Sometimes, it is impossible to watch a movie and not see it exactly for what it is, instead of losing oneself in the world it tries to establish.  Such a film is 1987’s Robot Holocaust.  If you are aware of this title, it is very likely you watched it as an episode of Mystery Science […]

Towards the end of 1955’s Track the Man Down, almost all the main characters are in a boathouse, either dozing or simply bored out of their minds.  I can identify with them, as I had long since checked out while watching this. One major problem is there are too many of those characters and each […]

Except in brief flashbacks, 1947’s Brute Force takes place entirely within an intimidating fortress of a prison.  Like some medieval castle, there’s even a drawbridge at the entrance, which is described by one inmate as, “I was once married to a dame like that bridge.  Wonderful structure, but up in the air most of the […]

I wonder why it is that, in gothic horror, the brother and sister who occupy the ancient castle or mansion often have a relationship that would scan as husband and wife if one didn’t know otherwise.  Such is the case with 1961’s The Pit and the Pendulum. Vincent Price and Luana Anders are the siblings […]

Say any two or more words together enough times and they mutate into something else.  Just try this with the title of 1937’s Night Key, which inevitably, and quickly, becomes “Nike”.  That’s what all the characters seem to be saying in the film, and it never stopped amusing me.  And this is a quirky film.  […]

I am intrigued by star power, that strange and innate aspect which makes one person on the screen more interesting than another.  I wonder if the opposite of that effect has a name and, if so, what that is called.  Whatever it is, Don Castle has the misfortune to possess this impairment.  As he plays […]

1938’s Angels with Dirty Faces performs a weird bait-and-switch.  With James Cagney and Humphrey Bogart among the leads, one would expect an incredibly tough gangster picture like Cagney’s The Public Enemy or White Heat.  Instead, you get second-billed Pat O’Brien as a priest who is impossibly pure of heart. You also get the Dead End […]

Roger Corman was an interesting and complex person.  He was known primarily for his low-budget quickies, especially the early works made for American International where he often made two films almost simultaneously, using the same sets and actors.  But he also kept abreast of what was happening with foreign films, and so would be familiar […]

It seems I have been unintentionally compiling a list of attributes which should alert one to a person’s mental condition.  If there’s one thing I learned from 1975’s The Premonition, it is to never trust somebody prone to wearing a large cameo. That is part of Ellen Barber’s ensemble for most of the time she’s […]

Many female-centric films that were originally critically panned have undergone a critical reassessment in recent years.  I have always liked Jennifer’s Body, so I’m glad the consensus on that has swung towards the positive.  The opinion on Jawbreaker also seems to be gradually undergoing a revision, though I’m not on board with that.  I’m curious […]

I have never been on a cruise and I doubt I will ever have the desire to go on one.  I’m hoping we’re past the worst of the COVID years, but I still dread the idea of being stuck on one of those ships during an outbreak.  Slightly less appealing than that possibility is being […]

Some movies fare better on subsequent viewings and others not so much.  2019’s Doctor Sleep is an example of the latter, a picture I was pleasantly surprised by in my first viewing.  Unfortunately, a second viewing a couple of years later revealed its many shortcomings. My original astonishment was because this film shouldn’t have worked […]

Some movies fare better on subsequent viewings and others not so much. 1947’s Nightmare Alley is an example of the former, and this was a picture I was quite impressed with on my first viewing. Tyrone Power stars as savvy low-life who aspires to get rich via an evolving performance set of fake psychic abilities.  […]

A movie must be good if I still liked it despite the main character being a woman who literally emasculates various men.  That the movie succeeds in having the audience sympathize with her is even more remarkable.  Unlike the horrible rape-revenge films of the 70’s where this was a frequent element, at least 1976’s The […]

There is a large, very old and impossibly beautiful cemetery in the city closest to where I live.  Long before we wed, my wife and I spent a great amount of time there.  It is a surprisingly romantic location, as evidenced by the many weddings held there.  There is a similar cemetery in 1958’s I […]