarre, Rod McKuen and Meredith MacRae (daughter of Gordon and star of the seminal 60s television series Petticoat Junction). Kudos go to the enterprising proprietor of the Noel Harrison fan site who posted this rare MP3 of Bobbie and Noel crooning Bobbie's hit song Peaceful; it was lifted directly from the program so I added visuals and now everyone can enjoy this slice o' Bobbie.

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Why Be Good? (1929)

I had the joy of experiencing the 1929 synchronized sound film Why Be Good? in a movie theatre. It features a wonderfully effervescent performance by Colleen Moore with studly support from Neil Hamilton (who some might remember as Commissioner Gordon in the Batman TV series). The story is somewhat akin to Clara Bow's earlier classic It but the film is so modern you'd swear it was filmed later - like today.

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The Taking of Deborah Logan (2014)

The Taking of Deborah Logan is a somewhat original yet involving horror film about an Alzheimer's patient who turns out to have more afflictions than her diagnosis portends. The acting is outstanding especially Jill Larson (All My Children) in the title role, Anne Ramsay (Mad About You) as her daughter and Michelle Ang as the filmmaker documenting Deborah's illness. Some twists and a particularly creepy end to this 2014 film (now streaming on Netflix) make this perfect for a dark and stormy night.

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The Strange Possession of Mrs. Oliver (1977)

Karen Black shines (once again) in The Strange Possession of Mrs. Oliver, a 1977 television thriller penned by the amazing Richard Matheson. Without giving away too much, Mrs. Oliver (Black) finds herself donning the look (and soul?) of a woman five years dead. The story is involving, the ending unexpected and it even has a small yet pivotal role played (as always) nicely by Gloria LeRoy (who acted with Karen in The Day Of The Locust) so check it out on YouTube.

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September Affair (1950)

The first part of the 1950 romance September Affair amounts to a beautiful black and white travelogue of Italy as the story of two lovers who are mistakenly reported dead in a plane crash is established. It's an involving film from an adult script by Robert Thoeren (and an uncredited Ben Hecht) brought to life by pros Joan Fontaine, Joseph Cotten and an affecting Jessica Tandy (in a supporting role as a woman affected by the pair's deception). The score is beautiful (winning a Golden Globe for composer Victor Young) and the penultimate scene in which Fontaine (her character is a pianist) gives a concert in New York is movie magic at its finest.

Streams on Amazon Prime

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A Taste Of Evil (1971)

If you're a Stanny fanny you could do worse than watching her give us A Taste Of Evil in this 1971 thriller from the ABC Movie Of The Week cannon, produced by Aaron Spelling. Not many TV movies start with the rape of a young girl but leave it to Barbara Stanwyck to notch up the evil even further as the cold matriarch Miriam Jennings. Barbara Parkins, Roddy MacDowell, William Windom and Arthur O'Connell join in the fun; yea, it's not that scary or thrilling but Stanwyck makes it fun.

Watch it now on YouTube

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The Raven (2012)

John Cusack is an anachronism in The Raven despite the 1800s set design, his Edgar Allen Poe goatee and the knowledge that he has acted in other movies. The script itself is somewhat interesting as it fictionalizes some rumors surrounding Poe's mysterious death. Ultimately though, Cusack's acting and the general malaise of the direction make this one kind of a snoozefest.

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Puzzle Of A Downfall Child (1970)

Photographer Jerry Schatzberg interviewed 1950s supermodel Anne St. Marie so he could tell her story in (and direct) his first film Puzzle of A Downfall Child starring Faye Dunaway as a supermodel being interviewed by a photographer. The film is nicely composed but the story of unlikable people smacks of self importance and pretension; hell, two characters don't even speak in contractions which is a noticeable anachronism. It's talky and pretty boring, and Dunaway (despite her youth and obvious beauty) is sometimes photographed in an unflattering fashion even before her character's downfall.

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An American Dream (1966)

An American Dream (aka See You In Hell, Darling) deserves a place in hell. The 1966 color noir is nothing but Stuart Whitman, Harold Gould, Murray Hamilton, Barry Sullivan and J. D. Cannon preening and showing each other the size of their dicks while Eleanor Parker and Janet Leigh do the same with their clitorises. This movie (based on the Norman Mailer novel) is the worst kind of claptrap for which I give it my first 0* rating; the negative and digital bits should be destroyed so future generations don't even know it existed.

aka Joey Heatherton

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The Sacrament (2013)

I thought The Sacrament was going to be a trashy, found-footage reenactment of the Jim Jones massacre at Jonestown (in 1978) but it turned out to be mesmerizing with a horrifying script and some incredible acting. Despite Eli Roth's name attached as presenter it is not a horror film; in fact, it brought to mind John Frankenheimer's Seconds which I had seen the week before. Gene Jones and Amy Seimetz, in particular, are excellent as the fanatic cult leader and his paramour but kudos go out to all the cast and crew (especially multi-hyphenate Ti West) for, if not helping us to understand these peoples' actions, putting them into a perspective.

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Seconds (1966)

Rock Hudson has always seemed more a (cardboard) personality than an actor but he does acquit nicely in the somewhat squirm-inducing John Frankenheimer science fiction film Seconds - and he only appears in the last two thirds! Seconds is not an ordinary movie; it contains themes that are au courant, was filmed stunningly in black and white by James Wong Howe, and directed tautly by Frankenheimer. Any more details will spoil the unfolding horror so watch it cold for an indelible and harrowing experience.

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The Mothers-In-Law (1967-69)

The Mothers-in-Law is I Love Lucy (and Ethel) shtick performed by powerhouse talents Eve Arden and Kaye Ballard. I burst out laughing during a number of scenes in season 1 (not as much in season 2 where a Darren Stevens/Becky Connor actor switch of Ballard's husband was made). If you like this latest WORLD INTERNET PREMIERE clip of Arden and Ballard in a Camay commercial than a binge of The Mothers-In-Law should be in the cards for you.

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