Duel (1971)

 ☆ ☆ ☆ ½

Duel (1971) – S. Spielberg

Dennis Weaver is a travelling salesman who finds himself chased by a vengeful (perhaps evil) petrol tanker (the driver is never seen), along a very long stretch of California desert highway. The story is by Richard Matheson (Hell House, I am Legend, The Incredible Shrinking Man, etc.). This is, of course, Steven Spielberg’s first feature film (albeit, a TV movie) and it is a carefully controlled exercise in montage (with the occasional longer take), that demonstrates the director’s Hitchcock influences and concomitant manipulation of the audience.  Except, perhaps, he hasn’t quite mastered the latter, as there are only so many scenes of a truck and a car on a road that an audience is prepared to bear.  That said, this film is a bit of a master class in editing (by Frank Morriss) where shots of the truck, shots of the car, shots of Dennis Weaver, and long shots have been expertly stitched together despite having had to have been shot at different times from different angles.  Of course, various pit-stops along the way do break up the action and add suspense which keeps us there until the explosive finale.  

 

Count Dracula’s Great Love (1973)

 ☆ ☆

Count Dracula’s Great Love (1973) – J. Aguirre

I know there is an untapped world of exploitation/cult/trash cinema out there and I freely admit that I am afraid of it.  My tender sensibilities might be easily affronted.  In particular, I’m not interested in torture porn or other sadistic (ultraviolent) films, though I sometimes stumble into them. Ironically, I do enjoy supernatural horror films!  The problem is where spooky & gore converge (I look for the former but want to avoid the latter).  There is no doubt, too, that horror films often target girls and women as victims – and exploitation films might therefore contain sexual violence too (even more repugnant).  Not sure if this is made up for in the subgenre of “rape revenge” films but I usually eschew them too.  To make matters worse, Euro-horror of the seventies is often boring and badly acted – if there are any chills to be had, you need to wade through some tedious scenes to get to them.  Such is the case with Count Dracula’s Great Love, starring Paul Naschy.  I haven’t seen too many Naschy films but I bought a used DVD years ago (La Noche de Walpurgis, 1971) and although it isn’t “good”, it has a certain quality of forbidden out-of-bounds low-budget horror (not unlike some parts of Videodrome) where you can feel like it is so poorly made that it has to be “real” (notwithstanding the fact that we are talking werewolves and fake blood). Unfortunately, the current film falls into that well-known genre that sees some stricken wayfarers (well-endowed starlets, of course) wind up stranded at the Count’s castle.  However, the twist here is that the Count falls in love with one of the women and offers her the chance to be his eternal bride (all of her friends and companions have since been turned into vampires already). She turns him down, so he somehow turns everyone else back to human and kills himself with a wooden stake through the heart.  A bit of a surprise ending!  However, really, the film holds little real horror (save for just one or two scenes that evoke the “uncanny” in the way I mentioned above) and moves at a snail’s pace with terrible dubbing, some sleaze, a little gore, and look, it isn’t something I would recommend to you.  That said, it didn’t really offend my tender sensibilities either – it is all rather tame. Unfortunately, this was a version hosted by Elvira (so I had to fast-forward through her schtick). 

Beverly Hills Cop (1984)

 ☆ ☆ ☆ ½

Beverly Hills Cop (1984) – M. Brest

Far better than in his debut (in 48 Hrs., 1982), Eddie Murphy really commands this action-comedy blockbuster, much of which may involve improvised dialogue. He’s come into his own and every other character, primarily the real Beverly Hills cops played by Judge Reinhold and John Ashton, spend their time reacting to him.  Murphy plays Axel Foley, a Detroit detective whose childhood friend turned hoodlum is offed by an Art-Dealer/Drug-Smuggler from Beverly Hills. Foley goes rogue, travels to California, and succeeds in more-or-less singlehandedly solving the case and getting the local force to act.  There’s a lot of gun violence, swearing, some nudity – so not for kids (did I really see this in ’84?) – but it is also genial and sails forth atop Murphy’s charisma, so it is a fun vehicle for him. 

 

48 Hrs. (1982)

 ☆ ☆ ☆

48 Hrs. (1982) – W. Hill

Eddie Murphy’s first film role, as a thief serving a three-year sentence who is given a weekend pass to help rogue cop Nick Nolte capture a murderous prison escapee.  To be honest, he isn’t particularly funny here. But as directed by Walter Hill, the whole film is actually a somewhat dour affair. (Perhaps it is Beverly Hills Cop, 1984, that is more fun?)  The film starts with a series of rather brutal cop killings (with only Nolte escaping) and then proceeds to try to introduce elements of the buddy film.  The lack of political correctness here – back in 1982 – makes the film feel pretty dated, pretty fast.  To their credit, Murphy and Nolte do bring charisma to what otherwise is a pretty average thriller, wrapping up in 90 minutes or so, basically a hunt for the killers on the streets of San Francisco with little time for additional character development (or characters).  Average at best.

 

John Wick (2014)

 ☆ ☆ ☆ ½

John Wick (2014) – C. Stahelski

This film has spawned a couple of sequels so I thought I would check to see what the fuss was about (seven years later). First of all, it seems to have helped to foment a resurgence in the career of Keanu Reeves (surname probably not necessary) – and he certainly struts his stuff as a true action hero, suggesting his Matrix moves were no put on. Second, this is ultra-violent stuff, perhaps in the mould of John Woo’s Hard-Boiled (1992)– yes, that kind of balletic violence – but Keanu’s Wick is a less charitable killer than Chow Yun-Fat’s Tequila. Wick is a hit-man after all, coming out of retirement to exact his revenge on the Russian mafia tsar, son, and minions who have stolen his car and killed his dog. Expect execution-styled violence, not for the squeamish. Third, the film is stylishly directed, like a videogame, and has some humorous moments, based on the fact that Keanu is an unstoppable killing machine (one-man army).  So, it’s designed to be a total adrenalin rush but somehow I can’t divorce the feeling that I am watching people get killed (even if they are bad amoral people or, in fact, fictional non-entities) and this results in an ambivalent response. Could this sort of film be bad for society?

 

Maigret Sets a Trap (2016)

 ☆ ☆ ½

Maigret Sets a Trap (2016) – A. Pearce

Matlock!  Uh, I mean, I chose this TV movie starring Rowan Atkinson as Inspector Maigret because I was looking for something easy on the brain (or because I am old).  But it was so unchallenging as to be rather a waste of time, in fact.  Atkinson shows nothing of his verbal or physical wit (from either Blackadder or Mr. Bean) and seems to be purposefully underplaying instead. The setting in 1950s Paris is nicely art-directed and the story from Georges Simenon is perhaps clever enough – the clues take a while to show up but after they do, Maigret is all over them, yielding a conclusion that would be hard to otherwise deduce. Not sure I need to watch the other episode on the DVD (from the library).

 

The Haunting of Julia (1977)

 ☆ ☆ ☆ ½

The Haunting of Julia (1977) – R. Loncraine

I guess I agree with those who complain that the plot isn’t exactly coherent here, but if you just treat this as a chilly and spooky Seventies horror, complete with piano/weird synth soundtrack, and that is your thing, then it is highly enjoyable. The opening moments of the film are the most difficult to watch: Mia Farrow and Keir Dullea lose their daughter to a choking accident.  This sets the stage for a film about grief – and ghosts.  Julia (Farrow) retreats to a newly purchased London house in Bayswater, separating from selfish Dullea who continues to hound her, and seeking support in easy-going Tom Conti. Soon, however, she is hearing noises in the old house and the heater keeps getting cranked up.  A séance reveals that the ghost may not actually be her own daughter – so, she does some digging into the history of the house and the neighborhood.  But then people start dying.  The film never quite shows us any ghosts and it is possible, just possible, that Julia may be going crazy…   You know this film already!  A mood piece.

 

The Karate Kid, Part II (1986)

 ☆ ☆ ☆

The Karate Kid, Part II (1986) -- J. G. Avildsen

There’s an easy-going likeability that infuses Part II of the series, sort of like an extended episode of your favourite Seventies TV show.  There are good guys (Mr Miyagi, Daniel-san), there are bad guys (Miyagi’s nemesis Sato and his evil student) and there are love interests for both Miyagi (Pat Norita) and Daniel (Ralph Macchio).  The action takes place in Okinawa (filmed in Hawaii) where Mr Miyagi is called to return when his father lays dying.  So, this is that extended episode of that TV show where the whole cast travels to another location and has adventures there. We spent a lot of the movie playing the “Are they really Japanese?” game. Director John G. Avildsen (who also directed the first movie as well as Rocky) manages to create tension but still keeps things light-hearted (the bad guys are really buffoons).  Near the end, I realised we hadn’t seen Daniel fight at all, which was surprising – until well, you’ll have to watch the film!  Amon thought it even better than the first one.