Talk to Me (2022)

 ☆ ☆ ☆ ½

Talk to Me (2022) – D. Philippou & M. Philippou

Not for the squeamish.  Australian horror film with high concept premise: when you hold the severed hand of a dead medium and utter the title phrase, horrible spirits from limbo are able to enter and control your body.  The film’s teen protagonists treat this experience as a sort of party drug (and clearly that’s the central metaphor here) with the same sort of unpredictable (and often dire) outcomes. Often unbelievably tense – and bloody – and perhaps veering toward the torture porn films that I’ve successfully avoided (i.e., Saw franchise). Sophie Wilde plays Mia, the unstable girl who has recently lost her mother and who gets sucked into the world of the severed hand.  She’s more-or-less adopted by the central family here, headed by single mum (?), Miranda Otto. Although the film falters a bit in its final act (messing with us about what is or is not real), things mostly stay coherent as we hurtle to the inevitable final scene.  Great premise though.

 

Marlowe (2022)

 ☆ ☆ ½

Marlowe (2022) – N. Jordan

As a film noir aficionado, I just couldn’t ignore this latest attempt to revive the genre, especially as it is set in the true noir period (1940s/50s), rather than positioned as a modern day neo-noir (although some of these can be brilliant). Liam Neeson is the latest to don the (gum)shoes of Philip Marlowe, the hard-boiled private detective protagonist of Raymond Chandler’s best works (The Big Sleep, Farewell My Lovely, The Long Goodbye), succeeding Humphrey Bogart, Dick Powell, Robert Montgomery, and more recently James Garner, Elliott Gould, and Robert Mitchum. Indeed, Neeson’s portrayal most resembles that of Mitchum who played Marlowe in a pair of 1970s reboots as an older, tired version of the private eye, nearly washed up, and not the wry and witty smart-arse of Bogart or Powell. This might be too generous to Neeson, however, and it might be more accurate to say that he is miscast here. Neil Jordan’s film also resembles those Mitchum vehicles (directed by Dick Richards) by playing things fairly straight (with only a few spare jokes about Christopher Marlowe that might make you hope for a pastiche). But alas what began promisingly as an homage to a treasured genre soon settled into the turgid form of the made-for-TV movie (notwithstanding the presence of Jessica Lange, Diane Kruger, Alan Cumming and especially Danny Huston who drift in and out like so many well-paid guest stars), finally imploding in a corner while viewers ponder what they came here for.

 

Fourteen Hours (1951)

 ☆ ☆ ☆ ½

Fourteen Hours (1951) – H. Hathaway

Still working through my film noir watchlist and feeling surprised that this “small film” about a man threatening to jump from the 16^th floor of a Manhattan hotel is actually more of a big budget thriller than the quickie B-movie I had assumed it to be.  Veteran director Henry Hathaway keeps things moving even as most of the action takes place out on the narrow ledge where charismatic lug Paul Douglas tries to talk skittish Richard Basehart back into his room.  Screenwriters John Paxton and Joel Sayre succeed by sticking to reality – the cops try every rational solution to lure Basehart in (or grab him), including bringing in his estranged parents (Agnes Moorehead and Robert Keith) and recently dumped girlfriend (Barbara Bel Geddes) to encourage him to choose life (and to give audience’s more of his backstory and motivation).  A few subplots featuring members of the huge crowd down below (including Grace Kelly in her first film) show how people reflect on the value of their own lives in the face of such a dark spectacle. But as slick as this is, you can’t escape the bitter noir under-taste.

 

Death on the Nile (1978)

 ☆ ☆ ☆

Death on the Nile (1978) – J. Guillerman

I watched the first of the Kenneth Branagh Agatha Christie adaptations and that was enough for me (tell me if I am wrong).  But taking a sickie today, I decided to watch an older Christie adaptation starring Peter Ustinov as Hercule Poirot, with the late ‘70s version of an all-star cast (David Niven, Bette Davis, Mia Farrow, Angela Lansbury, George Kennedy, Maggie Smith, Olivia Hussey, Jack Warden, Jon Finch, Jane Birkin). Whether I had seen this back in the day (on TV surely) doesn’t quite matter since I couldn’t remember the plot.  As always, everyone has a motive to kill Linnet Ridgeway (Lois Chiles) and, by the end, Poirot will gather all of them (well the survivors anyway) into one room to announce the actual killer.  This time, the suspects are all on a cruise down the Nile after beginning the film at the Sphinx and the Pyramids (seemingly shot on location).  As directed by John Guillerman, it is by-the-numbers murder mystery fare – and that’s all you need on a sick day.

 

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023)

 ☆ ☆ ☆

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023) – J. F. Daley & J. Goldstein

I played D&D with friends in the early ‘80s and then encouraged my kids to play (with me as Dungeon Master) over the last few years, though never quite fanatically in either era. So, although we approached the film with trepidation (as one must when you smell that “new franchise” smell), we were also curious.  As it turns out, the film is not bad – a fun fantasy epic full of references to the game (is that a “gelatinous cube”?) and with a plot that contains enough drama (emotional and physical) to hold one’s attention.  But it doesn’t really attain full lift-off and this could be because: 1) we’ve lost patience with the full CGI treatment, wondering openly whether all backdrops were really greenscreens; 2) I personally have had it with the wisecracking hero, played this time by Chris Pine; 3) at 129 minutes, the film feels bloated and, at times, indulgent.  These drawbacks are compensated by many enjoyable moments (such as fighting the fat CGI dragon, wicked Hugh Grant, the bit with the bird man, the hither-thither magic portal, and more).  So, things do balance out, more or less.  I understand that this was not a box-office success, so perhaps that’s it for the franchise.

 

November (2017)

 ☆ ☆ ☆ ½

November (2017) – R. Sarnet

In search of folk horror (an eerie subgenre focused on the supernatural and pagan beliefs/rituals), I stumbled across this Estonian concoction.  Lensed in beautiful rich black & white by Mart Taniel, the film has the look and feel of a Béla Tarr production (although not nearly so slow). In other words, we are in Eastern Europe in the 18^th century, dealing with many peasants (well cast for their seedy looks), who believe in magic, witchcraft, dealings with the Devil and the like – which all turns out to be true, treated as matter-of-fact.  Indeed, the film opens with shots of a “kratt” which appears to be a bunch of inanimate tools that are somehow animated, serving as a slave for a local farmer.  That farmer is the father of the main character, Liina (Rea Lest), who has fallen in love with Hans (Jörgen Liik) who in turn has fallen for the daughter of the local Baron (held in contempt by most locals due to his German origins). Although you could argue that Liina’s pursuit of Hans is the central thread of the plot, the film meanders casually through all sorts of rituals and folk horror episodes – overall, it has the flavour of a fairy tale (romantic and mysterious).  Worth a look just for the visual presentation alone but also if you want to dream along with the story.  Directed by Rainer Sarnet whose latest film seems to be an Estonian Heavy Metal Kung Fu Comedy.

 

Cocaine Bear (2023)

 ☆ ☆ ½

Cocaine Bear (2023) – E. Banks

Well, the title says it all.  More comedy than horror – although there is plenty of gross-out gore – based on the ridiculous effects of the title drug on the (CGI) animal that eats it (after it is dropped from a plane in a smuggling operation gone wrong).  This was Ray Liotta’s last film and he doesn’t actually make a fool of himself, he’s the head drug dealer played straight (so to speak), not for laughs.  Director Elizabeth Banks (an actress in her own right but not in this film) keeps things moving briskly, as the drug dealers seek to find the missing drugs in a national park (“Blood Mountain”) in Georgia USA, and the plot holds together pretty well across the 90 minutes (unlike other “exploitation” films).  I suppose we might draw some parallels between mom Keri Russell searching for her lost daughter and the protective mother bear looking after her cubs, but it would be a stretch to search this movie for themes.  That said, the man vs. nature plot line (with nature out of control) might allude to the world’s climate emergency and our inability to cope with it but then we’ve really gone too far. Much like the bear in this film.  

 

Beau is Afraid (2023)

 ☆ ☆ ☆

Beau is Afraid (2023) – A. Aster

After the excitement that accompanied director Ari Aster’s first two features (Hereditary, 2018, and Midsommar, 2019), Beau is Afraid is something of an inevitable letdown. The excess that marked those earlier efforts in the horror genre seems misjudged here, asking fans to come along for a long (3-hour) idiosyncratic journey that is so determined to defy expectations that it often doesn’t make sense. Or more specifically, it accepts nonsensical events as reality and moves on, which is intriguing if not exactly coherent. That said, I suspect if you watched this very closely and took notes about things going on in the background or present in the (busy) set-design, you just might understand the film better.  I think there is a very likely possibility that the events we see are either a paranoid fantasy or a trip through the protagonist’s unconscious.  That protagonist, Beau (played by Joaquin Phoenix, who is in every scene), is a passive figure, full of neuroses, who is presented as the end-result of the stereotypical guilt-inducing Jewish mother.  In that respect, the film plays like one long anxiety dream presented as a bad joke, things are so insanely awful that this can only be comedy. But how and whether all the anecdotal bits and pieces fit together is a matter for Ari Aster scholars of the future, because the average cinemagoer probably won’t be bothered. (This is not to say that there aren’t moments of supreme creativity and talent here, there are). I’m holding out for his comeback film now.

 

The Kid Detective (2020)

 ☆ ☆ ☆ ½

The Kid Detective (2020) – E. Morgan

As a big fan of the private detective genre, I love a film that knowingly tweaks genre conventions.  There are a lot of misfires out there but fortunately The Kid Detective is a winner. Even if, in the story, he’s actually a bit of a loser.  Adam Brody (who I did not know because I did not watch the O. C.) is all grown up, early 30s, but still living with the repercussions of his successful childhood role as a self-styled “kid detective” who solved crimes for the principal and other local adults, not to mention other kids.  However, he couldn’t solve the mystery of the abducted girl from his class – and this is where the movie proves to be a dark comedy.  Abe Applebaum (Brody) is giving it a go as a private detective, but in reality, he’s not very good and his life is sort of falling apart.  He’s haunted by the signs of his earlier and current failure.  So, when a teen girl shows up asking him to solve the murder of her boyfriend, an actual murder, he takes the case and is forced to go back to his high school (and his high school memories) to try to crack the case.  His methods prove unfortunate (including an arrest) but it is all played for comedy, but unsettling comedy (not for kids) even if you guffaw.  Remarkably, writer-director Evan Morgan (who hasn’t done anything since), manages to keep the story going and even drops hints that would allow you to solve the case (or not, but in retrospect, these are cool).  And there’s a pay-off at the end and some emotional release.  Not a masterpiece but a fun genre film (by someone who loves the form) with something extra for the fans.

 

The Serpent’s Egg (1977)

 ☆ ☆ ☆

The Serpent’s Egg (1977) – I. Bergman

Ingmar Bergman’s first film shot outside of Sweden (and second in English, after 1971’s The Touch).  This stars David Carradine (selected based on his work on the Woody Guthrie biopic Bound for Glory, 1976) and Bergman’s muse Liv Ullmann. It takes place in 1923 Berlin where inflation has made the Deutschmark completely worthless. Carradine is a former trapeze artist now out of work and a Jew.  The latter is significant because Bergman seems to want to say something about the factors that led to Hitler’s rise and the Holocaust. But he takes a long time to get to the point (and to reveal the meaning of the title).  So, for most of the film, we are treated to Carradine (as Abel Rosenberg) wandering Berlin, often drunk, in and out of the cabaret where his ex-sister-in-law (played by Ullmann) works.  He is frequently interviewed by the police (led by Goldfinger’s Gert Fröbe) who seem supportive but overly interested in his whereabouts and doings (based on his brother’s suicide and his proximity to other recent victims, murders or suicides).  It seems as though we may get a murder mystery from Bergman but it doesn’t really end up that way – instead, we are treated to a sort of twist ending, meant to foreshadow later Nazi experimentation on humans (even as Hitler’s short-lived Munich Putsch is ironically used to suggest he has no future as a leader in Germany).  Bergman does establish a compelling time and place here (with his biggest budget yet) but Carradine is an odd fit for the role and the looseness of the screenplay leaves viewers wondering too much of the time.      

The Hot Spot (1990)

 ☆ ☆ ☆

The Hot Spot (1990) – D. Hopper

Apparently, this neo-noir was actually made from a script originally written for Robert Mitchum and you can imagine his sullen cool working perfectly for the amoral drifter who idles into town, finds himself caught between two women (one bad, one good), and thinks himself up an easy bank robbery.  But instead, director Dennis Hopper wound up with Miami Vice star Don Johnson. He isn’t bad and he isn’t good – but he’s not Mitchum.  Virginia Madsen plays the bad girl, wife of the boss (when Johnson takes a gig selling cars or mostly loafing), and she chews the scenery wildly but is the best thing about the picture. Jennifer Connelly is the good girl but isn’t given much to do.  Hopper manages to create a good deal of atmosphere here in this dead-end Texas town. It feels noir and it feels hot and, yes, steamy (Madsen seems to spend much of the picture nude).  Think they were aiming for The Postman Always Rings Twice (and this might actually be better than Rafelson’s remake). Once the plot decides to get going, it meanders its way to the finish line, where everyone gets what they deserve, even if it isn’t exactly what they want.

 

The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)

 ☆ ☆ ☆ ½

The Wolf of Wall Street (2013) – M. Scorsese

I stayed away from this film for a decade, perhaps because of its 3-hour length or maybe because of my general disinterest in Leonardo DiCaprio.  Also, I’m not a big fan of 1980s-styled greedy power-hungry capitalist jerks (I would say Gordon Gekko but I’ve never watched Wall Street).  But with time on my hands and a director like Scorsese, I decided to give it a try. And right out of the gates, I’m getting a very strong Goodfellas vibe (from the voiceover) – but perhaps just those scenes where Ray Liotta starts getting into drugs?  But wait, is Wolf actually a comedy?  Leo and stockbroker partner Jonah Hill are going way over the top – and so is Scorsese.  This could be a self-parody. The story echoes Goodfellas too: true story, life of crime, busted by the FBI, turn in your friends and write a book. We accepted the moral ambivalence of the gangsters in the earlier movie but never really identified with them because they were scary and violent.  Here, as I said, these guys are jerks – hard partying drug-users who use women for sex (cheating on their wives, even when chosen as trophies alone, such as Margot Robbie) and screwing over everyone who will trust them with a dollar. These are the kind of bros that we could do without.  But Scorsese pumps up the adrenalin, makes it all larger than life – and doesn’t quite indict us (or Leo) for finding it fun.  In the end, I’m not sure we should fault a director for repeating himself (particularly one like Scorsese whose output is so varied already) when it takes amazing technique to pull something like this off.  I just was just hoping for a bit of a message here rather than an anthem to bad boys (that is probably celebrated by today’s bad boys).

Razzia sur la Chnouf (1955)

 ☆ ☆ ☆ ½

Razzia sur la Chnouf (1955) – H. Decoin

As I understand it, after all of his successes for Renoir and Carné & Prévert in the 1930s (not to mention Pepe le Moko), Jean Gabin had a bit of a lull in his career until his comeback as a world-weary gangster in Touchez Pas au Grisbi (1954) for Jacques Becker (a masterpiece).  Then began a spate of French noir or gangster films where he was equally likely to play a cop or a criminal. In Razzia (the title translates as “Raid on Drugs”), he is another aging gangster returning to France after a decade spent overseas, largely in the US.  He is hired as an enforcer for boss Marcel Dalio, charged with applying some discipline to his drug racket, while acting as the proprietor of a bar/restaurant.  So, Gabin (playing Henri Ferré from Nantes) begins making the rounds, meeting the chemist, the delivery men, and the dealers, pressuring them to pick up their game and increase sales. As viewers, we are treated to some pretty lurid scenes (as far as 1955 goes) and director Henri Decoin doesn’t pull his punches when showing the negative effects of heroin on the customers and crooks. Lino Ventura (later a star in Jean-Paul Melville’s Sixties French noirs) and Albert Rémy are two gunmen paid by Dalio to assist Gabin but they also don’t really trust him.  Indeed, we also feel that Gabin might be looking after his own interests as much as (or more than) Dalio’s. Yet even after getting beat up by the cops, Gabin plays everything cool and methodical (including his no-nonsense seduction of bar hostess Magali Noël). Perhaps you’ll see the end of the film coming and perhaps you won’t.  It doesn’t surprise.  But what is essential about this film is its mood – the noir vibe. I wouldn’t rank it with the best of the genre (such as Rififi which came out the same year) – but it is a welcome invitation back to the smoky underworld of Paris.

 

The Suspect (1944)

 ☆ ☆ ☆ ½

The Suspect (1944) – R. Siodmak

Charles Laughton is a kindly businessman with a shrewish wife in early 20^th century London. When young jobseeker Ella Raines chances into his office, they strike up a friendship which blossoms into affection.  Eventually, Laughton decides to ask his wife for a divorce, but she refuses. He tells Raines that they can’t meet again but it is too late because his wife has found out and threatens to tell everyone about his suspected infidelity.  The next thing we know, she is dead and a police inspector is nosing around Laughton’s place.  We never feel anything but sympathy for Laughton, even as the police start tightening the screws upon finding a “motive” (his relationship with Raines).  But they can’t pin anything on Laughton – that is, until his drunken rotter of a neighbour (Henry Daniell) claims to have heard the murder through the walls. Now Laughton is really cornered and the usual fate of the film noir protagonist awaits him.  Yet he is willing to try one last gambit (and still remarkably retains audience sympathy).  This is not the typical noir, but a character driven piece with Laughton more subtle than his later scenery chewing years would suggest and fine direction from noir stalwart Robert Siodmak (The Killers, Criss Cross, etc.). 

 

Horror Castle (1963)

 ☆ ☆ ☆ ½

Horror Castle (1963) – A. Margheriti

Another atmospheric Gothic chiller from director Antonio Margheriti (see also Castle of Blood, 1964), here credited as Anthony Dawson.  Originally entitled “The Virgin of Nuremberg”, here we find married (not virginal) Rosanna Podesta moving to a spooky medieval castle in Germany with her husband whose ancestors lived there. The castle is also home to a museum full of ancient torture devices (‘natch) that were once wielded by ancient patriarch The Punisher.  There is a statue of him in a hooded masked outfit with barbaric mace. On her first night, Mary (Podesta) awakens to find her husband Max (Georges Riviere) missing – she wanders downstairs, through the lonely castle (full of shadows and bumps in the night) and into the museum. Following a trail of blood, she finds a dead woman inside the legendary iron maiden. Of course, no one believes her the next day.  Once we see someone roaming the halls dressed as the Punisher, we are led to suspect that anyone could be the killer, including husband Max, loyal (but disfigured) aide Erich (Christopher Lee), and possibly even the cryptic old housekeeper Martha (Laura Nucci).  Although much of the film is Podesta wandering the castle in her dressing gown, there are enough suspenseful events to hold your interest – and the unexpected twist at the end is worth the wait.  Beautifully gruesome.  

 

The House on 92nd Street (1945)

 ☆ ☆ ☆

The House on 92^nd Street (1945) – H. Hathaway

Using the documentary style for which Dragnet later became famous on TV, Henry Hathaway’s war-time noir includes voice-over narration, real location shooting, found footage (of Nazi spies, J. Edgar Hoover, etc.) mixed with actors (Lloyd Nolan and Leo G. Carroll, most noticeably) and a torn-from-the-headlines plot (Nazi spies are trying to smuggle secrets of the atomic bomb out of the US).  Bill Dietrich (William Eythe) is a college student recruited by the Germans to spy for them but he quickly tells the FBI and works as a double agent for them.  We see how he makes contact with the Nazi spy ring and attempts to earn their confidence while still passing along details of their actions and communications back to the FBI.  With this information, FBI Inspector Briggs (Nolan) hopes to find the local kingpin, Herr Christopher, and break up the ring before it’s too late.  Apparently, references to the bomb were added just before this was rushed into release in September 1945.  Not bad but a bit of a programmer.

 

The Spanish Prisoner (1997)

☆ ☆ ☆ ½

The Spanish Prisoner (1997) – D. Mamet

There was a time when David Mamet was compared to Alfred Hitchcock, at least with regard to the puzzle films he created (if not for his primary work as a playwright). House of Games (1987), his first, was probably the best of these films.  Then, there seemed to be a distinct dropping off in quality – I don’t even recall his last two features, Spartan (2004) or Redbelt (2008), but they do suggest the macho one-ups-man-ship that has also been a hallmark (or target) of his work (see also his Glengarry Glen Ross, 1992, directed by James Foley).  Returning now to The Spanish Prisoner (1997), I was pleased to discover the twists and turns of the classic con-game film, even if it took a few minutes to get used to the stylized literary dialogue (and they way the actors speak it).  Campbell Scott plays an inventor (of the MacGuffin, or “Process”) who promises his boss (Ben Gazzara) that he will protect the company secrets, even as he begins to worry that he won’t be fairly remunerated.  This worry is encouraged by Jimmy Dell (Steve Martin), a rich New Yorker who Joe Ross (Scott) meets on a Caribbean island when sent there for a company meeting.  As viewers, we are quickly led to suspect Dell is not all he seems – and secretary Rebecca Pidgeon soon joins forces with Ross (and the FBI) to investigate.  But is it all too late?  Maybe.  Styled perhaps on the Hitchcockian chase thriller (as the noose tightens Ross finds himself on the run from both baddies and the cops), this is mostly prestidigitation on the surface without too much of a look at Mamet’s deeper themes. But fun enough, as the pieces slowly fit together.  

 

Crossroads (1942)

 ☆ ☆ ☆ ½

Crossroads (1942) – J. Conway

William Powell plays David Talbot, a French diplomat, recently married to beautiful Hedy Lamarr, who is suddenly accused of an outstanding debt and asked to turn over $1 million francs.  Unfortunately, Talbot has long been suffering from amnesia and can’t remember his past!  When he refuses to pay, he’s taken to court where witnesses identify him as another man (Jean Pelletier). There are a few twists and turns in the plot (that involve Basil Rathbone and Claire Trevor) but Talbot remains inscrutable throughout.  Is he pretending to have amnesia? It's a possibility. Powell only occasionally allows his witty and dapper (Thin Man) persona to show through and instead remains glum and rather dour most of the time.  This takes a bit of the shine off the film but it is nevertheless a solid watch, if not quite noir. Of course, it’s all tied up with a bow at the end (although didn’t seem like it would be). 

 

The Doctor Takes a Wife (1940)

 ☆ ☆ ☆

The Doctor Takes a Wife (1940) – A. Hall

Screwball comedy starring Loretta Young and Ray Milland (before he moved over to Noir and after his turn in the much funnier Easy Living, 1937).  Young plays a feminist author (a “career woman”, said with disdain by many in the film, one of its many dated aspects) who is mistakenly thought to have married neuroscientist Milland. Both have other lovers – she has her publisher (Reginald Gardiner) and he has a society fixture (Gail Patrick) – but it turns out that pretending to be married suits them both, despite the fact that they hate each other (naturally). Initially, Milland suggests that he is going along with the scheme simply to help Young write her new book on marriage (to make up for the losses that her earlier feminist books are now suffering) but it turns out that he’s been promoted to a professorship by a dean who values marriage. Nevertheless, they are both desperate to head to Reno for a divorce as soon as possible (despite not really being married).  Of course, the plot takes us in a completely different direction.  Not really laugh-out-loud funny and awkwardly old-fashioned in many places but it fills the bill for this genre if you’ve exhausted the many other better entries.

Nobody Lives Forever (1946)

 ☆ ☆ ☆ ½

Nobody Lives Forever (1946) – J. Negulesco

Nick Blake (John Garfield) has been honorably discharged (returning home in 1944, when this film was shot) but isn’t anxious to return to his life as a con-man/swindler, although his friend Al (George Tobias) is keen to get him back into the game. With his life in New York suddenly less interesting (when he finds that his gal has been cheating on him while he was away), Nick heads to California to catch up with his mate Pop Gruber (Walter Brennan) who turns out to be down on his luck.  Although he really just wants to rest and recover from his wartime trauma, Nick allows Al and Pop to convince him to sign up to con a widow out of her $2 million fortune (a scam organised by evil “Doc”, George Coulouris). But, of course, Nick falls for the beautiful widow, Gladys (Geraldine Fitzgerald).  This being noir, things get complicated fast. Director Jean Negulesco adds a few unusual flourishes (the visit to the Mission) and occasionally undercuts the noir vibe with a humorous note. Garfield is strong as the conflicted anti-hero and holds things together throughout, with strong support from the assorted character actors. Above average.

 

Colossus: The Forbin Project (1970)

 ☆ ☆ ☆ ½

Colossus: The Forbin Project (1970) – J. Sargent

Don’t watch this 1970 film if you are worried about A.I. taking over the world and potentially exterminating humankind – because this is exactly the prescient possibility it explores. Under the auspices of the Pentagon, Dr. Charles Forbin (Eric Braeden) has created a super-computer to control the U.S.’s nuclear arsenal, monitoring threats and using only rational decision-making to decide whether to press the button. But the old Cold War foe, the U.S.S.R. turns out to have created a similar self-teaching supercomputer of their own.  Very soon these computers make contact with each other and join forces to tell humans what to do.  They think they know better than we do how to run this world!  Situated between the Sixties spy era (with a cool electronic score) and the paranoid Seventies to come (screenplay by James Bridges who directed The China Syndrome), the film manages to maintain a high level of suspense while still injecting some sex and martinis.  Apparently, those are real computers (lent to the producers by CDC) but they do make WarGames seem modern.  Try not to think about ChatGPT and you’ll be fine.

 

The House with Laughing Windows (1976)

 ☆ ☆ ☆ ½

The House with Laughing Windows (1976) – P. Avati

I’ve been cautious about watching Italian giallo films (so called because the original crime paperbacks they were based on had yellow covers), mostly because they are known for gruesome gore and violence, not to mention a tendency toward sexual violence and misogyny.  But some are worse than others, so I’ve tried to choose wisely. There are also some directors (say Bava or Argento) who are so stylish that their films are worth seeing even if you have to grit your teeth a bit. So, it was with some trepidation that I decided to watch Pupi Avati’s The House with Laughing Windows, which did not seem to fit the usual mold of black-gloved killers prowling after women in the night. Instead, we follow Stefano (Lino Capolicchio), an art restorer invited to a small village to work on a gruesome fresco painting of St. Sebastian in a church. Of course, he starts to suspect some sinister things are happening, confirmed when his only friend/acquaintance falls to his death from a window. Stefano receives some threatening phone calls and is abruptly turned out of his hotel, ending up in a lonely mansion (recommended by the church’s priest) that is occupied only by a bedridden elderly woman.  Soon, however, he is joined by Francesca (Francesca Marciano), a young teacher recently moved to the area, who becomes his love interest.  After they discover a creepy old tape recording of the painting’s artist, their interest in understanding his death is piqued. But things turn much darker very quickly (including a very disturbing scene where Francesca is attacked) en route to a very wild twist ending. Although slow and mysterious for most of its run-time (but not as completely confusing as others in the genre), the film does look great with its aged Italian homes and people.  The ending, although violent, does lift the film to a higher level, although it is by no means a masterpiece.

 

Dreamscape (1984)

 ☆ ☆ ☆

Dreamscape (1984) – J. Ruben

Promising high concept thriller let down by its low budget and ‘80s production – Christopher Nolan’s Inception (2010) took the basic premise and did it better. Dennis Quaid is a psychic who, with the help of scientist Max Von Sydow, learns to enter people’s dreams. As expected, he’s a cocky kid but with a good heart, genuinely wanting to help people having nightmares, but also using his powers to win at the racetrack and put the moves on researcher Kate Capshaw.  Enter Christopher Plummer as the Deep State head honcho who wants to train people to enter dreams to extract information and also to kill targets in an untraceable way (if you die in your dream, you die for real -- but it looks like a heart attack). When the President (Eddie Albert) decides he wants to go for nuclear disarmament and Plummer disagrees, it is up to Quaid to enter the President’s dreams to fight off Plummer’s own dream-surfing psychic (David Patrick Kelly). It’s all pretty cheesy but, you know, not bad.  You can see why Quaid’s career took off around this time.

 

Salem’s Lot (1979)

 ☆ ☆ ☆ ½

Salem’s Lot (1979) – T. Hooper

I guess I stayed away from this two-part TV movie (3 hours in total) all these years for a couple of reasons: 1) the track-record for Stephen King adaptations is pretty bad (is The Shining the only exception?); 2) David “Hutch” Soul isn’t exactly an Oscar winner; 3) did I say TV movie? (this was a different thing in 1979!).  But, well, to be honest, after a pretty shaky start (Fred Willard and Julie Cobb are having an affair and husband George Dzundza plots to catch them), the movie did start to grow on me (notwithstanding the fact that the last time I saw Geoffrey Lewis, he was having a bare-knuckled fistfight with Clint Eastwood and an orangutan).  The bottom line here is that the vampires are actually pretty spooky looking (and acting) – they gave me the creeps.  (Credit may go to director Tobe (Texas Chainsaw Massacre) Hooper). That’s what we came for – the horror story, modelled closely on Dracula, but taking place in a small town in Maine. This time Barlow doesn’t mess around – there’s no seducing of anyone, just straight for the kill and the pyramid scheme of proliferating bloodsuckers.  Brooding David Soul is there to record the clues but we all know what’s happening here. There’s also an assortment of old and classic character actors given another chance on the small screen, from James Mason (North by Northwest, Lolita, Odd Man Out), the Renfield who paves the way for Barlow’s entry to the town, to Elisha Cook Jr. (The Maltese Falcon, Rosemary’s Baby), Marie Windsor (The Killing, The Narrow Margin) and Lew Ayres (All Quiet on the Western Front, Advise and Consent) as townsfolk who help Soul or get in his way.  (Come to think of it, Cook Jr and Windsor also played a married couple in The Killing – but they are divorced here which wouldn’t be surprising given their relationship in that heist film).   And just when the comfort food of vampire lore is going down pretty easy, well into the third hour, there’s a distinct shift and things really don’t end up where you expect them to.  It’s darker, weirder, more post-apocalyptic.  I guess readers of the book would have known what to expect but I didn’t and that made all the difference.

Black Christmas (1974)

 ☆ ☆ ☆

Black Christmas (1974) – B. Clark

Forerunner to what became a veritable tidal wave of slasher films in the 1980s, Bob Clark was the first to unleash a psychopathic killer in a sorority house (but with little gore and no t&a). Is this the first outing for the POV tracking camera shot, sneaking up behind the girls or watching them from closets or behind railings? (Perhaps some of the Italian giallo films were there first, with their art-directed setpieces?). Margot Kidder (fresh from De Palma’s Sisters) steals all of her scenes as the foul-mouthed drunken party girl who teases the police who are investigating the disappearance of another girl. But Olivia Hussey is the real heroine, helping Detective John Saxon to tap the telephone that the killer uses to make obscene calls (“the call is coming from INSIDE THE HOUSE”), even as we come to suspect her classical pianist boyfriend (Keir Dullea) who isn’t happy that she plans to have an abortion. Other reviewers found the film terrifying but perhaps I’m now too jaded – it lands as a dated low budget but generally well-acted artefact.

 

Desert Fury (1947)

 ☆ ☆ ☆

Desert Fury (1947) – L. Allen

Technicolor noir that looks great but tends toward soap opera and fails to bring the bite that the best in the genre offer. Yet, at the same time, this is one of the more brazen (or very thinly veiled) portrayals of a gay relationship in Forties film.  Paula Haller (Lizabeth Scott) returns to her small Nevada town after leaving or getting kicked out of college, much to the displeasure of her mother, Fritzi (Mary Astor), who runs the local gambling den and dreams of better things for her daughter. Better things, like being married to ex-rodeo-star-turned-deputy-sheriff Tom Hanson (Burt Lancaster). However, when racketeer Eddie Bendix (John Hodiak) and his “friend” Johnny (Wendell Corey) return to town, Paula finds herself drawn to the gangster instead of the cop (despite the rumours that he killed his first wife).  Eddie and Johnny really do act like an old married couple, bickering all the time. But it doesn’t take long before Johnny tells Paula she’s butting in and that Eddie will never leave Johnny.  Of course, Johnny’s just Eddie’s mentor and buddy, right?  Paula’s a bit too thick to figure it all out and she tries to steal Eddie away.  It’s good to see Mary Astor (The Maltese Falcon, 1941) again in another hard-bitten but charismatic role.  Lancaster doesn’t have much to do but his star was on the ascendant by this time. Corey will be familiar to fans of Rear Window.  All told, Desert Fury is a fascinating curiosity on one level but not too exciting on most other levels.    

 

The Enforcer (1951)

 ☆ ☆ ☆ ½

The Enforcer (1951) – B. Windust & R. Walsh

This later Bogie vehicle finds him uncovering a gang of hit-men, based on the notorious organised crime mob, Murder, Inc., who were exposed in 1941 by former contract killer Abe Reles. It feels surprising that Bogie’s D. A. and all of the cops supporting him have never heard the words “contract” or “hit” in conjunction with murder or the mob, but that’s the way it was. The film takes the now familiar format of a series of overlapping flashbacks, as Bogie recalls the details of the case after his key witness (based on Reles) has died on the eve of the trial of the main boss (played deliciously by Everett Sloane in what is basically a cameo). I suppose I might not be the only one who thought of Leslie Nielsen’s Police Squad spoof of this format when the plentiful scenes of Bogie interviewing various bit players about what they know start to mount up.  Yet the film is nothing less than enjoyable as it moves briskly through its paces (veteran Raoul Walsh stepped in as director when Bretaigne Windust fell ill) with enough noir flavour (courtesy of later Hitchcock cinematographer Robert Burks) to give it grit.  One to watch when you’ve exhausted the well-known Bogart “hits”.

 

Gone to Earth (1950)

 ☆ ☆ ☆ ½

Gone to Earth (1950) – M. Powell & E. Pressburger

The Archers (Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger) declared this a success (by having the arrow hit the bullseye before the opening credits) and it does achieve a certain sense of time and place (with some beautiful Technicolor images) as their best work does (e.g., Black Narcissus, I Know Where I’m Going!, The Red Shoes, etc. etc.). Jennifer Jones (then wife of executive producer David O. Selznick who took the finished film and drastically re-cut it, releasing it as The Wild Heart, an inferior version) plays Hazel Woodus, a naïve young girl, daughter of the local harp player, who is courted by both the mild-mannered local parson (Cyril Cusack) and the randy local squire (David Farrar). Impetuously, she can’t make up her mind (even after being married) and seemingly prefers the world of animals to humans, especially her pet fox, who is under threat from the squire and his fox-hunting mates.  It’s a small film, situated in a folksy backwoods part of Scotland (I think), where some locals believe in the world of faeries and their magic while others have devoted themselves to Christianity. If I were a young girl, I might be entranced by the romantic angle but this left me a little cold despite appreciating Hazel’s confusion and ambivalence toward being loved and controlled.  The ending is quite a doozy however and worth the price of admission!

 

Champion (1949)

 ☆ ☆ ☆ ½

Champion (1949) – M. Robson

Less a film-noir than a straightforward morality tale, but with the fight game as its vehicle, I guess it fits with other films in the genre such as The Set-Up (1949) or Body and Soul (1947). But Kirk Douglas, as the boxer who rises from poverty to the championship, seems unambiguously selfish and uncaring – there isn’t a fatal mistake that he makes to bring on film noir’s downbeat consequences but rather his whole approach to life is to tread on other people.  In that way, his downfall feels more like comeuppance or just desserts; the terrible fickle finger of fate that so often strikes down noir protagonists doesn’t appear here – instead we come to hate Douglas, although perhaps we also feel pity since he can’t seem to shake his anger at being abandoned by his father as a child and looked down upon by others because of his poverty. The film clearly identifies this anger as the source of his success as a boxer but it is sad that he can’t reciprocate the caring and support he receives from those around him: his brother (Arthur Kennedy), his manager (Paul Stewart), and his first love (Ruth Roman). He lets them all down in his quest for fame and status. As directed by Mark Robson (previously part of producer Val Lewton’s stable of directors), the film is well-paced with some quirky montage scenes (of training) before the going gets grim. Stanley Kramer produced but this is before his pictures became too message-heavy. With all these caveats in mind, the film still stands out as a showcase for the talents of the up-and-coming Kirk Douglas – his charisma knows no bounds and he offers a brave performance that isn’t afraid to embrace the anti-hero.

 

The Bridge (Series 1; 2011)

☆ ☆ ☆ ½

The Bridge (Series 1; 2011) – M. Mårlind, H. Rosenfeldt, & B. Stein

In search of a series that I can watch in the limited time between when the kids go to bed and when I need to get some shut-eye before work the next day, I turned to yet another cop drama/serial killer thriller. This one did come highly recommended – from Sweden/Denmark. We begin with a dead body found on the bridge between Copenhagen and Malmo, neatly placed exactly halfway across the border. Swedish detective Saga Norén (Sofia Helin) takes charge of the investigation – she has an unusual way of interacting with people, let’s say she is neurodivergent – but she is an excellent detective. She is partnered with Danish investigator Martin Rohde (Kim Bodnia) who is bemused by her behaviour but comes to feel affection for her. His family life is complicated – his 20 year old son from a former marriage has just started living with him and his wife and their young children. As the case unfolds, the writers deftly weave the lives of the detectives into the fabric of the mystery – is the killer someone they’ve known or worked with? What is his motive? The 10-part series is gripping enough and the characters are rich and charismatic – it might lead to binge watching.  But, in the end, it's just another in a long line of similar thrillers, enjoyable while it lasts, but evaporating soon after. I’m not sure I’m ready for the second series just yet, but maybe someday.

  

Alias Nick Beal (1949)

 ☆ ☆ ☆ ½

Alias Nick Beal (1949) – J. Farrow

Although Ray Milland plays the title character, a Mephistophelean political advisor to District Attorney Joseph Foster (Thomas Mitchell), the film really belongs to Mitchell who descends the slippery slope inherent in the Faustian bargain offered by Nick Beal. This is Goethe by way of political noir: should Foster run for governor on the back of his successful prosecution of a local gangster (facilitated by Beal)? Should he allow Beal to make a deal with another corrupt politician that will bring him the voting bloc he needs to win? Foster may think that becoming governor will enable him to do all the good he can but we can see the corrosive effect on his morals with each baby step in the wrong direction, goaded by Beal. Milland, who had already won the Best Actor Oscar three years earlier (for The Lost Weekend, 1945), plays Beal as a shadowy figure with strange eyes, always on the periphery of the scenes he is in. He plays harder with Donna Allen (Audrey Totter), a prostitute whom he refashions into a competent campaign assistant for Foster, who we think is also positioned to lead him into an affair. Throughout the film, the references to Beal as the devil incarnate proliferate but it’s difficult to know his game – does he seek only Foster’s soul, or a high-placed political leader that he can control? Director John Farrow (Mia’s dad) and cinematographer Lionel Lindon keep things suitably noir with lots of foggy locales. Mitchell seems genuinely torn and remorseful but the film either never becomes dark enough or the inevitable ending isn’t the right one (although it is pretty weird).