As soon as I saw the title card for 1947’s Singapore, I had the same-titled opening track from the Tom Waits album Raindogs in my head.  I’ve always hoped I will someday see a noir with a vibe like that astounding track, but I only see ones that have traces of its greatness.  Unfortunately, what […]

First off: this isn’t that prehistoric film Hammer made in the 60’s, where Rachel Welch famously wears that fur bikini.  That was One Million Years B.C.  Just wanted to get that out of the way. 1940’s One Million B.C. comes to us courtesy of Hal Roach, a guy better remembered for his work with Harold […]

Aldous Huxley must have led an interesting life.  I can’t believe the same guy who wrote Brave New World also scripted The Devils, a movie Warner Bros seems intent on burying since its release in 1971.  This is the same guy who wrote a book that provided the inspiration for the name of the band […]

I find it hilarious when a movie sets up what is supposed to be a startling reveal of an actor, when the response I imagine anybody would feel is “So what?”  In the case of 2023’s The Pope’s Exorcist, we have a slow push-in on a priest in a hat.  Hatted, this person looks a […]

It’s hard to believe Affleck is from Boston, because his Baws-tawn accent in 2010’s The Town sounds so fake to my ears.  That’s unfortunate, because he is the star of the picture.  It’s also strange, since he was directing himself. He’s not a bad director, actually.  His pictures so far have not had any distinct […]

Every time somebody says the title of Suddenly, Last Summer in the 1959 film, I suddenly can’t get that song by 80’s band The Motels out of my head.  Go figure, those words get spoken about 10 times or so over the course of the film. This movie pairs Montgomery Clift and Elizabeth Taylor, who […]

When writer and director David Chase discusses his life’s accomplishments, I’m sure he talks mostly about The Sopranos.  Maybe he occasionally touches on The Rockford Files or Kolchak: The Night Stalker.  But I suspect he rarely, if ever, talks about his first movie screenplay, for 1972’s Grave of the Vampire. This is an odd movie.  […]

I need to learn to temper my expectations.  It seems every time I think a screwball comedy will be amazing, I find myself experiencing varying degrees of disappointment.  Such is the case with 1937’s Topper. As this stars Cary Grant, I am stunned this couldn’t be anything less than amazing.  But that’s because I keep […]

2018’s Patient Zero is yet another in the long series of zombie, and zombie-like, movies that are still clogging distribution channels to this day. But even completists might want to avoid this one.  Figured we would just go ahead and that out of the way now. Although the infected here aren’t technically zombies, they meet […]

Raiders of the Lost Ark spawned many imitators, resulting in multiplexes of the 1980’s becoming clogged with action comedies where various scoundrels end up in some exotic location as they pursue treasure of some sorts.  Given the timing, I’m not sure if Race for the Yankee Zephyr (also released as Treasure of the Yankee Zephyr) […]

I love the movie Cabin in the Woods, which subverts many of the clichés of the horror genre, especially the slasher sub-genre.  While it skewers, and pays tributes to, many such films, it might as well have been a direct parody of 1981’s The Burning.  I may not like slashers but, even if I did, […]

While watching 1988’s Waxwork, I couldn’t seem to stop thinking about a different movie, that being Cabin in the Woods.  I think the latter film is truly great.  The earlier one, not so much, though there are some interesting similarities. In both films, a certain number of people must be offered as a sacrifice at […]

1951’s Detective Story was nominated for four Academy Awards and it scored Lee Grant a Best Actress award at Cannes.  It is directed by William Wyler, who also helmed Ben-Hur, Roman Holiday and The Best Years of our Lives.  The movie was critically revered in its time and, as I write this, it has a […]

1967’s Night of the Big Heat is a strange animal, and I don’t mean the monster in it, though I will get to that later. The first thing we see is some guy at the desk of some sort of facility.  No idea where we are or what kind of science is being performed, but […]

When I tossed the disc for 1958’s Orders to Kill into the blu-ray player, I thought I was going to see a film noir.  Although the black-and-white photography makes excellent use of shadows, I ended up getting far more than I bargained for. The plot takes place in 1944.  Paul Massie plays a soldier who […]