The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959)

 ☆ ☆ ☆

The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959) – T. Fisher

Although Peter Cushing makes a fine Holmes and Andre Morell is solid as Watson, it is impossible not to compare this version of Arthur Conan Doyle’s novella to the 1939 version starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce. Intriguingly, the 50s version has some different aspects to the plot (most obviously, Stapleton has a daughter who attracts Sir Henry’s romantic interest rather than a sister) – a quick look at my Complete Sherlock Holmes suggests it is the 30s version that is more faithful. The story is simple: Sir Henry’s father, Sir Charles, has died, potentially killed by a “hound from hell” in line with a curse that was placed on his family due to a very evil ancestor, Sir Hugo (his evil acts shown in detail and colour in this Hammer Studios version). Of course, Holmes will have none of this line of deduction and sets out to solve the mystery on the Moors and to save Sir Henry from suffering the same fate. Cue some red herrings. Too bad Hammer did not pursue further Holmes films but this one is certainly solid enough, if not exactly horror nor as fun as the more famous film.   

The Silent Partner (1978)

 ☆ ☆ ☆ ½

The Silent Partner (1978) – D. Duke

Elliott Gould plays Miles Cullen, the head teller at a Toronto bank who figures out in advance that his branch is about to be the target of a stick-up. Opportunistically, he puts most of the bank’s cash in his own bag, letting the thief, Reikle (Christopher Plummer), get away with only a paltry sum. Soon however Reikle rings up demanding the rest of the loot from his “silent partner”. Although seemingly mild-mannered, Cullen outsmarts the sadistic Reikle every step of the way. At the same time, he romances co-worker Julie (Susannah York) as well as his late father’s young nurse (Celine Lomez). In fact, everyone seems to underestimate Miles. Of course, suspense builds from the cat-and-mouse game between him and Reikle – and it isn’t all fun-and-games: there’s a shockingly violent scene suitable for an exploitation flick to cap it off. Apparently the film won a number of awards in Canada (John Candy also works at the bank) and it holds up fine as a middle of the range seventies thriller. If you appreciate Gould, check it out.

Symptoms (1974)

 ☆ ☆ ☆

Symptoms (1974) – J. R. Larraz

With only the rain and a big old country house in rural England, director José Ramón Larraz establishes that very spooky mood that is so well-known from haunted house films in this period (early ‘70s). There are enough shots outdoors, in the nearby pond or the lush overgrown yard, that this might even qualify as folk horror. Helen (Angela Pleasance, daughter of Donald) lives alone in this house but the film begins as a friend, Ann (Lorna Heilbrun), arrives to stay for a few days – it isn’t quite clear how well the two women know each other. Pictures of another female friend who visited earlier are placed prominently around the house. The only other person on the grounds is the handyman, Brady (Peter Vaughan), who seems to be snickering or leering at Helen who steadfastly ignores him. But we can see that something is not quite right with Helen (beyond the headaches she complains about) and after she spies Ann talking with Brady from a window, she sinks into a nearly catatonic depression. Ann wants to help but she is also getting creeped out, thinking there is some other presence in the house. The film proceeds to play out as it probably should (although not perhaps how viewers may have hoped), leaving us with feelings of sympathy amidst the horror.

 

Under the Silver Lake (2018)

 ☆ ☆ ☆ ½

Under the Silver Lake (2018) – D. R. Mitchell

Really, the only interpretation that explains this unusual movie is that Andrew Garfield’s Sam is having a psychotic break from reality!  But it takes a while to come to this conclusion. At first, he might be just a little lost, not unreasonably attracted to Riley Keough’s mysterious Sara, who invites him for a tryst and then suddenly disappears. He turns detective -- and the film echoes other wacked out L. A. neo-noirs, such as The Long Goodbye (complete with topless neighbour out on the balcony) or The Big Lebowski. However, the clues that Sam uncovers begin to take on some serious conspiracy theory overtones: mysterious messages embedded in the lyrics of songs by a local rock band, someone sending signals via hobo codes, the strange beliefs of a zine artist (played by Patrick Fischler, seen previously at David Lynch’s Winkie’s diner) that prophesise events that may come to pass. Then, David Yow (from the Jesus Lizard) appears as the Homeless King and Sam stumbles on clues that make no objective sense which are nevertheless co-opted into the growing narrative and incomprehensibly validated by what the camera shows us. Given a bizarro solution that fails to add up or to reveal any deeper themes (except to Sam, perhaps), some reviewers complained that this makes the film essentially meaningless. That may be true but if you are willing to follow Garfield’s slacker anti-hero from party to party, “random” encounter to encounter, you may enjoy the film, even if you end up discovering that you’ve just wasted your time trying to figure it out.  Intriguingly, a quick google search suggests that director David Robert Mitchell (It Follows, 2014) has embedded some hidden messages in the film itself – but chasing these may lead you down rabbit holes not far from those entered into by those slipping into the netherworld of psychosis.   

 

Body Double (1984)

 ☆ ☆ ☆

Body Double (1984) – B. De Palma

Brian De Palma’s obsession with Hitchcock reaches its logical conclusion in this extremely lurid pastiche of both Rear Window and Vertigo. Whereas Hitch managed to get us to identify with Jimmy Stewart’s “Scottie” (Vertigo) and “Jeff” (Rear Window) despite their unsavoury behaviours, De Palma makes these problems more explicit so that Craig Wasson’s Jake is more obviously a peeping tom and a stalker. Thus, even as we come to suspect that Jake is a pawn in somebody else’s plot (a la Vertigo), being encouraged to witness a murder and to draw the wrong conclusions, we can’t really feel as much sympathy for him. Sure, his weakness (claustrophobia in this case) makes him the perfect dupe but De Palma lets Jake cross so many conceivable lines of propriety (um, even becoming a porn star?) that the plot mechanics borrowed from the Master lose some of their effect in the trashiness of it all.  De Palma does a good job with the camera, using tracking shots to elicit a dream-like state as Jake trails Gloria around Hollywood (including stealing the 360 degree kiss from Vertigo), but Wasson is a bland everyman who seems to have never been relied on to carry another film after this. In contrast, Melanie Griffith does show a spark of charisma (in the final minutes of the film), despite being objectified for most of the film. Truly, De Palma’s films always seem to go too far in the direction of bad taste but Body Double is ultimately less enjoyable than Blow Out, Sisters, Obsession, and even Dressed to Kill (if I am remembering them correctly). I did not remember the music video for Frankie Goes to Hollywood embedded in the film but I did see them in concert around this time!

 

Night Moves (1975)

 ☆ ☆ ☆ ½

Night Moves (1975) – A. Penn

Gene Hackman is pretty soulful as private eye Harry Moseby who has problems of his own (his wife is cheating on him) that may cloud his judgment as he works on what should be a perfunctory missing daughter case. The daughter in question turns out to be a very young Melanie Griffith who has fled to the Florida Keys to escape her washed-up actress mother in Hollywood, as well as ex-boyfriend mechanic James Woods and recent fling stuntman Marv. She is shacked up with her stepfather (and his girlfriend Jennifer Warren). So Harry flies down there to bring her back. Initially, she doesn’t want to return but after they discover a downed plane underwater with a corpse in it, suddenly she is ready to go back. Harry isn’t quite satisfied to let the case drop at this point, but things aren’t very clear. He suspects Woods but is he missing the big picture? The title refers to a famous chess game where a grandmaster made a spectacular blunder when he could have won – this may also be Harry’s fate.  Neo-noir but loose and often seemingly directionless (probably by design) but it doesn’t rise to the level of something like The Long Goodbye (1973), which could be the difference between an Altman and a Penn, I guess.

Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (2005)

 ☆ ☆ ☆

Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (2005) – G. Lucas

I had other things to do 16 years ago, so I am only just getting around to watching this third film in the Star Wars prequel trilogy (thanks to my kids). Once again, it’s a bit disorienting to jump into the action after a lacuna between Episode II and III – who is this General Grievous anyway? Wait, the Chancellor has been kidnapped? By Count Dooku? I thought they were on the same side (assuming that we all know that Palpatine is really the future Emperor/Darth Sidious)? Eventually, however, the confusion settled down and amidst the various light sabre battles, we awaited the “facts” that would solve the various mysteries that explain how things in Episode IV (due to take place 16 to 18 years later?) ended up the way they did.  So, how does Anakin turn into Darth Vader – what makes him so angry at the Jedi? And, of course, how does he end up in that mechanical suit? And what about the Jedi – we know that Obi-Wan and Yoda make it to the next trilogy – but what about Master Windu or those other unnamed Jedi? Or Count Dooku for that matter? Or Luke and Leia’s mum? Yup, you guessed it.  So, basically, there’s no suspense and you just watch in a numb sort of way as the various pieces fall into place (and a lot of hands are sliced off – is there some symbology that I’m missing?). As Aito (aged 11) pointed out, we already know that the Sith win, so where’s the fun in that?