All posts by scottmet99

1973 Films, British, British Horror, Horror, Horror Anthologies

Vault of Horror-1973

June 26, 2020 scottmet99 Leave a comment

Vault of Horror-1973

Director Roy Ward Baker

Starring Curd Jürgens, Daniel Massey

Scott’s Review #1,038

Reviewed June 26, 2020

Grade: A-

Horror anthologies are usually a treat and a nostalgic reminder of childhood afternoons watching Twilight Zone reruns on television.

This is hardly much of a stretch since Vault of Horror (1973) is a British anthology based on Tales from the Crypt (1972), which in turn was based on stories from the EC Comics series.

Each chapter is superior storytelling, providing bloodthirsty horror viewers with suspense, adventure, and surprise endings.

Below is a summary, review, and rating of each vignette.

Framing Story- A

Events get off to an intriguing start as, one by one, five businessmen enter an elevator in a corporate office in downtown London. They are taken to the basement level, though none of them has pressed that floor, and emerge to find a gentlemen’s club.

With no way to get back onto the elevator, they begin to drink, each discussing a recurring nightmare.

This segment immediately grasps the viewer as we ponder questions. Is someone holding the men there for a reason, who is behind it, and why? Are the men’s nightmares only nightmares, or are they revealing deeper secrets?

Midnight Mess- A

Harold Rodgers (Daniel Massey) is a suave, well-dressed man who tracks down his missing sister Donna (real-life sister, Anna Massey!) in a peculiar village. He fiendishly kills her to acquire her share of their father’s inheritance.

Working up an appetite, he dines at a local restaurant that serves blood soup and blood clots as the main course. Sophisticated vampires inhabit the village, and his sister is one of them!

This vignette is my favorite because the restaurant decor is warm and toasty, the village provides a stylish ambiance, and the writing is clever throughout. The bloody feast the eatery serves is a devilish delight in macabre humor.

And the fangs are great.

The Neat Job- A

Arthur Critchit (Terry-Thomas) is an elegant man suffering from obsessive-compulsive disorder. He is married to Eleanor (Glynis Johns), a trophy wife, who, despite wanting to please her husband, is a lousy housekeeper.

Constantly criticized for being incompetent, Eleanor loses it and kills Arthur with a hammer. She proudly cuts him to bits and stores his remains in glass jars, all neatly labeled.

This story is simply delicious, offering elegant British furniture to salivate over and macabre, witty comedy as the viewer eagerly anticipates what Eleanor will do when she finally snaps, and we know she will snap.

Bravo!

The Trick’ll Kill You- A-

Sebastian (Curd Jürgens) is a magician on holiday in India, where he and his wife Inez (Dawn Addams) are searching for new tricks for their act.

Frustrated, they encounter a girl charming a rope out of a basket with a flute. The couple persuades her to come to their hotel room, where they murder her and steal the enchanted rope. They gleefully plot how to incorporate the rope into their act, assuring them of riches.

Inez experiments with climbing the rope only to disappear with a scream. An ominous patch of blood appears on the ceiling, and the rope coils around Sebastian’s neck and hangs him. Their smirking victim reappears alive in the bazaar.

This vignette provides a good glimpse of the Far East and is culturally outstanding. The story is compelling, though a letdown from the earlier entries.

Bargain in Death- B+

Maitland (Michael Craig) is buried alive as part of an insurance scam concocted with his friend Alex (Edward Judd). They each plan to double-cross and kill the other to get the money.

Two trainee doctors bribe a gravedigger to dig up a corpse to help with their studies. When Maitland’s coffin is opened, he jumps up gasping for air, and the gravedigger kills him. At the same time, Alex’s car crashes into a tree, and he dies.

In humorous comedy, when trying to close the sale of the corpse, the gravedigger apologizes to the doctors for the damage to the head.

This segment is more comical than the others, and a nice aside is that the trainee doctors are named Tom and Jerry. The plot is a bit convoluted and doesn’t succeed as much as the other stories.

Drawn and Quartered- A

Moore (Tom Baker) is a struggling painter living in Haiti. When he learns that his paintings have been sold for high prices by art dealers after being praised by a critic, he goes to a voodoo priest for help in exacting revenge.

He is instructed that whatever he paints or draws can be harmed by damaging its image.

Returning to London, Moore paints portraits of the three men who cheated him and mutilates the paintings to exact his revenge. After the displays, his portrait, each one, including Moore, suffers an agonizing experience.

This story is top-notch, and the loss of the eyes and the hands is the highlight of the fun.

As the film wraps up, we learn the mysterious puzzle involving the five men satisfyingly.

Vault of Horror (1973) is a horror anthology that hardly disappoints. I am eager to watch this one again, which is a major achievement for a cinematic offering to have on a viewer.

1957 Films, British, British Horror, Horror

Night of the Demon-1957

June 25, 2020 scottmet99 Leave a comment

Night of the Demon-1957

Director Jacques Tourneur

Starring Dana Andrews, Peggy Cummins

Scott’s Review #1,037

Reviewed June 25, 2020

Grade: B+

There is something very soothing about 1950’s British horror films. Whether it’s the intelligence, the accents, or the elements, they differ from American horror films of the decade.

Arguably, they are just better. The horror genre, which has existed in cinema for decades, creates a clever story about a curse.

Night of the Demon (1957) has excellent visual effects and effective black-and-white cinematography, which makes the look work well. That said, the hype surrounding this film as one of the greatest horror films is unwarranted.

When I think of the greatest of all horror films, selections such as Halloween (1978), The Shining (1980), and Rosemary’s Baby (1968) come to the forefront on the American front, while Peeping Tom (1960) and Frenzy (1972) must be mentioned as British films.

Night of the Demon, while above-average and has risen to prominence and rediscovery as a cult classic, doesn’t ultimately deliver the goods.

To provide a bit of contextual background, the film was plagued by issues and differences of opinion that are plausible evidence of its messiness upon dissection.

The original ninety-five-minute British feature was trimmed to eighty-three minutes and retitled Curse of the Demon for the United States market. It played there in 1958 as the second half of a double feature.

Additionally, the director and producer disputed whether to show the creature on-screen. The producer edited the footage before release, resulting in continuity issues.

Night of the Demon is the pure British version.

Dana Andrews, best known for The Best Years of Our Lives in 1946, stars as Doctor John Holden, an American psychology professor who visits Britain to attend a conference led by the deceased Professor Harrington.

Harrington is killed by electrocution after seeing a creature emerge from the trees.

His niece Joanna (Peggy Cummins) also arrives to attend her uncle’s funeral and teams with Holden to determine a connection between Harrington and satanic cultist Dr. Julian Karswell (Niall MacGinnis). The cultist lives with his mother in a lavish, stately manner.

Let’s outline what works best in Night of the Demon.

The visual aspects are superb and deserving of accolades. During a party at the Karswell home, the cultist wills a swirling windstorm to form, as frightening as it is realistic.

I wonder whether Alfred Hitchcock studied this scene as a similar one in The Birds (1963), in which the female star shuffles a group of children into danger at a party. The scene is professional and authentic.

The climax, amid a dark train track, is one of the best. The ambiance is frightful and well-paced, just what a finale to a film is supposed to be. Karswell, eventually followed by a piece of parchment with runic writing on it, supposedly part of an ancient curse, is terrifying.

It’s like he is being chased and pursued. Holden can pass the curse (meant for him) back to Karswell, who is inevitably ripped to ribbons by a speeding train.

Why is a scene of peril amid a train always so compelling? The sense of adventure, dread, horror, and the macabre all reconvene in this crucial scene.

Naturally, the creature reappears.

The romance between Holden and Joanna is mediocre at best and unnecessary to the main plot. It’s as if someone decided a romance between the male and female protagonists was needed, and Holden and Joanna were it.

There is little chemistry, nor does the duo need to be romantically intertwined- it serves little purpose other than providing a reason to sleuth together.

The decision seems more like a measure of the cinematic tradition of that time than any actual story purpose. It’s neither an irritant nor a positive.

The creature is not scary, and the film would have been better without it.

Sometimes, especially in horror, what is not seen is more terrifying than what is seen. The creature is preliminary and amateurish at best and provides no fright value. It appears to be made of clay or plastic.

Night of the Demon (1957) is a horror film I would like to see again and perhaps study more deeply. Its rich special effects and outstanding black-and-white cinematography enhance the visual treats.

The story of an ancient curse and a riveting climax involving a speeding train that would make Hitchcock take notice is praiseworthy.

But I still do not understand the categorization of the greatest of the horror greats.

1973 Films, Horror

Lemora: A Child’s Tale of the Supernatural-1973

June 22, 2020 scottmet99 Leave a comment

Lemora: A Child’s Tale of the Supernatural-1973

Director Richard Blackburn

Starring Cheryl Smith, Leslie Gilb

Scott’s Review #1,036

Reviewed June 22, 2020

Grade: A-

Lemora: A Child’s Tale of the Supernatural (1973) is a bizarre and fascinating horror film and a great example of 1970s experimental cinema.

At the risk of stating that there may be a tad too much exploration going on, since aspects go in many directions, the film is the perfect watch for a late weekend-night extravaganza of the weird and wild, and a joy to view.

The fact that I am still thinking about the film days after watching is a tremendous sign. Vampires, creepy clown-like figures, a reverend, a blood-thirsty woman, and a thirteen-year-old girl make up the cast of unusual characters to feast one’s eyes upon in delight.

During the Prohibition era in the southern United States of America, a young, angelic girl named Lila Lee (Cheryl Smith) slips out one night to look for her gangster father after receiving an anonymous, cryptic tip.

Lila is someone of note in her small town, envied by many in the church where she preaches with the local Reverend (Richard Blackburn).

She treks along swampy territory to the strange town, Astaroth, where her father is being held. After vampires attack Lila, a strange woman named Lemora (Lesley Gilb) helps her and offers her a place to live, but Lila soon begins to wonder whether Lemora is a friend or a foe.

For such a low-budget affair, the visual details are superb.

The photography and lighting are particularly commendable. Many characters ooze with glowing fright, especially Lemora. The ghostly white color enhances her blood-red lips, creating a pasty, haunting image that is ghastly to the eye.

If done at a sloppy level, the result could easily have been juvenile or comedic (not in a good way. Still, the elements fall together in an easy flow, combining horrific details that fascinate.

The best characters are Lila and Lemora, and their scenes together are immense. Gilb is the standout, bringing a monotone, wide-eyed performance reminiscent of a talking Bride of Frankenstein.

She frightens the audience, to say nothing of Lila, and is a fantastic villain.

Beautiful and erotic, her sexuality is in question.

Lila, young, fresh-faced, and developing, is ripe for the picking by Lemora, but I was perplexed whether Lemora wanted her blood or her other parts. The vague, but suggested, lesbianism and sexual abuse of a child only enhance the mystique and macabre qualities. When Lemora bathes Lila, this is where it’s most evident.

I adore films that challenge the norm and attempt to break the mold of the typical carbon-copy film or a formulaic script, but there is none to be had in Lemora: A Child’s Tale of the Supernatural, and it keeps the viewer guessing.

Comparisons to the brilliant The Night of the Hunter (1955) have been made, and while I don’t quite see it, a chilling fairy-tale concept exists. Think Hansel and Gretel, the Brothers Grimm’s German fairy tale, sans Hansel.

Lila’s pigtails and little girl’s dress give her a childlike vulnerability and appearance.

While deserving credit for bravery and letting loose from a story perspective, there is a measure of disorder and confusion about what is going on that perplexed me.

Blackburn, who also plays the Reverend, brings out many creatures on the attack, coming out of nowhere to scare Lila. Unclear is who they are (or were!) and what their motivations are.

Why does Lemora like to feed on children? Is she holding Lila’s father captive to lure her into her clutches? Is Lila’s blood more desirable than that of other children? The plot points are uneven, but maybe that doesn’t matter.

A suggestion, if plausible, is to check out the film’s uncut version. I saw the cut version, which was trimmed by nearly forty minutes and released theatrically in late 1974.

Tough to find, I wonder if this would provide more clarity to several plot items. Lemora: A Child’s Tale of the Supernatural (1973) was heavily criticized by the Catholic Legion of Decency, who deemed it “anti-Catholic”, which is more than enough reason to give it a whirl.

2019 Films, Biography, Drama

Richard Jewell-2019

June 19, 2020 scottmet99 Leave a comment

Richard Jewell-2019

Director Clint Eastwood

Starring Paul Walter Hauser, Sam Rockwell, Kathy Bates

Scott’s Review #1,035

Reviewed June 19, 2020

Grade: B

With most Clint Eastwood films, especially in the latter part of his career, one should expect a mainstream story with a conservative edge. The man has lost his touch with age, unlike greats like Martin Scorsese.

This may not always make for the most cutting-edge cinematic experience, but the results can still be compelling.

Richard Jewell (2019) was not on my radar, but for the last minute, a surprising Oscar nomination for Kathy Bates.

I am still smarting that she presumably took the last spot over the snubbed Jennifer Lopez (Hustlers-2019).

But I digress.

As anticipated, the project has a predictable edge and a safe feel, Eastwood sending a nasty note to the media and the FBI shaming them for their corruption and ineptness.

The biography, centering around the Centennial Olympic Park bombing and its aftermath during the 1996 Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia, tells the story in a nicely paced way but feels light, pulling too much of a right-wing slant.

Lead actor Paul Walter Hauser is the standout of the film, bringing empathy and heroism to his portrayal of the one and only Richard Jewell.

Our title character is an overweight, average-looking man who lives with his mother in a modest apartment in Georgia. He works as a supply clerk in a small law firm where he meets arrogant attorney Watson Bryant (Rockwell).

They bond over video games and become fast friends.

The time is 1986.

Jewell, aspiring to become a police officer, lands a job as a security guard at Piedmont College, where he is subsequently fired for overstepping his grounds. Finally, he begins a job running security for a concert series near the Olympic Games.

He has a keen eye for law enforcement and is passionate about doing his job well.

Hauser, who had supporting roles in I, Tonya (2017) and in BlacKkKlansman (2018), has reached his breakout role. Hauser makes the character likable and loyal. Law and order are his passions, and he eats, sleeps, and breathes life.

The actor makes it clear to the audience that Richard is not dumb. He is brilliant but has not been handed an easy life. The relationship with his mother is touching, and he genuinely wants to protect those whom he serves.

As far as the supporting roles go, Rockwell is fantastic as Watson, who ultimately defends Richard against the FBI. With wit, sarcasm, and outrage, his passion comes across on screen as a gruff but loyal friend.

Other big-name stars are not as lucky with their roles.

Jon Hamm plays FBI Agent Tom Shaw, a made-up character who wants to railroad Richard at all costs. He tricks Richard into confessing, which he then records. Olivia Wilde is Kathy Scruggs, an unpleasant journalist who will trade sex for stories.

The character is unlikable, and rumors abound that the writing is sharply embellished. Both Hamm and Wilde suffer from one-note characters.

Let’s discuss Kathy Bates’s performance.

Bates is a legendary actress and well-regarded. In the film, her best role is that of the maniacal Annie Wilkes in Misery (1990). Over the past few years, she has brightened the small screen with daring and unique roles on American Horror Story. Her role as the sympathetic and kindly Bobi Jewell is not one of her best.

There is nothing wrong with her performance, but the character never has a big, memorable scene.

Unclear is the historical accuracy of the story, and my hunch is that liberties could offer good drama. Inexplicable is the omission of anything related to the real bomber, who is never mentioned.

What were his motivations? Whatever happened to him? Viewers can conduct their research, but a notable omission is not including this.

The story only centers around Richard’s accusers and attempted railroading simply because he fits the profile of a bomber. The film could have gone further.

Also, viewers are left with no knowledge that Richard traditionally put a rose on one of the bombing victims’ graves or other niceties that could have been included.

Why did Eastwood need to hammer home the point that Richard was fretting about the perception that he may have been gay? True or false the point feels like a homophobic tidbit thrown in to appeal to a likely redneck audience.

Richard Jewell (2019) will not appear on Eastwood’s “greatest hits” of top films or even top 10 lists. Mystic River (2003) and Million Dollar Baby (2004) would get my votes for “best of” the year.

The film is only a slightly above-average biography of a falsely accused man who eventually gains justice. The spin is a politically conservative one, portraying the main characters as heroes who meet unfortunate circumstances.

Oscar Nominations: Best Supporting Actress- Kathy Bates

2009 Films, French, Independent, Independent Thriller, International, International Thriller, Thriller

A Prophet-2009

June 18, 2020 scottmet99 Leave a comment

A Prophet-2009

Director Jacques Audiard

Starring Tahar Rahim

Scott’s Review #1,034

Reviewed June 18, 2020

Grade: A-

A Prophet (2009), known as Un prophète in the French language, is a prison drama/crime thriller made exceptionally well and told from a character perspective rather than a plot angle.

Skirting any traditional genre prison characteristics, the film instead crafts a character study with the conflicting emotions of its main character taking center stage.

The result is a layered, complex experience led by a brilliant acting turn by actor Tahar Rahim.

Malik (Rahim) is a nineteen-year-old French youth of Algerian descent imprisoned for six years for attacking police officers. Friendless and unable to read, he is vulnerable and coaxed into murdering a witness involved in a crucial trial.

He becomes embroiled in tensions between the Corsicans and Muslims who populate much of the prison.

Malik cannot forget his participation in a murder, tortures himself, and has frequent nightmares of the incident. He slowly rises to the ranks of power within the prison community becoming involved in dangerous events and pivoting from meek to fear.

Largely avoided are overused prison elements common in many films of similar ilk. In other films, humor or standard dramatic situations occur that make a watered-down experience. A Prophet breathes fresh life into the prison film, albeit grisly and violent life.

The film is not for everyone and is extremely dark, even brutal at times.

During murder scenes, blood and guts are spilled at an alarming rate, and there ceases to exist many characters to sympathize with.

Malik is the main character but is an opportunist, readily doing what he must to gain power and control. Can we blame him? No.

Malik is a complex and nuanced character who is a joy to watch and dissect. He starts his prison tenure as a naive and timid boy, illiterate and easily manipulated. Over time, he grows into a seasoned gangster becoming involved in intricate plots and messy situations.

Actor Tahar Rahim successfully makes the character both likable and detestable, fleshing him out so the audience will love and hate him. This is the mark of a wonderful actor who can give complicated dynamics to the character.

Prison life is portrayed exceptionally well by director Jacques Audiard, who relays an authentic representation. It was good enough to make me never want to be imprisoned anyway. He wisely hired former convicts as both extras and advisors to flesh out the experience.

Life in prison, Audiard style, is not a rosy picture, but one filled with pain, fright, and violence. The Arab population, woefully underrepresented in cinema, is given a voice.

Another subject matter, homosexuality, a popular addition in prison films is not explored. Mostly played either for laughs or providing a conveniently situational plot device, A Prophet does not need the inclusion, too much else is going on.

Although a titillating prospect for many, the subject may have added a sexual or romantic angle taking away from the main point of the film, which is one man’s journey within the prison system.

Told from one man’s viewpoint, A Prophet (2009) is a triumphant French film that deservedly received accolades for its courage and realistic feel.

Starring a young actor with great potential and a brave director unafraid to develop logical storytelling and avoid typical traits, one wonders what their next project will be.

Violent gangs, corrupt guards, and impressionable prisoners would be a good way to continue.

Oscar Nominations: Best Foreign Language Film

Independent Spirit Award Nominations: Best Foreign Film

2006 Films, Comedy, Independent, Independent Comedy, Musical, Musical Comedy

A Prairie Home Companion-2006

June 16, 2020 scottmet99 Leave a comment

A Prairie Home Companion-2006

Director Robert Altman

Starring Woody Harrelson, Tommy Lee Jones

Scott’s Review #1,033

Reviewed June 16, 2020

Grade: B

The final film by legendary and influential director Robert Altman is not his greatest work.

If I were to compare A Prairie Home Companion (2006) to another of Altman’s pictures, it would be Nashville (1975), both of which feature grassroots entertainment.

The latter combines satire amid a political rally in a southern city, while the former celebrates behind-the-scenes events at a long-running radio show in Minneapolis.

Difficult to criticize anything a genius does; my expectation was much more than what was given.

The film plods along with little excitement or juiciness, so the experience is to enjoy the standard Altman fixtures like a huge cast, overlapping dialogue, and witty chatter.

A melancholy effort since no new material will ever be released by the cinema great, but a chance to celebrate his achievements all the same.

Set in present times, events take place in Saint Paul, Minnesota, a chilly city in the United States Midwest. A long-running live radio variety show, A Prairie Home Companion, prepares for its final broadcast.

The radio station’s new parent company has scheduled the show’s home, the storied Fitzgerald Theater, for demolition and dispatched “the Axeman” (Tommy Lee Jones) to judge whether to save the show.

Prospects are grim as rableak, shows are increasingly seen as outdated.

The many radio stars revel and reminisce in memories as they prepare for cancellation.

Led by the singing Johnson Girls, Yolanda (Meryl Streep) and sister Rhonda (Lily Tomlin), and daughter Lola (Lindsay Lohan), who are most prominent, other characters include cowboy duo Dusty (Woody Harrelson) and Lefty (John C. Reilly); pregnant PA Molly (Maya Rudolph) and the show’s creator and host, Garrison Keillor.

A spirit known as “Dangerous Woman” (Virginia Madsen) also joins the group.

Star power is not the issue here, and it’s pleasing to witness a bevy of A-list Hollywood stars duke it out for screen time.

Anyone familiar with Altman knows he was an actor’s director, meaning he let his actors truly shine and interpret the characters’ motivations.

Garrison Keillor, who wrote the piece, follows Altman’s lead in this area, letting the cast try to bring to life what is on the written page.

Unfortunately, they fail.

While meandering greatly, A Prairie Home Companion has an earthy, humanistic theater-troupe quality. The stars of the radio show are like family, clinging to each other for moral support in times of uncertainty.

This feels nice to the viewer as common compassion is endearing; many of the individuals have spent decades together. Their stories and experiences resonate warmly, and one can’t help but be sucked into their lives.

The problem with this is that the stories go on and on and quickly seem pointless.

There is little doubt whether the show will close. While the people are enamored, nothing much really happens in the film, and it becomes a bore.

The character interactions lack energy and fail to carry the film in any direction. They merely are what they are.

I can appreciate a slow build if there eventually is a payoff. A Prairie Home Companion (2006) never achieves full throttle or hits the gas pedal, so the film exists but doesn’t shine.

With masterpieces such as The Long Goodbye (1973), Nashville (1975), and 3 Women (1977) my expectations were soaring so that may be a part of my letdown.

Prairie Home is not included in my go-to catalog of Altman greats and would teeter at the bottom of a master ranking of his films.

Independent Spirit Award Nominations: Best Director-Robert Altman

1989 Films, Horror, Slasher

A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child-1989

June 12, 2020 scottmet99 Leave a comment

A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child-1989

Director Stephen Hopkins

Starring Lisa Wilcox, Robert Englund

Scott’s Review #1,032

Reviewed June 12, 2020

Grade: C+

When one compares A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child (1989) to the first A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), made merely five years earlier, the latter is shockingly bad, but, rated on its own merits, it is okay, with both creative and silly moments.

The franchise feels exhausted at this point; a long rest is recommended, as too many cheesy, doltish moments make this installment more of a comic failure, with hardly any scary or sinister moments.

A watered-down and forgettable entry in a series once blooming with potential.

Sadly, it would only be two years before another Nightmare was released.

With a mother theme complete, nearly all the parents and children involved in Freddy Krueger’s original storyline dead and buried, a dream sequence double-shot contained within parts 3 and 4, the logical next idea is to utilize a child story.

This is not a bad idea, given that Freddy was accused of child molestation, but the intention to produce a spawn of Freddy is less than marvelous.

The Child’s Play franchise (1988-2019) took this cue with Seed of Chucky in 2004.

Once again, a year has passed since the events of the previous entry, as Alice (Lisa Wilcox) and Dan (Danny Hassel) cheerily date and enjoy their lives together as they graduate from high school.

They are accompanied by friends Greta, Yvonne, and Mark.

When Alice has a strange dream about a nun, a mental hospital, and an attack by patients, Dan stresses that she controls her dreams.

As the dreams persist, she begins to have nightmares of Freddy and a strange baby. When Alice and Dan learn they are pregnant, things become violent when Dan and the others are systematically killed off in their dreams while Alice is deemed “crazy”.

A pleasant note is that the film at least offers a slight measure of consistency and continuity as we are reintroduced to Alice and Dan, familiar characters from Part 4.

The film wisely keeps the same actors to avoid the jarring disruption that occurred in Part 4, when a startling recast of its main character from Part 3 was made.

Johnson and Jordan are not the greatest actors, nor is the supporting cast, but great acting is a nicety, not a necessity, in slasher films.

The visuals are also entertaining, which has consistently been good throughout each chapter. Some animated sequences emerge, particularly within the dream sequences.

The kills and attacks are also well crafted, as when Freddy terrorizes a comic book artist, and when one victim, Greta, eats herself alive. There is more humor to the kills than in other installments.

Greta’s death is almost a revenge against her controlling mother, who is weight-conscious. When Greta chokes to death (in real life), she drops dead in front of her mother and their dinner guests.

The scene is macabre black humor.

Otherwise, the film is very familiar territory. The baby topic culminates in a wacky sequence that fails to work and is implausible even for a horror film.

In dreams, Freddy is feeding his victims to the baby (strangely, named Jacob- wouldn’t Freddy Jr. have been cleverer?) as nourishment to make him be like Freddy. In the real world, Dan’s (now dead) parents demand the baby from Alice when it is born.

This is a silly television afternoon special moment. The story concludes with Alice going to sleep to fight Freddy and save her son, which she naturally does.

At the risk of beating a dead horse, 1989 was a paltry year in cinema, specifically in the slasher genre.

Quite successful during the late 1970s and the early 1980s, it became oversaturated and riddled with carbon copies.

A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child (1989) is a forgettable film that offers little to distinguish it from other chapters. In its defense, how could it be the fifth release in six years?

A feeble attempt by the studio to capitalize financially on a name brand that has run out of steam.

2019 Films, Biography, Drama

Harriet-2019

June 10, 2020 scottmet99 Leave a comment

Harriet-2019

Director Kasi Lemmons

Starring Cynthia Erivo, Leslie Odom Jr.

Scott’s Review #1,031

Reviewed June 10, 2020

Grade: B

The story of real-life American freedom fighter Harriet Tubman, a woman who risked her life multiple times to rescue enslaved people from the pre-Civil War South of the United States, is a story of monumental importance to get right.

An escaped enslaved person herself, Harriet was more than an Abolitionist; she was a political activist and hero to all whose lives she touched. She was a figure that all women and men should aspire to emulate with her message of freedom and civility.

The cinematic telling of Harriet’s story, titled Harriet (2019), is a mild success, mostly deserving of praise for being told at all.

At well over one hundred and fifty years post-civil war, racism still runs rampant across the United States, so the release of the film is essential.

A gutsy performance by Cynthia Erivo, a British singer-turned-actor, is the high point. Still, unfortunately, the rest of the offering is lackluster, frighteningly modern in look and feel, with clear heroes and villains, and nobody with muddied motivations to be found anywhere.

We first meet young Harriet (Erivo), then named “Minty” Ross, in 1840s Maryland, then a slave state. She is to be married to her intended, John Tubman (Zackary Momoh), already a free man.

Minty’s father, also free, asks her owner to release her as his grandfather had promised before his demise.

Refusing, his son, Gideon (Joe Alwyn), decides to sell Minty as punishment. Savvy, Minty flees for the northern states and settles in Philadelphia, a newly free woman with her life ahead of her.

She risks capture and death to return to Maryland, in disguise, to rescue her family from the horrors of slavery.

Her plight was so essential and so heroic that I wanted to love this film.

It is okay, but it does not do justice to the real-life Harriet, nor does it succeed as a cinematic offering. The weakest point is the modern look that the film and the actors possess, and I think this was done intentionally.

Every single actor, black and white, looks like a present-day actor dressed in mid-nineteenth-century garb, and it does not work. My hunch is that filmmakers wanted to add relevance to the current racial issues, and I am all for that, but the film suffers as a result.

I am all for feminism in cinema, but Harriet can be accurately accused of stomping that point into the ground.

During some of the numerous action sequences when Harriet becomes a flawless sharpshooter, she nearly rivals a Marvel superhero instead of a simple woman championing a cause. And why is Harriet psychic?

This is a silly addition that feels plot-driven. Director Kasi Lemmons, known for films like Eve’s Bayou (1997) and Black Nativity (2013), knows her way around a picture, but Harriet will not be known as her finest achievement.

There are some positives to mention. Erivo, not known for her acting as much as her singing ability, rises to the occasion. Viola Davis nearly ended up being cast, who would have been brilliant, but Erivo nonetheless impresses.

She is both pretty and plain, which humanizes Harriet and makes her relatable to many.

Erivo strikes a balance between toughness and sympathy, allowing the audience to champion her cause without it feeling forced. Early in the year, thought to be a lock for the Best Actress Oscar, the film lost ground critically, and Erivo limped to an Oscar nod, and she was lucky to get that.

She lost.

The cinematography is credible, which is another positive aspect of the film. The green, lush landscapes are distinctly southern and peaceful, featuring roaring rapids, bridges, and spacious forests that make for atmospheric backdrops serving as settings for many sequences.

Casting Janelle Monae as the gorgeous (and free) Marie Buchanan is okay and adds a Color Purple (1985) comparison, reminiscent of Celie and Shug Avery.

Ironically, the acting among the black actors is superior to that of the most over-the-top or cartoon-like white actors.

Best described as a formulaic Hollywood film with a good message, Harriet (2019) could be a launching pad for Erivo, a new name in Hollywood films.

She tackles a challenging role and is the standout performer in the production. The sleekness and modernism make the resulting experience less than the grittiness that a film like Harriet needs.

Much better biographies of legendary figures exist, a shame since Harriet Tubman is one of the most prominent to have their story told on the big screen.

Oscar Nominations: Best Actress- Cynthia Erivo, Best Original Song-“Stand Up”

1988 Films, Fantasy, Horror, Slasher

A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master-1988

June 8, 2020 scottmet99 Leave a comment

A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master-1988

Director Renny Harlin

Starring Robert Englund, Lisa Wilcox

Scott’s Review #1,030

Reviewed June 8, 2020

Grade: B-

By 1988, a tepid year in cinema, and with the slasher genre nearly dead on arrival, the release of A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (1988) had the cards stacked against it.

The franchise feels tired and out of gas by this point, so more comedy and humorous lines were added, along with a return to a similar concept from A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987): the dream sequences.

The film is so-so, with not much that makes it stand out compared to the superior first three offerings.

Thankfully, Robert Englund is the mainstay and main attraction.

A year after the events of the previous film, Kristen (Tuesday Knight) and her friends have been released from the stifling Westin Hills sanitarium, putting the horrific events behind them.

Their attempts to resume normal teenage activities, like attending class and partying, are thwarted by Freddy Krueger (Englund), who begins infiltrating Kristen’s dreams.

As usual, a fresh batch of teenagers is along for the ride as they struggle to stay awake by watching Music Television (MTV) and revisiting the lavish junkyard featured in the previous installment.

The redundancy of another franchise film using the tired “one year later” to begin events anew is feeling like a cliché.

The main character, Kristen, played by a different actress, does not help the film; she only makes it inconsistent.

The fact that actress Patricia Arquette had little interest in returning for around two more films in the role is not the film’s fault, but a brand-new character, instead of a recast, might not have been a bad idea.

Recasting prominent roles may work in daytime soap operas but not in the movies.

A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master, while quite similar to its predecessor, Dream Warriors, so much so that they could easily be watched in tandem, has some positive qualities.

I love the MTV angle, the music network channel overtaking nearly every United States teenager’s living room or bedroom throughout the 1980s.

If the filmmakers wanted to get teenagers who might not necessarily watch horror films, this was a perfect marketing tool. The target audience is perfectly aligned, and the film feels fresh and relevant for its time.

The drawback to the above point is that making a film that is timely means that decades later, its risk is being referred to as “of its time”, and sadly, that is what has happened with Dream Master.

Nobody will scramble to watch this installment when other better chapters are out there. There may hardly be a reason to watch this one against you unless a Nightmare marathon is on the docket.

The junkyard set and the creepy church set are very good, so the film does well from a visual perspective.

Englund is Freddy, and his familiarity cannot be dismissed, but the actor seems to be phoning in his performance by this point in the franchise.

Finally receiving top billing, as he should, he shares his familiar witty remarks and playfully taunts his victims like a cat would before pouncing on a mouse.

The actor adds even more humor to his one-liners, but this sacrifices the horrific moments, of which there are not many. A successful horror/comedy fusion is a delicate balance, and there is not enough meat on the bone.

Entertaining at best, A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (1988) is not well remembered, nor should it be. A dated affair, with emotionless teenage actors needing acting lessons and surely never to be heard from again, rounds out the cast, led by Robert Englund.

The film is a letdown because it is too much like Dream Warrior and overly predictable.

1941 Films, Film noir, Thriller

Suspicion-1941

June 3, 2020 scottmet99 Leave a comment

Suspicion-1941

Director Alfred Hitchcock

Starring Cary Grant, Joan Fontaine

Scott’s Review #1,029

Reviewed June 3, 2020

Grade: B+

An early American effort by the master of suspense Alfred Hitchcock (1941) follows the Oscar-winning Rebecca (1940) with a similarly themed film.

A dazzling beauty (Joan Fontaine) is manipulated by her charming husband (Cary Grant), but is he gaslighting her and plotting her death, or is it all in her mind? The puzzle unfolds with a sizzling final thirty minutes that eclipses the remainder of the film, which drags and plods along slowly.

Wealthy but insecure Lina McLaidlaw (Fontaine) meets handsome and irresponsible playboy Johnnie Aysgarth (Grant) on a train in England. He charms her into eloping despite the strong disapproval of her father, General McLaidlaw (Sir Cedric Hardwicke), who thinks Johnnie is after the family’s money.

After a lavish honeymoon and return to an extravagant new home, Lina discovers that Johnnie has no job and no income, habitually lives on borrowed money, and intends to try to sponge off her father.

She talks him into getting a job, which he embezzles from.

Lina begins to think that not only is Johnnie after her money, but he intends to kill her. She becomes aware of his financial schemes and motivations, feeling conflicted over her love for him and her survival.

Events kick into high gear after a friend’s death, an insurance policy, and discussions with an author’s friend, Isobel Sedbusk (Auriol Lee), a writer of mystery novels about untraceable poisons. A bizarre dinner conversation surrounding ways to get away with murder causes Lina to start unraveling.

Many suspensions of disbelief must be contained in frustrating measures throughout most of the film, and a bothersome level of female mistreatment is to be endured.

From the very first scene, Lina’s insecurity gnaws at me. She is gorgeous, rich, and intelligent, so why does she feel, and is perceived even by her parents, as a lonely spinster sure to become an old maid?

Despite Hitchcock’s love of glasses on female characters, brandishing Lina with gawky bifocals hardly makes her an ugly duckling. Johnnie’s nickname, “Monkeyface,” is jarring and insulting.

The determination not to make Hollywood royalty Carey Grant too bad of a guy does not work. It feels like a weak effort to suddenly change the story to thwart the perception of a character as not a villain but someone to feel sympathetic toward.

Unclear is if this was Hitchcock’s decision or the mighty studio’s (my best guess would be the latter since Hitchcock was not afraid to take risks). The audience hardly has a chance to let their emotions marinate as the big reveal quickly culminates in the end credits rolling, and the film concludes.

A significant positive to Spellbound is the hidden tidbits brewing beneath the main saga of the Hollywood glamour boy and girl (Grant and Fontaine).

A clever LGBTQ+ revelation among two supporting characters can be unearthed decades before the terminology was invented. Hitchcock loved his gay characters, who could not be openly gay, though the director did his best to offer the now-obvious idiosyncrasies.

Sophisticated Isobel seems to live alone in her quaint and lovely cottage, but during a dinner party, a blonde woman wearing a suit and tie, clearly butch, joins the conversation. As Isobel asks her to pour more wine, we realize she is hardly a servant but Isobel’s lesbian lover!

The stunning yet highly subtle revelation is prominent to eagle-eyed viewers and cagey enough to catch on. In addition to these lovely ladies, an odd-looking male dinner guest wearing glasses and discussing murder novels is an interesting character, though we see little of him.

The same can be said for Lina’s sophisticated mother, Mrs. Martha McLaidlaw (Dame May Whitty), and Lina and Johnnie’s maid, Ethel (Heather Angel). Both, playing minor roles, add subtle delights to the film.

Suspicion (1941) is an early Hitchcock film that is rarely mentioned among his best works. The film is a tough sell because of its tedious pace, the lead character’s inexplicable insecurity, and the unfulfilling story conclusion.

The suspense and activity in the final act (mostly the stunning edge of the cliff car drive) promote the film to an above-average rating, but grander works were soon to follow in the decades ahead.

The most fun is noticing the delicious peculiarities of interesting supporting characters.

Oscar Nominations: 1 win-Outstanding Motion Picture, Best Actress-Joan Fontaine (won), Best Scoring of a Dramatic Picture

1987 Films, Fantasy, Horror, Slasher

A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors-1987

May 29, 2020 scottmet99 Leave a comment

A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors-1987

Director Chuck Russell

Starring Patricia Arquette, Robert Englund

Scott’s Review #1,028

Reviewed May 29, 2020

Grade: B+

A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987) is a credible effort to take the at-this-point tired slasher genre in a new direction, using style and special effects to its advantage.

The film is not a work of art and does not stray far enough from the norm to risk losing its target audience, but the experiment works, giving the film a fresh feel.

Thankfully, Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund) is in tow, providing wit, humor, and a rich character history rarely seen in horror.

One year following the events of the previous chapter, Kristen Parker (Patricia Arquette) awakens following a nightmare of being chased by Freddy Krueger, to find him in her bathroom, where she is attacked again.

Her mother believes that she is suicidal and sends her to Westin Hills Psychiatric Hospital, where Kristen is placed under the care of Dr. Neil Gordon (Craig Wasson).

The rest of the film’s events mainly take place in this setting.

A new intern therapist, Nancy, (Heather Langenkamp) takes an interest in Kristen’s case.

In two clever plot twists, one a bit too coincidental, Nancy reveals to the remaining patients that they are the “last of the Elm Street kids”, the surviving children of the people who banded together and burned Krueger to death many years ago.

The second is more intriguing, as a nun named Sister Mary Helena (Nan Martin) provides the history of Freddy’s mother, Amanda Krueger, who turns out to be the same person.

This humanizes Freddy a bit and provides layers to his story rather than just another “slice ’em and dice ’em” horror film.

The film has a way of gathering curiosity and delivering the goods with dreams, hypnosis, and mental synapses, as the kids realize they have dream powers that culminate in a group adventure.

Perfect for the mental hospital setting.

The junkyard sequence that provides the climax with so much muscle is splendid, adding creative, colorful bits of junk and littering the entire set with rusty tin trinkets and other nooks and crannies to marvel at.

A feast for the eyes and a perfect backdrop for evil and killings. The set design works tremendously well in this film.

The familiar character Nancy, played once again by Langenkamp (the main girl from the first Nightmare), is a nice touch that will please fans immensely. A returning favorite in a horror franchise is always a smart move.

The casting of esteemed character actress Nan Martin, who can frighten the pants off anyone if given a good part, is a divine decision.

The actress even resembles legendary actress Betsy Palmer (familiar to Friday the 13th fans as the dreadful Mrs. Voorhees).

The creepy mommy theme so often works well in horror films, and this inclusion is no exception.

The theme song to A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors is a pop-metal treat written and performed by the heavy metal band Dokken.

This inclusion assuredly brought the teenage girls and the mullet crowd alike to movie theaters across America. The song is catchy and can easily be head-banged as the end credits roll across the screen.

Even more impressive is that the lyrics make sense from a story perspective since dreams are a huge part of the franchise and this specific installment.

Nearly rivaling the original A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) in originality and plot, A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987) does a fantastic job of bringing energy to a fading genre, one that would not be rejuvenated for another 9 years when Scream (1996) debuted.

Engaging, brightly lit razzle-dazzle visual sets within dreams are pulse-racing and creative, while a mother’s story breathes fresh air.

This film is the sequel to a series of duds that will soon follow.

1968 Films, British, British Horror, Horror

Torture Garden-1968

May 28, 2020 scottmet99 Leave a comment

Torture Garden-1968

Director Freddie Francis

Starring Burgess Meredith, Jack Palance, Peter Cushing

Scott’s Review #1,027

Reviewed May 28, 2020

Grade: B

A horror offering made up of multiple vignettes is a treat, offering numerous stories, especially with some late-1960s British sophistication peppered in.

Torture Garden (1968) contains four stories- Enoch, Terror over Hollywood, Mr. Steinway, and The Man Who Collected Poe, each with some intrigue. The structure may be most comparable to The Twilight Zone television series, but in a British way.

The Terror over Hollywood is my personal favorite.

Burgess Meredith (yes, that Burgess Meredith of the Batman television series) stars as Doctor Diabolo, a sinister con artist who runs an attraction at a fairground sideshow.

Having shown them a handful of tepid haunted-house-style gimmicks to whet their appetites, he promises a frightening experience if they pay extra.

Of course, they are immediately taken, and when they follow him behind a curtain, one by one, they view their fates through a transfixed female deity, Atropos (Clytie Jessop).

The stories commence through a hallucinogenic method.

Below is a summary and review of each vignette.

In Enoch, Colin Williams (Michael Bryant), a greedy playboy with money troubles, takes advantage of his elderly uncle (Maurice Denham) by causing his death and falling under the spell of a man-eating cat.

Colin is determined to find his uncle’s riches, leading him to desperation. The plot is far-fetched, but the black cat with glowing green eyes is memorable, as are the beheadings of a homeless man, a nurse, and finally, the Playboy himself.

When the cat finally puts another person under the spell, the conclusion is satisfying.

Terror over Hollywood travels across the pond to the United States, where it introduces a tale of jealousy, schemes, and intrigue in La La Land.

The vignette most resembles Invasion of the Body Snatchers in theme and is quite compelling.

Carla Hayes (Beverly Adams) is a beautiful, aspiring actress intent on clawing her way to the top by any necessary means. After she ruins her roommate’s dress and steals her date, she embarks on a strange journey that leads her to a role in a film, but there is a price to pay.

Adams is a stellar star who brings life and energy to the story.

Providing the most bizarre of all the vignettes, Mr. Steinway involves a possessed grand piano by the name of Euterpe, who becomes jealous of its owner, Leo’s (John Standing) new lover, Dorothy (Barbara Ewing), and goes on the attack seeking revenge.

The story is about Dorothy, a sideshow patron, so the events are told from her perspective.

The story contains plenty of loopholes, but it’s fascinating to see the enormous, gorgeous piano come to life as a character and push Dorothy out the window, sending her plummeting to her death.

Finally, in The Man Who Collected Poe, a Poe collector (Jack Palance) murders another collector (Peter Cushing) over collectibles he refuses to show him, only to find that the keepsake is the real Edgar Allan Poe (Hedger Wallace).

Seeing both the esteemed real-life figure and horror legend Cushing makes this chapter enjoyable, even though it is the least compelling of the bunch. Knowing that Torture Garden was meant initially to star Cushing and Christopher Lee detracts from the film just a bit.

One can only imagine the possibilities.

In the epilogue, which proves to be a clever twist, the mysterious fifth patron (Michael Ripper) scares the others into fleeing for their lives before revealing that he is a conspirator of Doctor Diabolos.

The group is proven to be merely gullible rubes, left with the belief that a murder has occurred and their fates will come true.

The film presents black magic and the occult in a fun, not a frightening, way. This is both a positive and a negative since witchcraft never felt so family-friendly.

Torture Garden (1968) is neither the best nor the worst horror anthology ever created. The plots are uneven but entertaining and never dull.

The creative additions of a killer piano, a killer cat, and famed storyteller Edgar Allen Poe are worth the price of admission, as is the centerpiece villain played by the great actor Burgess Meredith, who helps keep the plot moving along.

2019 Films, Horror, Supernatural Horror

Doctor Sleep-2019

May 22, 2020 scottmet99 Leave a comment

Doctor Sleep-2019

Director Mike Flanagan

Starring Ewan McGregor

Scott’s Review #1,026

Reviewed May 22, 2020

Grade: B

Based on the 2013 novel of the same name written by Stephen King, a sequel to his own 1977 novel The Shining, Doctor Sleep (2019) is also a direct sequel to the film adaptation of The Shining (1980).

Events are set several decades after the original events and incorporate elements from the 1977 novel as well. A fun fact is that King hated the film version of The Shining but approved of the script for Doctor Sleep.

The first and last parts of the film are superior to the rest, mainly succeeding when elements of The Shining are incorporated.

The rest meanders and teeters too much into supernatural and computer-generated imagery territory, taking away from the haunting ghost story elements that made the original The Shining such a frightening treasure.

Ewan McGregor plays Danny Torrance, the little kid scarred from the trauma he suffered when his father Jack went mad at the looming Overlook hotel decades earlier.

Danny, now a grown man and a suffering alcoholic, lives a life that is out of control, suppressing his “shining” gifts that allow him to possess psychic abilities.

Hitting rock bottom, Dan moves to a tiny town in New Hampshire and befriends Billy Freeman (Cliff Curtis), who sponsors him in AA. Dan is regularly visited by the spirit of Dick Hallorann, the deceased chef from the hotel who teaches Dan how to contain his demons.

Meanwhile, the True Knot, a cult of psychic vampires led by Rose the Hat (Rebecca Ferguson), extend their lifespans by consuming “steam”, a psychic essence released as they torture and kill those who have the shining.

They primarily feed on young children and pursue Abra Stone (Kyleigh Curran), a young girl whose shining is even more potent than Dan’s. She communicates telepathically with him and forms a pact to destroy Rose and her cronies.

Let’s take the good with the bad.

The film gets off to a perfect start with the recreation of scenes from The Shining when Danny rides his big wheel throughout the winding 1970’s 1970s-style hallways of The Overlook and gazes at the forbidden Room 237.

The synth musical score that made The Shining atmospheric and unforgettable is also included as the bass-infused heartbeat is showcased amid overhead camera angles, a clear ode to The Shining.

The finale of Doctor Sleep comes full circle as Dan and Abra travel from New Hampshire to snowy Colorado and revisit the Overlook, now tattered and ill-forgotten from decades of abandonment.

The showdown between Dan, Abra, and Rose treats fans to clips of Jack Nicholson and Shelly Duvall.

Visits from familiar characters and sets, such as the ghostly bartender, the conjoined twins, the wrinkled, old, naked woman, the gushing elevator blood, and the hedge maze, make their return, providing a lovely feeling of nostalgia.

Unfortunately, between the first thirty minutes and the final thirty minutes, there are another ninety minutes of screen time that don’t always work. For starters, a running time of two hours and thirty-two minutes feels too long for a horror film, and the filler lying in between is that much more apparent.

The action meanders, especially given the anticipated final battle, which is inevitable.

Taking nothing away from either Ferguson or Curran, who are fine in their respective roles of Rose and Abra, neither is the most interesting aspect of Doctor Sleep. They are new characters in the novel and therefore the film but are secondary to Dan and his intricate relationships with Jack, Wendy, and Dick.

The only parts of the story that were interesting to me were the connections and thoughts Dan had to experiences forty years earlier.

The battle scenes between Rose, Abra, and other characters do nothing for the story and take the film too far in the direction of the supernatural and slick technological aspects that The Shining didn’t need.

Since Doctor Sleep was adapted from the successful recent King adaptations of It Chapter Two (2019) and Pet Sematary (2019), perhaps this is the reason for the modern additions.

If Doctor Sleep (2019) could be sliced and diced to eliminate the middle and keep the bookends of the beginning and finale, the result would have paid proper homage to The Shining (1980); instead, we get only halfway there.

The film has some nice elements and stays true to its history, but it contains a few unnecessary additions that detract from its overall quality. And how can a film ever compare to the greatness of The Shining (1980)?

1980 Films, Horror, Slasher

Prom Night-1980

May 21, 2020 scottmet99 Leave a comment

Prom Night-1980

Director Paul Lynch

Starring Leslie Nielsen, Jamie Lee Curtis

Scott’s Review #1,025

Reviewed May 21, 2020

Grade: B

Released in the summer of 1980, Prom Night feels much more like a late-1970s-style film than the plethora of carbon-copy products churned out in the early part of its decade.

The film is a conventional slasher whodunit and does not reinvent the wheel. Still, small tidbits of stylized cinematography are nestled within its formulaic confines during what could be considered throwaway scenes.

Prom Night might be forgotten if not for the casting of “Scream Queen” Jamie Lee Curtis, who leads the charge, carrying the story.

The film is heavily influenced by two very popular motion pictures that preceded it.

The most obvious comparison, also in the horror genre, is Carrie (1976), which has a gruesome finale set during the usually cheerful late-spring high school gymnasium event known as prom night.

Prom Night also capitalizes on the enormous success of Saturday Night Fever, a 1977 vehicle that made John Travolta and discotheque household names, to say nothing of making teenage girls swoon.

Prom Night even copies a cheesy disco dance sequence.

The story begins, as many horror films do, with an incident that occurred many years ago, paving the way for current events.

Youngsters, Wendy, Jude, Kelly, and Nick play hide-and-seek in an abandoned convent. When little Robin Hammond tries to join them, the group starts teasing her, repeating “Kill! Kill! Kill!” over and over again, frightening her and causing her to fall to her death through a second-story window accidentally.

The children make a pact not to tell anyone what happened and keep the incident a secret. The shadow of an unseen person who witnessed Robin’s death emerges.

Flash-forward to the present day, when the children are now in high school and eagerly await a night of dancing, drinking, and perhaps getting lucky, as they flirt and plan their partners for the night.

Robin’s family, led by the stoic Mr. Hammond (Leslie Nielsen), memorializes her on the anniversary of her death as sister Kim (Curtis) and brother Alex (Michael Tough) ready themselves for the prom that night.

Meanwhile, Kelly, Nick, Jude, and Wendy begin to receive menacing phone calls. Could Mr. Hammond, Kim, or Alex be behind the calls, perhaps seeking to avenge Robin’s death, or is this too obvious an approach?

As nightfall draws near, the teenagers and their friends begin to fall victim to throat-slitting, a decapitation, and a chase with an ax by a crazed killer wearing a ski mask and black clothing.

An ode to the Halloween franchise in the final act is delicious, but may or may not have been intentional.

The best part of Prom Night is the whodunit factor, and most of the fun is trying to figure out who is offing the kids. We know the motivation but not the who.

Red herrings are thrown directly to the audience like bones to a hungry dog.

The creepy, alcoholic janitor, Sykes, leers at the teens and even witnesses one of the murders (spoiler alert- he is not the killer!), but his claims are dismissed as drunken rants.

An escaped sex offender thought to be Robin’s killer, and an enemy of Kim’s, is also thrown in to distract the viewer.

There is little character development (surprise, surprise) as standard stock characters are on display. There is the jokester, the bitchy rich girl, the virginal girl, and the obnoxious boy, so diversity is not the ingredient of this film.

A formula is followed, and we know the final reveal will be the be-all, end-all of a film like this. Despite being formulaic, Prom Night is still enjoyable and never feels mediocre. Enough is going on to please horror fans seeking thrills.

Not a bad effort, Prom Night (1980) captures the viewer’s attention immediately and is never dull. The one-hour and twenty-nine-minute running time is a smart move, as the film can be described as quick and easy.

The surprise is genuine when the masked killer is revealed.

This is not Halloween (1978), Friday the 13th (1980), or Black Christmas (1974), the cream of the crop in slasher films, but it is worth watching.

1985 Films, Horror, Slasher

A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge-1985

May 18, 2020 scottmet99 Leave a comment

A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge-1985

Director Jack Sholder

Starring Mark Patton, Robert Englund

Scott’s Review #1,024

Reviewed May 18, 2020

Grade: B

While it adds a surprising and tantalizing sexual subtext to a standard story and features a male protagonist instead of the generic female, A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge (1985) sometimes feels overwrought.

With stock characters and not enough scary moments to satisfy bloodthirsty appetites, the effort and aching for something a bit different is apparent if viewers are sharp enough to take a curious peek.

The glossy 1980s cinematic look is cringeworthy and very “of the time,” which usurps the creative tidbits nestled beneath the surface, as deserving of their merits as they are.

Nonetheless, the film is not at all bad, almost feeling fresh by today’s standards, and the familiar villain is worth the price of admission.

Once again, Freddy baits and taunts his victims, who never stand a chance, with his trademark sneer and razor-sharp nails.

Five years following the events of the first A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), a new family arrives on the cursed block, happily anticipating a new life filled with baked cookies and warm fires.

Parents Ken and Cheryl Walsh (film legend Hope Lange) raise two kids, Angela and Jesse (Mark Patton). The latter is haunted in his dreams by a killer driving a school bus.

Jesse is joined by his friend and romantic interest, Lisa (Kim Meyers), school chum Grady (Robert Rusler), and Coach Schneider (Marshall Bell), who may or may not be gay.

An obvious comparison to the similarly themed Friday the 13th franchise, a hot ticket during the 1980s, is its return to a familiar setting.

Elm Street is to A Nightmare on Elm Street what Camp Crystal Lake is to Friday the 13th. The locale is a character in itself, and knowing that bad things will happen there is pleasing to the viewer.

Elm Street is supposed to be a quiet and safe place for families to snuggle in their beds with pets, dreaming the nights away, not worrying about an evil force turning their pleasant dreams into nightmares come to life.

A clever homoerotic tidbit that is lost on most viewers nonetheless emerges, especially in hindsight.

Let’s remind ourselves that 1985 was not a hotbed of LGBTQ cinematic activity, especially as the horrific A.I.D.S epidemic was front-page news.

Gay-themed films were not the norm, not even in the independent film circuit yet, so any mention of a gay character was a win for the community.

A riveting scene has Jesse dreaming of indulging in a drink at a gay bar and is caught by Schneider, who sends him to the showers.

The sexual overtones, obvious now, were not then, but sadly, this is as far as the film goes with this subject.

The remainder of the story is mostly standard fare, featuring a lively teenage pool party, aqua-net-infused hairstyles, up-tempo pop music, and familiar written characters, most of whom turned up with different faces in the droves of horror films that peppered suburban movie theaters in those days.

Not daring to make Jesse a gay character, though someone humorously made the character’s name androgynous, Jesse and Lisa share a tender kiss in her cabana.

Most sequels pale in comparison to their originals.

A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge (1985) is an adequate follow-up that dares to incorporate as much diversity and inclusiveness as could be mustered in a mainstream film during the mid-1980s.

Let’s not kid ourselves that the studios did not have profit on the mind over credibility and creativity, but the stakes are not exactly played safe, which is to its credit.

There were far worse sequels in this franchise yet to come!

2010 Films, Horror, Slasher

A Nightmare on Elm Street-2010

May 14, 2020 scottmet99 Leave a comment

A Nightmare on Elm Street-2010

Director Samuel Bayer

Starring Jackie Earle Haley

Scott’s Review #1,023

Reviewed May 14, 2020

Grade: C-

Rather a pointless remake, but unsurprising given the speedy attempts at re-doing almost every successful horror franchise in recent memory, A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010) offers nothing that the original did not provide better.

Any film that is considered a dud with the word “nightmare” in the title is ripe for the picking as far as jokes and mockery go. The film is not too terrible but is rather mediocre and average to the taste.

There is no reason to watch this offering over the 1984 original, besides perhaps a moment of curiosity.

A quick recap or re-introduction. Freddy Krueger (Jackie Earle Haley), a serial killer who crosses the worlds of dreams and reality to slice and dice his victims with his razor-sharp blade-fingered glove, is on the loose in small-town America.

As Nancy (Rooney Mara) and her pals fight for their lives, they also uncover clues to a shocking secret from their past. Freddy was a known child molester decades earlier and was tracked down and burned alive by angry parents seeking revenge after he escaped prison.

He has vowed to destroy the children of those parents who all conveniently still live in the same town.

Capitalizing on the box-office success of a commercially successful yet critically sub-par 2009 offering of Friday the 13th, the light bulb went off and A Nightmare on Elm Street was green-lit and born.

The intention was to make Freddy and the film harsher and scarier than the 1984 original.

This is a severe misstep as what made the original so good was the character of Freddy. What 1980s teenager doesn’t fondly recall oozing with delight at Freddy’s one-liners and quips as he playfully toys with his pray before slitting their throats?

New Freddy is sinister, violent, and banal. Boring!

Earle Haley, a character actor known for 1977’s Breaking Away and finding a well-deserved career resurgence with the brilliant Little Children (2006) is cast as the brutal villain, sans any of the humor.

The actor, small in stature, is cast well on paper and doesn’t purposely ruin the role. It’s just that he is not Robert Englund and therefore never has a chance.

While admittedly Earle Haley is menacing, he lacks the charisma and charm to do very much with the role except try to recreate something that is not his to begin with.

The rest of the teens in the cast are decent but hardly spectacular. The “final girl” is Nancy Thompson (Rooney Mara) changed to Nancy Holbrook in this version in another eye-rolling mistake since no reason is explained for the name change.

It’s like changing Freddy Krueger’s name to Freddy Kelly.

Regardless, Mara champions on in a role she is way too good for. The actress, about to reach stardom for gems like The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011) and Carol (2015) needed a start.

Fair enough.

From a visual standpoint, the film has some jump scares and frights that are stock fare for slick, mainstream horror films, almost now becoming clichés.

The sets are decent with some of the houses and, a church, worthy of mention. Darkness is the main ingredient of this film- it is horror after all, and the filming has a very dark texture even during bright scenes.

Some nice kills flesh out the rest of the experience.

If there is money to be made in Hollywood, it will be made. The true motivator of remaking A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010) was profit over art. This is a reality and not so much a criticism, after all, it’s called the entertainment biz for a reason.

The changes made to the script do it no favors and if a remake had to be done, it was better left alone and not fooled with.

Jackie Earle Haley does his best, but he is not and never will be the real Freddy Krueger. Robert Englund has that dubious honor.

1968 Films, Biography, Musical

Funny Girl-1968

May 11, 2020 scottmet99 Leave a comment

Funny Girl-1968

Director William Wyler

Starring Barbra Streisand, Omar Sharif

Scott’s Review #1,022

Reviewed May 11, 2020

Grade: B+

Barbra Streisand won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her outstanding portrayal of Fanny Brice in Funny Girl (1968). She reprises a role that she made famous on the Broadway stage, bringing her to the big screen.

The role is vitally important and sends a powerful message, teaching viewers that an unconventional woman with extraordinary talent can succeed in showbiz, leaving prim and proper starlets salivating with jealousy.

Features the classic tunes “People” and “Don’t Rain on My Parade” as well as the title track.

Fanny (Streisand) is an unhappy Jewish New Yorker, living in semi-poverty and dreaming of the big time. Her mother (Kay Medford) and others in the community try to persuade Fanny to live an everyday life far from the hot, judgmental glare of the stage, but she will have none of it.

Finding success on her terms in Ziegfeld Follies throughout World War I, she also finds love and passion with the suave Nick Arnstein (Sharif) following her debut performance.

The story is loosely based on the life and career of the honest Fanny and her stormy relationship with the entrepreneur and gambler, Nick.

Taking nothing away from Sharif, who is more than adequate, the film belongs to Streisand. Despite being a novice, producers wanted no one but Streisand in the role, since she had hit a home run in the stage version.

A brief consideration to have Shirley MacLaine star in hindsight seems laughable and unimaginable.

Sharif’s suave, dangerous, swarthy characterization balances perfectly with Streisand’s naivety and innocence. The Jewish woman and the Muslim man must also have raised an eyebrow or two at the time.

Streisand is a breath of fresh air in a role that could be said to mimic real life and reflects film in 1968 and beyond. Glamour girls were the height of fashion throughout the 1950s and 1960s, where looks sometimes usurped talent.

With the lifting of the Hollywood Code, grittier and dirtier roles were to be found for women. Streisand, as Fanny, proves that a self-proclaimed ugly duckling can rise to the top of the cream.

Refusing to get a nose job or otherwise alter her appearance or name, she mirrors Fanny in many ways, inspiring both women and men to be themselves to achieve truth.

Director William Wyler, no stranger to Hollywood success with pictures such as Mrs. Miniver (1942) and The Best Years of Our Lives (1946), knows how to pace and balance a film, and to present a cheery, splendid offering, careful not to make the movie too lightweight.

Comic scenes, such as when Fanny upstages everyone and prances around the stage as a pregnant newlywed, becoming the talk of the town, are the best ones.

The film succeeds when it is fun.

Sharif does his best with a small role, surprising given the character’s importance, but the dramatic moments are not the best scenes. They are okay and certainly not overacted by the stars, but do not work as well as when Streisand belts out “People” on a lonely sidewalk.

The issue is that Streisand is Funny Girl, and even prominent actors like Sharif never had a chance. The one exception is Medford, who goes toe to toe with Streisand in every scene with gusto and humor.

Funny Girl (1968) may suffer from a few overly melodramatic moments that slow it down, especially in the central romance, but its central message is to stay true to one’s colors.

Refusing to be influenced by elders or even her beau, Fanny is an inspiration to all viewers. With delightful musical numbers and zesty wardrobe pieces, the film has a cheery and fun veneer, but more lies beneath the surface.

Whether the intention is a sing-along experience or a deeper meaning, the film has something for everyone.

Oscar Nominations: 1 win-Best Picture, Best Actress-Barbra Streisand (won), Best Supporting Actress-Kay Medford, Best Score of a Musical Picture-Original or Adaptation, Best Song Original for the Picture-“Funny Girl”, Best Sound, Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing

1987 Films, Comedy, Drama, International Drama, LGBTQ+ Drama, LGBTQ+ Films, LGBTQ+ International, Spanish

Law of Desire-1987

May 8, 2020 scottmet99 Leave a comment

Law of Desire-1987

Director Pedro Almodovar

Starring Eusebio Poncela, Carmen Maura

Scott’s Review #1,021

Reviewed May 8, 2020

Grade: B+

Law of Desire or La ley del Deseo (as translated in original Spanish) is a 1987 film written and directed by Pedro Almodóvar.

Quite groundbreaking for its time and penned by a respected director, the film was rich in offering what was rarely presented in films during the 1980s- a complex love triangle between two men and a trans woman.

The fact that the trans woman is the sister of one of the men is a bonus for the soap opera premise.

In 2020, when LGBTQ+ films are more plentiful in cinemas (at least at the indie level), Law of Desire suffers slightly from a dated feel, and parts drag.

It’s tough to criticize a piece this brazen when it was released in arthouse and musty metropolitan theaters.

As groundbreaking as the film must be given credit for, the story now feels sillier than it should, and more outlandish than it probably intended to be over thirty years ago.

The fabulous setting of Madrid, Spain, is the backdrop for the luscious tale of love, obsession, jealousy, and revenge, think the prime-time television series Dynasty on steroids.

Cocky Pablo (Eusebio Poncela), a successful gay film director with his pick from a bevy of young, good-looking gay males, is madly in love with Juan (Miguel Molina), though he has a roving eye.

Suave Antonio (Antonio Banderas), who comes from a conservative family, is new to the gay scene and falls madly in love with Pablo when Juan goes to find himself.

Tina (Carmen Maura), who likes men and women, has just been dumped and is vulnerable.

Besides the obvious daring gender-bending, this story could be a simple one told many times across many genres.

Almodóvar spins things into a frenzy as the plot unfolds, adding manipulations, subplots, and bizarre characters into the mix.

For example, Ada is Tina’s surrogate daughter and is a precocious ten-year-old girl in love with Pablo. Ada refuses to go back with her mother (Bibi Andersen/Bibiana Fernández) when her mother returns to whisk her off to Milan to meet a man she has just met.

The gay subtext is what is center stage here. Back in the 1980s, the term LGBTQ+ was on nobody’s radar, and having any representation at all in cinema was still a territory barely scratching the surface.

This point kept returning to me throughout the film, and I imagined how fresh the experience would have been to any gay man or gay woman fortunate enough to have seen it. I am not sure any of the characters would serve as great role models, but the representation is nice.

Almodóvar adds a good deal of naked flesh for an added treat.

Several comic scenes arise with gusto. Antonio, who lives at home with a religious zealot of a mother, convinces Pablo to sign his letters from “Laura P”, a character from his latest play, to trick Antonio’s nosy mama.

Tina, not much of an actress, is cast in Pablo’s one-woman theatrical productions. She thinks her performance is great, but Pablo thinks she stinks. The comical moments are the ones that work best, giving the plentiful offbeat characters a chance to let loose and shine.

Towards the conclusion, Law of Desire takes a tragic and Shakespearean turn. A drunken Juan is thrown off a cliff to his death, prompting an investigation with Antonio and Pablo both prime suspects.

Finally, a kidnapping and police stand-off ensues with a murder/suicide providing the film’s final moments.

I am not a fan of the title that Almodóvar chose. Preferably, a title that is a bit more titillating. Even Lust of Desire or Object of My Desire would have been better choices.

Law of Desire screams of a tepid episode of television’s Law & Order.

For a director with such an outlandish approach and such bizarre characters, the title is bland, banal, and tough to remember.

Those seeking a kinky and provocative late-night affair will find Law of Desire (1987) a good old time. It lacks a clear message, instead offering a sexy romp and a dreary ending.

Running the gamut of adding musical score pieces as unique as the 1970s The Conformist, a film also shrouded in same-sex desire, to cheesy 1980s synth-laden beats, adds some confusion.

Nonetheless, diversity and inclusiveness are good recipes to chow down on and celebrate.

1944 Films, Thriller

Lifeboat-1944

May 6, 2020 scottmet99 Leave a comment

Lifeboat-1944

Director Alfred Hitchcock

Starring Tallulah Bankhead, William Bendix

Scott’s Review #1,020

Reviewed May 6, 2020

Grade: A-

Alfred Hitchcock, well-known for big, bouncy, suspenseful productions, creates a stripped-down, intimate story of adventures while adrift on a survival boat, leaving plenty of tension and peril.

Lifeboat (1944), now teetering on extinction from memory save for fans of the director, deserves appreciation and respect for the brilliant direction and outstanding cinematography alone.

The film was met with controversy and some derision for sympathetic depictions of a German U-boat captain (Walter Slezak) amid the horrors of World War II.

Events begin in the middle of calm Atlantic Oceanic waters after a cruel battle results in a German U-boat and a British/American ship sinking each other, leaving fewer than a dozen civilians and service members to survive in one Lifeboat.

The haughty, glamorous columnist Connie Porter (Tallulah Bankhead), clad in the finest fur coat, is irritated by a run in her stocking, a travesty in her mind.

She is slowly joined by other survivors, including a young British woman with a dead baby, a steward, a U.S. Army nurse (Mary Anderson), a wealthy entrepreneur, and other people from most walks of life.

Lifeboat plays out like a more cerebral version of a disaster film. Think- a brilliant man’s version of The Poseidon Adventure (1972), said with love since it’s one of my favorite films. But with Lifeboat, darkness and a sense of sadness are missing from the 1970s’s more lightweight disaster films.

The black-and-white camerawork helps tremendously, as do the mist, the rain, and the intense beating sun. The weather elements play an essential role, as do the characters themselves.

Speaking of characters, the individuals are plentiful and diverse, ranging from British, American, Black, German, wealthy, and working-class to eventually dead and alive with a gruesome leg amputation taking place mid-stream.

Each is well-written and exhibits fear, bravery, and suspicion of the other’s motivations. The German captain communicates with Connie in his native tongue, causing confusion among the other survivors.

Events would hardly be complete without a good melodramatic romance, and it is a treat to see two formulate. Connie and handsome John (John Hodiak) share a love/hate relationship, clearly from opposite backgrounds, while the more stable Alice and Stanley (Hume Cronyn) even decide to marry!

Genteel Alice reveals a marriage and an affair to Stanley, uncovering the layers and complexity of the character.

My favorite character is Connie, and Bankhead is a pure delight in the bitchy, no-nonsense role. She enshrouds the camera from the first scene.

Reminiscing about Bette Davis, the actress has a similar composure, stance, and trademark cigarette but slowly reveals her insecurities and desperation.

What fun she is to watch!

A tender and poignant scene occurs at the end of the film and is lovely to witness, especially given the tumultuous time of the mid-1940s. A drifting young German soldier attempts to board and shoot at the survivors but is apprehended.

Disputes occur, but instead of shooting or casting the lad overboard to drown, he is saved and presumably provided food and water. Does he inquire why they don’t kill him? The message is powerful and anti-war.

The direction methods are brilliant, and they look as realistic as possible in 1940s cinema, where CGI was decades away. Hitchcock had me fooled as I bought lock, stock, and barrel that the Lifeboat was in the middle of rough and murky waters instead of a Hollywood studio tub.

The creative method of gathering so many characters into one shot wonderfully and effectively provides a claustrophobic feel, as the lack of food and drinking water causes hysteria and emotion.

The one-set approach is marvelous and perfect for the film’s specific storyline.

After decades of underexposure and playing second or third fiddle to other Hitchcock masterpieces, Lifeboat (1944) is finally getting some notice and acclaim. The trend continues here, as the film contains enough frights and perils to keep anyone guessing which characters will sink and which will swim.

Although it may not be the best watch on a cruise ship or other watery surfaces, the escapade will delight fans of classic black-and-white thrill cinema.

Oscar Nominations: Best Director- Alfred Hitchcock, Best Original Story, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White

1984 Films, Horror, Slasher

A Nightmare on Elm Street-1984

May 4, 2020 scottmet99 Leave a comment

A Nightmare on Elm Street-1984

Director Wes Craven

Starring Heather Langenkamp, Robert Englund

Scott’s Review #1,019

Reviewed May 4, 2020

Grade: A-

Pioneer horror director Wes Craven, famous for reinvigorating the slasher genre with humor, wit, and satirically ponderous situations, created the iconic A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), which introduced the legendary character of Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund) to audiences.

Followed by eight sequels or re-introductions, the debut is a clever affair and a breath of fresh air in the too-often formulaic world of slashers.

And who could deny the satisfaction of seeing future Hollywood royalty, Johnny Depp, succumb to the villainous Krueger?

A group of unsuspecting teenagers is tortured both consciously and unconsciously as they dream the nights away by a hideously disfigured man clad in a striped shirt and a gloved hand with razors.

He taunts and teases the teens unmercifully as they reside, party, and have sex in small-town America, mainly spending their time in high school or on the cursed Elm Street.

The main girl to experience Freddy’s devious wrath is Nancy Thompson (Heather Langenkamp), who uses caffeine and more drastic measures to stay awake and alive!

To review A Nightmare on Elm Street without mentioning the Friday the 13th or Halloween franchises would be foolhardy since combined, they make up the “Big Three” of the entertaining slasher genre, each living on in infamy.

To provide a quick chronology, A Nightmare on Elm Street ran from 1984 to 1994, adding a crossover with Friday the 13th in 2003, and an unnecessary remake in 2010. Friday the 13th hit cinemas in 1980 and never looked back until the uninspired 2009 remake.

Finally, Halloween debuted in 1978 and is still churning out relevant chapters.

Whereas Friday the 13th and Halloween chose to stick with a more realistic formula- a crazed killer wielding a butcher knife or an ax, the brief foray into outer space with Jason X (2002) notwithstanding, A Nightmare on Elm Street is the more cerebral of the three.

It mixes dreams and reality, leaving the viewer perplexed, filled with thoughtful questions, and scared.

As each victim is gleefully toyed with, invaded, and killed in their dreams, and thus killed by the burnt killer, more complexities exist.

Released right smack in the middle of the 1980s- the decade of decadence, where a snug suburban life meant safety and sweet dreams, the target audience is the teenage crowd.

At the height of the Reagan years, when everyone and their neighbor had a vacation house, a boat, or a BMW, this film scared the daylights out of most viewers. Sleep did not come easily for those who took Freddie’s taunts to heart.

While frightening, A Nightmare on Elm Street does not take itself as seriously as Friday the 13th or Halloween does. Infusing humor and snickering fun is a great recipe to differentiate itself from its brethren by taking on straight-ahead horror.

The film can blur the boundaries between the imaginary and the real, toying with audience perceptions at every turn and making them think.

Imaginative, this is not always the film’s key to success. Craven needs to be careful that his story does not teeter off into the absurd or the outlandish, which it did in later installments.

Credit must be given to Englund, who takes crazy Freddy off to orbit with dizzying rapidity, going over the top only once or twice. And who can ever forget the frightening children’s rhyming song featured in the film?

The story always eclipses effects, and Craven is wise to craft a backstory for Krueger to enjoy, almost making him sympathetic, but then harshly bringing reality back and making the killer a child murderer.

Still, the parents who took their brand of vengeance and burned Freddy alive are not saints but sinners. This allows Krueger just enough empathy to keep audiences engaged. He’s a fun villain!

A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) is a timeless classic that introduced the world to one of the horror genre’s best villains.

Unlike Jason and Michael Myers, who are faceless, Freddy Krueger was played by a single actor, Robert Englund, who brought him energy, zest, and charm.

He will forever live on in the hearts of slasher fans everywhere.

2019 Films, Drama, Independent, Independent Drama

The Last Black Man in San Francisco-2019

May 1, 2020 scottmet99 Leave a comment

The Last Black Man in San Francisco- 2019

Director Joe Talbot

Starring Jimmie Fails, Jonathan Majors

Scott’s Review #1,018

Reviewed May 1, 2020

Grade: A

The brilliance of The Last Black Man in San Francisco (2019) is multi-fold. The immediate call-out is that the work is the creation of up-and-coming director Joe Talbot, an artist with an excellent eye for both the visual and humanistic aspects of cinema.

Whoever influenced this young man deserves props, for he has a great future ahead of him. Given that this is his film debut and he also co-wrote it, the future is indeed bright. The film is loosely based on the life of Jimmie Fails, his childhood best friend, who also stars.

A24 is arguably the new “it” film studio for independent entertainment offerings, and this is to be celebrated.

Indie films provide creative artists with the means and time to develop their products and tell stories that are fraught with meaning, and in many cases, dare to go where other films have not ventured, at the risk of turning off a mainstream audience.

This is to be celebrated and championed, and has resulted in many fantastic and unique films. Hereditary (2018), Midsommar (2019), and The Lighthouse (2019) immediately spring to mind.

The Last Black Man in San Francisco gets off to an interesting start as two young black men, Jimmie (Fails) and Mont (Jonathan Majors), wait for the bus as men clad in protective gear appear to clean polluted waters.

The implication is clear that residents are not protected while the men are. Protesters chant while images of the changes San Francisco has experienced over the years are shown.

The two then skateboard to a Victorian house in the city’s Fillmore District, where Jimmie grew up and says it was built by his grandfather in 1946.

Their skateboard trip is cerebral and surrealistic and has ten glorious cinematic moments.

It is evident that Talbot is channeling either an autobiographic story or one of a friend- it proves to be the latter. Unclear is if Mont is supposed to be Talbot, but my guess would be in the affirmative.

Jimmie and Mont are inseparable, residing both at Mont’s grandfather’s house (played by a startlingly elderly Danny Glover) and the house that Jimmie’s grandfather built.

The friends trudge along with their daily lives by enduring insults hurled at them by a neighborhood gang and fixing up the Victorian house whose owners neglect it, only to be subsequently evicted.

Jimmie and Mont are fantastically nuanced, rich characters, each for different reasons. Jimmie is pained that his city has forgotten his grandfather and his legacy, which have been cast aside for progress and wealth.

His father (Rob Morgan) is angry, his mother, a recovering drug addict, is barely in his life, as they run into each other by chance on the city bus. Jimmie’s Aunt (Tichina Arnold) resides outside the city and serves as his confidante.

Mont is creative, yearning to write a play based on the local gang, but struggles to create the words or authentically express his voice. He works in a fish shop and frequently acts out his thoughts about others down by the water. Considered odd, he is a good guy and loyal to his grandfather.

Since a female love interest is never mentioned (another high point of the film), neither Jimmie’s nor Mont’s sexuality is ever discussed, nor is a potential relationship between the two ever mentioned.

The ambiguity works remarkably well and evokes comparisons to the groundbreaking Moonlight (2016).

When a sudden death erupts, the proceedings, Mont finally finds his voice and composes an improvised stage play which he stars in as a dedication to the fallen victim.

He elicits responses from the people in attendance (including all principal cast members) as a shocking secret erupts, resulting in disarray. This takes the already layered film in a new direction as all Jimmie thought to be true is suddenly shattered.

In a word, the film feels fresh, both visually and from a story perspective.

Fails and Majors are a top young talent with bright futures who add a patient climb to their characters amid a film that paces slowly but steadily, letting the events unfold in a thought-provoking way.

I eagerly await the next project by the talented Talbot.

In a film industry hungry for new ideas, the creator of The Last Black Man in San Francisco (2019) offers a journey into the minds of two black men, written not as stereotypes, but as interesting and intelligent individuals, who are not looking forward, but looking backward.

The film provides characters who are not standard but are so much more than that.

Independent Spirit Award Nominations: Best First Feature, Best Supporting Male-Jonathan Majors

1946 Films, Western

My Darling Clementine-1946

April 30, 2020 scottmet99 Leave a comment

My Darling Clementine-1946

Director John Ford

Starring Henry Fonda, Victor Mature

Scott’s Review #1,017

Reviewed April 30, 2020

Grade: A-

Esteemed director John Ford, mostly known for crafting the very best in the Western genre for four decades, creates a timeless story that is character-driven and unpredictable.

My Darling Clementine (1946) provides a superb atmosphere amid a depressing ambiance led by Henry Fonda, the appealing leading man of the day. The iconic American Western folk ballad, “Oh My Darling, Clementine,” appears during the opening and closing credits to bookend the classic.

In 1882, events began when a group of men herded cattle through the Old West en route to California. The Earp brothers (Wyatt, Morgan, Virgil, and James) encountered the sinister Clanton family, who salivated over the profit the animals could supply them.

After being rebuffed for a sale, the Clantons kill young James and steal the cattle. Wyatt (Fonda) vows revenge and settles in at Tombstone, Arizona, where he befriends the dangerous Doc Holliday (Victor Mature), Clementine Carter (Cathy Downs), the ravishing Chihuahua (Linda Darnell), and Mac, the local bartender.

The film is based on real-life Western figures and events. Wyatt Earp was a lawman and gambler, while Doc Holliday was a gambler, gunslinger, and dentist. Both men participate in the famous and bloody gunfight at the OK Corral, the thirty-second shootout between law enforcement officers and outlaws, regarded as the most well-known battle in the American Wild West.

This makes the film both historical and fun for viewers anticipating some truth. The rest is a created story.

During My Darling Clementine, one can delve into other avenues of enjoyment besides the action on screen. The rich surroundings are glorious and plentiful.

Much of the action takes place outdoors, which is a treat. The spacious and wide-open exteriors are a marvel to watch. The exquisite clouds and sprawling lands are evident, as is the black-and-white cinematography, which adds a measure that color film would have ruined.

Unlike other Westerns, there is surprisingly little racism to be found. Commonly, American Indians are classified as the enemy and subsequently mistreated. Other than one quick scene where an unnamed Indian is booted out of town, a racist moment can be found.

Quite a few Mexican characters appear, most prominently Chihuahua, the apple of every man’s eye. To see Mexican culture represented and celebrated with dancing and country colors is a nice addition.

The pacing is also superior, with little lag or drag time. The short running time of one hour and thirty-six minutes is beneficial, as events get dirty quickly. The saloon scenes, which are simply a must in this genre, are excellent, with their combustible energy.

So much transpires within each scene as the patrons eat, drink, dance, sing, and fight. Interesting characters like the bartender and Granville Thorndyke, a stage actor who performs Shakespeare, make the film very fleshed out from a character perspective.

A minor demerit that must be aimed at the film is the awkward decision to write a perplexing ending that sours the wrap-up. When the big shootout concludes, Wyatt decides to depart Tombstone, bidding adieu to a confused Clementine at the schoolhouse, wistfully promising that he will look her up if he returns.

This is weak and unsatisfying, considering she moved to the West from the East to be with Doc, who dies. Why would she decide to stay, and why would he leave, considering the pair were drawn to each other as the film escalated? I was expecting a “happily ever after” moment.

My Darling Clementine (1946) is an elite treasure in a genre that is commonly one-note and riddled with stereotypes and inadequate treatment of those who are not white, masculine men. Sure, the whiskey flows heavily as the guns are cocked and loaded at a moment’s notice.

But, with arguably two main heroes (Wyatt and Doc), well-crafted supporting characters, and a stoic final fight, this film has it all, providing depth and freshness to an often-stale cinematic genre.

2005 Films, Action, Mob, Thriller

A History of Violence-2005

April 28, 2020 scottmet99 Leave a comment

A History of Violence-2005

Director David Cronenberg

Starring Viggo Mortensen

Scott’s Review #1,016

Reviewed April 28, 2020

Grade: B+

David Cronenberg has directed films such as Videodrome (1983), The Fly (1986), and Crash (1996), stories safely classified as “off the beaten path”.

With A History of Violence (2005), he creates a film that, on the surface, appears conventional and even wholesome at the onset, a family drama or thriller that turns sinister and bloody as it lumbers along.

The Christian-like small Indiana town is the perfect backdrop for quietly inflicting mayhem and terror on its characters.

Stars Viggo Mortensen and Ed Harris give tremendous portrayals.

Tom Stall (Mortensen) lives a quiet midwestern life and owns a quaint little diner nestled in the center of town. He is a popular man and quite neighborly, befriending the many patrons who visit his lovely eatery.

At his side are his adoring wife Edie (Maria Bello) and children, Jack and Sarah.

If they owned a golden retriever and resided in a house with a white picket fence, they would define the all-American family.

Late one night, two men attempt to rob the restaurant, and when they attack a server, Tom kills both robbers with surprising ease and skill, barely blinking at his violent tendencies.

He is professed a hero by the townspeople, and the incident makes him a local celebrity.

Tom is then visited by the frightening, scarred gangster Carl Fogarty (Harris), who insists that Tom is a notorious Philadelphia gangster named Joey Cusack. Tom is perplexed and vehemently denies the claims, but Fogarty begins to stalk the Stall family.

Because of the pressure, Tom’s family life hits crisis mode.

As the film ticks along, the plot thickens, and the puzzle pieces are rife with mystery.

Is Fogarty merely a liar, holding a vendetta against the person who killed his men? Does Tom suffer from amnesia, having forgotten his past life due to an accident?

Has Tom fled the criminal life seeking refuge and a new life in middle America, safely leaving his troubles behind? Does the truth lie somewhere in the middle of these possibilities?

Bello is cast as Edie, Tom’s loyal wife. Bello is a stellar actor and does a wonderful job in the complicated role.

Far too often, especially in thrillers, the wife’s role is as lacking in challenge as it is in glamour. The ever-supportive wife must be a drag to play with, but pays the bills.

Edie is different, and as soon as the viewer has her figured out, she acts out of the blue, which will surprise the viewer about this type of character. This has a lot to do with Bello’s pizzazz and acting chops.

I adore the film’s setting.

A far cry from the bustling City of Brotherly Love, Philadelphia, the rural setting of Indiana becomes even more important as the action eventually flows to the city.

The quiet mornings, the imagined smell of fresh-brewed coffee, the sizzle of bacon on the grill at Tom’s Diner, and, finally, crickets chirping in the distance all evoke the potent atmosphere and surroundings that work in this film.

A History of Violence (2005) is a superior film that contains excellent writing, the best aspect of the rich experience.

A top-notch screenplay by Josh Olson leaves the viewer not only with mounting tension but also with the mystery of what will happen next and what the truth is.

Mortensen, commonplace in recent Cronenberg films, has found his niche playing complex yet humanistic characters, which must be a challenge for the actor and a splendid reward for the audience.

Oscar Nominations: Best Supporting Actor-William Hurt, Best Adapted Screenplay

1988 Films, Comedy

A Fish Called Wanda-1988

April 20, 2020 scottmet99 Leave a comment

A Fish Called Wanda-1988

Director Charles Crichton

Starring John Cleese, Kevin Kline, Jamie Lee Curtis

Scott’s Review #1,013

Reviewed April 20, 2020

Grade: B

A Fish Called Wanda (1988) is an intelligent and witty British-American comedy that was a sleeper hit upon its release, garnering critical acclaim and awards.

The heist-flavored production has good comic timing and brisk acting. I adored it not quite as much as most critics, though admirable is a quick wit and energetic timing, to be respected in comedies.

With some silly moments thrown in that feel staged and unnecessary, the film is not as brilliant as some would say and is not a memorable entry in the comedy genre.

A crooked foursome, all from shady backgrounds and manipulative tendencies, come together to commit the heist of the century. They are about to get away with it until the London police arrest one of them.

Can the other three, now on the lam, persuade their comrade’s lawyer to reveal the location of the stolen loot?

Will they double-cross each other to find stolen diamonds that the gang leader has secretly hidden?

The players are con artist Wanda Gershwitz (Jamie Lee Curtis), Otto West (Kevin Kline), her lover posing as her sibling, George Thomason (Tom Georgeson), and his right-hand man, Ken Pile (Michael Palin), an animal lover with a stutter.

Each has their motivations while relying on the others to get what they want, presumably at the other’s expense, as events escalate to dire urgency.

The film gets props for being different.

Frequently, in the comedy genre, laughs are attempted at a dizzying speed, so that often they do not feel fresh. They also usually contain stereotypical or stock characters who serve little purpose other than to move events along for the sake of character development.

A Fish Called Wanda is quirky, to say the least, with some intelligently written dialogue and sequences, especially the reveal of where the key to the safe deposit box containing the diamonds is housed.

The film’s title is a major clue.

The chemistry between the actors is the best part of the film, especially between Kline and Curtis, two actors with exceptional comic timing.

As they spar, bicker, and plot not just against each other but against the others they are in cahoots with, the antics get wilder and wilder.

Kline was recognized with an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor and a win. His character, Otto, is also the most developed.

The final sequence, which takes place at Heathrow Airport in London, is a fun wrap-up to the caper. A gun, a steamroller, and wet cement are key elements in the wacky finale as characters run rampant inside the airport and on the airport tarmac as an airplane is about to take off for parts unknown.

Many other scenes take place in London since that is where the film was shot.

Where the film loses me a bit is in its very limited sense of the subject matter’s meaning. The group is made up of con artists and other unsavory characters, but little more. There are no characters to root for or empathize with, and the events that transpire are quite silly and superfluous.

While the story is fun, what is the point? All the characters manipulate each other, but that is it.

Going against the grain in cinema is always appreciated, and the comedy genre is too often stagnant and trite, rarely feeling fresh.

A Fish Called Wanda (1988) is an encouraging project that dares to offer new and inventive gags and physical comedy. The film hits some high marks and strikes out in others, leaving an uneven result.

Oscar Nominations: 1 win-Best Director-Charles Crichton, Best Supporting Actor-Kevin Kline (won), Best Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen

1992 Films, Drama

A Few Good Men-1992

April 15, 2020 scottmet99 Leave a comment

A Few Good Men-1992

Director Rob Reiner

Starring Tom Cruise, Jack Nicholson, Demi Moore

Scott’s Review #1,012

Reviewed April 15, 2020

Grade: B+

A Few Good Men (1992) is a film firmly ensconced in the mainstream Hollywood courtroom drama genre.

If all the necessary elements had not been well-woven, the results might have been trite or even cringeworthy.

Nonetheless, with big stars and excellent acting, director Rob Reiner (yes, “Meathead” from All in the Family) lucks out with a predictable screenplay that is compelling and made better by the sum of its parts.

The film will never bore and is a standard edge-of-your-seat thrill ride.

The drama was rewarded with several year-end niceties, including nominations for the upper-crust Academy Awards. Best Supporting Actor, Best Film Editing, Best Sound Mixing, and, surprisingly, the lofty Best Picture statuette.

With no shame for the embarrassment of riches, deserved or undeserved is the real question; the film walked away empty-handed on Oscar night.

When cocky and handsome military lawyer Lieutenant Daniel Kaffee (Tom Cruise) and his co-counsel, Lieutenant Commander JoAnne Galloway (Demi Moore), are assigned to a murder case, their investigation uncovers a hazing ritual that could implicate high-ranking officials.

U.S. Marines Lance Corporal Harold Dawson (Wolfgang Bodison) and Private First Class Louden Downey (James Marshall) are facing a general court-martial, accused of murdering fellow Marine William Santiago at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba.

Kaffee and Galloway are to determine if higher-ranking officers orchestrated and forced the lower-ranking men to carry out a “code red” order: a violent extrajudicial punishment, and their form of justice, to kill the young victim, thus silencing him forever.

The questionable part of the plot is whether Base Camp Commander Jessup (Jack Nicholson) administered the order or instead ordered Santiago’s commanding officer, Lieutenant Jonathan James Kendrick (Kiefer Sutherland), to merely “train” Santiago to become a better Marine.

This is where the courtroom drama takes center stage with gusto.

As good as Moore, Sutherland, and Marshall are in offering compelling roles, the film belongs to Cruise and Nicholson, the veterans of the group.

The best scenes come at the end of the film as Cruise and Nicholson spar in the courtroom with bombast and trickery.

Nicholson as Jessup is brooding and traditional, a lifelong military man channeling honor and dedication at any cost. Cruise as Kaffee has something to prove and wants to win at any cost. So, they tangle in a fierce machismo way.

When he catches Jessup in a lie, just as a spider captures a fly, the scenes crackle with grit and energy.

The unforgettable line, “You can’t handle the truth!” is uttered by Nicholson.

A Few Good Men will both satisfy and dissatisfy those with a connection or a penchant for the military. On the one hand, the military is celebrated in the film as a model of efficiency in the world, and its decorated appeal is to be admired.

But the film also stands up and questions the hypocrisy of one of the oldest establishments and its male domination and bullying methods, not so different from a classic college fraternity.

The courtroom trial of a patriotic group is serious business.

While not a revolutionary film, sticking to a tried-and-true courtroom drama script seen in television drama series since the beginning of time, A Few Good Men (1992) provides a hefty two hours and twenty minutes of pure entertainment.

Powerful acting across the board makes the film a superior experience and a thought-provoking message of whether unthinkingly following orders without thought is still a relevant approach, not just in the military, but anywhere.

Oscar Nominations: Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor-Jack Nicholson, Best Sound, Best Film Editing

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