The Lady Vanishes - 1938

 I've been doing a Hitchcock watch, starting with some of the more known movies, and working my way through the back catalogue of early films as well.  My ultimate goal?  To watch every Alfred Hitchcock movie.  Naturally.

The Lady Vanishes is one of the older ones, 1938 being a very grainy black and white film in look.  The film stars Michael Redgrave and Margaret Lockwood in a bizarre meetcute on a train.  Bizarre because it is overshadowed and defined by Margaret Lockwood losing track of an elderly woman she'd just met, May Whitty as Miss Froy.  

The plot is that simple:  Miss Froy disappears about the 45 minute mark, and for a long time it's just these two characters looking for her.  There's been a few characters we've met up till now, and they're given reasons for not wanting to be involved in this controversial missing person case.  The clues turn up, pointing to various things and various suspects along the way, and the convolution deepens.  It's all very mysterious and very Hitchcock.

I've seen about 10 Hitchcock movies now, not including them in the blog here.  I felt like writing, ya dig.  But the thing is, I really like these.  There's a real clear obvious reason why Hitch is so well regarded.  Well paced, well acted, attention to detail, and really interesting.  They're all deeply engaging, and mystery is one of my favorite genres anyhow, all that aside.  So, give these a watch if you're into the idea. 4 stars.

The Other - 1972

 I picked up The Other, it looked horror/thriller, was from the 70s, and starred Star Trek's Diana Muldaur. Need I have more reasons to watch it?

Twins Niles and Holland are slightly off. Holland is a bad boy, causing problems and is basically evil. Niles is good and has some mental power to link with other people. Unfolding slowly is a story of ambiguous happenings, slow burn psychological scares, and bizarre imagery. 

The previous description makes it sound really good though... And I suppose if you're in the right mood it is, but spoiler warning I was not in the right mood. I fucking struggled to stay awake during The Other. It is SO SLOW!! Geeeeeeez, I'm a slow movie master, and shit was I challenged. 

Eventually some people are injured and die and it's implied it might have been the kids. Eventually there's a reveal about Holland. Eventually you will wonder where the story is going to go. But there's so many other scenes of nothing happening and unrelated nothingness, you'll probably be tuned out much as I was at this point. 

It's definitely not a bad movie at all, even shot creatively and with great child actors. I feel like I should have loved this, like it's required for me to have liked this movie. It checks all the boxes, even creates new boxes and checks those! How can I not like this?! I'm mad at myself. 

But all that being said, it was so slow that I still can't give it more than 3 stars.

First Men in the Moon - 1964

 I had an unintentional Ray Harryhausen double feature here, since I just watched It Came From Beneath the Sea.  I didn't know he did effects for this film when I grabbed it at the library.

The First Men on the Moon is HG Wells, fresh off the success of The Time Machine and War of the Worlds.  In this one, we have astronauts landing on the moon and discovering that in fact there is a small British flag and a note written, saying that people have been there before.  They track down the person who wrote it, now an older man.  This man tells a strange story we see unfold, a story of a brilliant scientist, a trip to the moon, and the creatures they found there.

First Men is a very ambitious sci fi film, way ahead of it's time.  It's a strange story, going all over the place, and giving a whole lot of time to it's few characters as well.  We have the inventor and eccentric scientist Cavor, who creates a liquid which repels gravity, and enlists broke Bedford and his love interest Kate in a trip to the moon.  Once there, they use underwater diving suits to explore the moon, eventually finding underground tunnels and strange bug-like aliens that inhabit them.

The aliens and the effects are first and foremost awesome.  I mean, the octopus in It Came From Beneath the Sea looked spectacular, and I thought it was likely because of the black and white effects, but this is in color and looks even better.  There is also a LOT more effects use in this, the entire last 50 or so minutes is all effect shots, and the actors are interacting with these things in like every shot.  It's really something to marvel at.  

The actors are all good, considering this fact especially, and I guess the biggest "thing" to state is that for some reason, they decided to make there be a comedic slant to this movie, having Cavor be comic relief at times.  It really, really doesn't work.  Kate and Bedford have a romance angle which is also quite clumsy, but luckily it isn't focused on that much with so much else going on.  

The whole interaction in the tunnels of the moon is very compelling, but oh my god is it slow sometimes.  This movie, really fucking slow.  Snail's pace at times.  There's so much standing around talking about things, and slow downs in the plot.  The stuff with the aliens is all really cool and fun to watch.  They are creepy as hell, and given that we never learn their true motivation, they're an excellent antagonist.

This movie could have used a little editing for the modern sense, but it is a product of it's time.  I think probably 20 minutes of the hour 45 could have been cut, but it's still good.  I give it 4 stars, it's a great sci fi classic.

Santa Sangre - 1989

I had always heard of El Topo as being a weird ass visionary cult film, but I was introduced to Alexandro Jodorowsky through The Holy Mountain .  I really loved it, but I've only seen it twice, and I worry about what a rewatch would do.  I liked El Topo less, and I haven't seen anything else by him.

I once started Santa Sangre on a free streaming service, and memory serves I didn't even get 10 minutes in.  I thought "oh...it's more of the same," and I turned it off.  And it is, I'm not calling him a one trick pony, I'm just saying you really have to be in the mood for this, and it's no fault of anyone's if they are not.

The mood is as follows:  Patient, introspective, open-minded, and curious.  You have to have a lot of time on your hands, no phone, and you have to be willing to do some of the work for Jodorowsky.  Not that he in any way falls short of anything really, but just that there's so much here, in what I would describe as his least dense film I've seen, there is still so much to unpack and sift through.

In the beginning of the film, we meet Fenix, a mentally unstable man who is naked perched in a tree.  Fenix's story gets unfolded in flashbacks of him as a child as well as however long ago, the actions that led him to the institute.  He has a mother who was part of a religious movement which was decimated by the government.  They were worshipping a woman with no arms, and soon enough Fenix's mother's arms are cut off.  He is possessed by her to act as her arms, performing weird arts and doing everything for her that her arms would.  She starts demanding that he kill people soon enough.

Visionary is always a understatement place to begin with Jodorowski's work.  This is still the least cluttered and the least insane of his work I've seen, but man is it out there.  The movie is packed with weird ass stuff, whether it's usual cast of deformed or different looking people, bizarre sexuality, or religious imagery.  Santa Sangre was not written by him, so that may be why it's not as nutty of a fruitcake, but the writers knew what they wanted when they sought him out to direct.

Santa Sangre is hailed by Empire magazine and other critics as a great film, it's artistic and unique, it's obvious of the tremendous talent behind it.  But...  do I like it?  I don't know.  There's a lot of elements I like.  I don't even mind the length or the slow pacing.  I feel like it's just somehow not quite my thing.  I give it a solid 3.5 though.

Kiss Daddy Goodnight - 1988

 I'm back to buying VHS randomly at the stores. I got a working VCR after my old one quit, so now I can watch this shit again. 

Uma Thurman makes her screen debut in this erotic thriller/ crime film about a girl who is robbing dudes once she gets them to their houses with promises of sex. Eventually things get more complicated, and yea that's whatever basically the plot. 

This movie was directed by an amateur and it shows. It's slow, it's boring, it's so simple that it's laughable, and altogether hugely forgettable. It's not like the worst movie ever it's more that basically nothing happens and plot movements roll by just the same as the endless scenes of nothing. 

Good acting saves it from complete Z grade.  Uma Thurman sells it, and Steve Buscemi is also in this for 2 minutes. There's a special place for this, and maybe in the 80s this seemed cool for a sec, but for me, it's a really boring, bad movie. 1.5 stars. 

It Came from Beneath the Sea - 1955

 I have not gotten into much 50's monster movies as of late, so when I saw this at the library I picked it up.  It's a good morning movie especially - I do love my movies in the morning.

It Came has an opening scene with some missing ships, and slowly we see a few phantom arms reaching up and out of the ocean. It's a giant octopus, and Commander Pete Matthews is teamed up with Professor Lesley Joyce, he being the type to not suspect a professor could be a woman, she the type that evidently falls for misogyny.  They've got to anticipate the octopus, figure out how to stop it, and run when it comes to San Francisco.

Effects by Ray Harryhausen as well as black and white photography help this movie along, elevate it from forgettable 50's monster schlock.  Also, admittedly, is the fact it's San Francisco instead of New York or anywhere else.  It is cool to see my city of 10 years back in the 50's, and see familiar sights like the Ferry Building and stuff in this movie.

There's surprisingly little to say about this otherwise.  The pacing is averagely slow, and the characters are thin as can be.  It really jumps into the stratosphere in the effect department though, and when the creature comes to SF, worms it's way onto the Golden Gate Bridge and Fort Mason area, that's a lot of fun.  Eventually they shoot a torpedo at it, but before that we've discovered that like all these monsters, this one too was caused by....THE ATOMIC BOMB.

Snake Eyes - 1998

 I'll settle for just writing a mini review of Snake Eyes, mostly because I have been writing reviews of other Brian De Palma movies.  This movie though, probably would not normally get a review.

Nicolas Cage and Gary Sinise star in Snake Eyes, a late 90's thriller that checks all the boxes.  Big stars, check, dramatic characters, check, overreaching plot, check, predictable, check.  The opening shot is well known, being a lot one take shot following Cage around as he interacts with people, as he makes bets on a fight, and there is obviously some huge difficulties as it revolves around a boxing match in a huge arena with hundreds of people there.  

This shot ends with an assassination of a politician, a few suspicious people, and Gary Sinise taking out the killer.  Now it is up to Cage, Sinise, and the cops to handle the scene, find out what happened, and track down the suspicious persons.

As I said, the plot is somewhat predictable about who is involved and how and why.  Cage is a bit of a psychotic, broke down, deal-accepting detective and if you think he wants redemption through this big case, well, you're right.  There's a girl thrown in for him, there's a few action scenes, it's what you expect.

It doesn't amount to that much, but it's still a fine action film with a conspiracy/thriller vibe.  I'd say it's great for dads to watch with their 14 year old kid, hell that kid would have a blast.  It's a popcorn movie.  I give it a 3.

The Mechanic - 1972

 Wow, well I guessed later in the 70's and it must be because I'm unfamiliar with Bronson, and also cause this movie felt progressive.

Charles Bronson was a huge star, and action film regular by this point.  I haven't seen a lot of movies with him, except the original Death Wish and Death Wish 2, as well as previously on this blog with Cold Sweat.  The Mechanic is a character piece, a dramatic action film, remade recently with everyone's favorite actor Jason Statham.

In the beginning of The Mechanic, we witness Bronson using a methodical and intelligent way to take out a target.  He is given some back story and then he kills a new target.  He teams up with the son of his recent target, and begins training him in the ways of mechanics, also known as hitmen.  Soon enough though, Bronson himself has a hit put on him, and we have to watch him dance.

The coolest part of this movie, and I'm sure something that did not make Statham's remake is the slow, relatively silent drama given to Bronson's character.  It's also staggering because this movie is slow and there's not a lot of depth added to the people, yet it never feels dull, underwritten, or awkward.  There's just a confident mastery to the way a lot of 70's movies are paced.  And yes, it is slow, and yes sometimes it's boring.  Who knows, maybe I like boring.

The Mechanic isn't going to redefine your life or anything, but it's really good, it's a classic 70s character action piece.  Definitely more human and deep than I'd have guessed.  I'd watch another movie like this any day.

A*P*E - 1976

In 1976, Dino de Laurentis produced his remake of King Kong. Jeff Bridges starred, it was a whole thing. The same year, this Korean American co-production was released to capitalize. 

APE is a joke. You know it's bad when the title stands for Attacking Primate monstEr...with the fucking E capitalized? Really guys? 

 This feels very close to some of the Z grade Godzilla rip offs coming out in Japan in the 60s and 70s. The ape looks ridiculous in a fun way, and the scenes involving it are so bad it's great, with terrible miniatures, bad scale mistakes, and shitty costumes. There is basically hardly ever any perspective shot showing how big he is, and when there is, it's a joke. 

 As APE goes on, you'll swear you're halfway through then realize you're 20 minutes in. It's slow as ape shit. Nothing much happens ever, what little does is stolen from King Kong, and the movie will tempt you to turn it off multiple times. Ugh.

Tusk - 2014

I think I vaguely remember hearing about Kevin Smith directing a horror movie where a guy turned into a walrus when this came out. It'd been a few years since he'd done anything I liked so I didn't care much. Never thought I'd see it.

Tusk was out around a time that horror was pretty bad. I mean, horror goes through long long moments of being pretty awful very regularly. I believe this was only released in some theaters and wasn't much of a success, so I dunno what's with that and all, but Matt is here and wanted to see it, so we rented it.

Tusk stars Justin Long and Haley Joel Osment as podcast stars investigating stories. Justin Long travels to Canada to interview someone and the guy has died so he isn't sure what to do until he finds a bathroom letter written by someone looking to tell the stories he has. When Long gets there, he discovers a old man with many stories, one of which is about a walrus, and as it turns out, the old man wants to turn Long into a walrus.

Yes, this is as odd as it sounds. And yes, it is going for comedy. No, the comedy is not funny. However! The horror elements do work. They're well done and they're not exactly going for realism so in that way it works.

Tusk is not for everyone and in fact probably not for most people. It's deeply uneven, and when Johnny Depp hits the screen as an eccentric French weirdo, it is really hard to watch. The fun is in the horror for me, with some minor laughs and some decent effects. I don't think it's indicative of anything bigger, but Smith may have had better luck with horror than comedy.

Halloween - 1978

There's so much to say about Halloween. First of all, my personal history. Well, I don't really know if I saw this before middle school, or possibly even late middle school / early high school. I didn't have any cool older cousins or anything that showed me horror movies as a kid. Neither of my parents watch horror either, from what I could tell then and what I can tell now. So, far as my memory goes, it was my sister and I, her getting some weird hankering for horror movies, and us watching these and the Fridays. She was always Michael Meyers over Jason, and I will say, I am too.

Halloween really cemented together the slasher as a subgenre of horror in general. I know there's a ton of debate about precursors to this movie, but really this took all of them and put them all in one place, including what I think was the biggest choice; an unknown and never revealed killer with no motive, no lines, and no sympathy. Michael Meyers truly is evil incarnate in this movie, both in dialogue by Dr. Loomis, and in action as we watch.

I barely need to touch on the plot, but one thing that I thought of early on is that it's funny how it's never stated in any way that Michael causes his escape from the institution he was in. Early on, they're driving to the institution and happen upon a bunch of patients, wandering around in the dark, and we never really find out wtf happened there. Plot from there is that Meyers heads home to Haddonfield and stalks a bunch of teenagers including Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis).

Another thing I thought was funny on this rewatch was 1: to play a game where you decide what was Michael and what was not. There are constant "ominous signs" of Michael's presense, whether it be a sound or a figure or whatever. It's clear that in the idea of the movie, some of these are Michael and some of them...well, it wouldn't make much sense if it were him. Make it a drinking game.

Another thing I noticed (all of these come from love, please, trust me, this is my fave horror slasher movie) is 2: in the end, Laurie walks around her neighborhood in a light open neck shirt, buttons all undone to look pretty. It is late October in Illinois, it could be below freezing! She should certainly be looking for a coat, or at minimum buttoning that up!

Donald Pleasance wasn't in this movie as much as memory serves, so his screen time is really good. He's actually very good in this, and again I think his overacting and his insanity is more a trope of the later installments, instead of this one.

Halloween is virtually my favorite horror movie, or it's in the rotating top five. It's my favorite slasher for sure, and the music is so great. The acting is good, the kills are good, and the tension is good. Halloween is one of the classics, and it needs to be watched by everyone.