Encounter with the Unknown - 1972

 Rod Serling was really a TV guy and a writer, and even then mostly known for TV.  He did, however, provide narration for two movies, with that trademark voice of his.  This is one of those movies.

Encounter with the Unknown is an anthology film consisting of three stories.  Then, oddly enough, a giant recap at the end when they couldn't fill enough time.  They suggest witchcraft and mention the Egyptian book of the Dead.  They seem to add a whole second viewpoint to the thing, as if the original intros by Serling were either ignored or just not enough.

Segment 1: A guy on a plane talking to a preacher about a kid that him and his friends played a joke on, which ended with the kid accidentally getting killed.  The mom of the kid put a hex on them that they'd die, one by land and two by air.  Just so happens they're on an airplane when the story is being told...

Segment 2: A missing dog.  A mysterious hole in the ground emitting smoke and strange noises.  How far would you go for your scared son when these two circumstances happen?

Segment 3: A mystery woman on a bridge with no explanation.  She gets driven home as her story unravels, the story of two young people in love.  A love not approved of by her father.  A couple that ran away together despite their parents to get married, with an entire musical sequence involved.

The fist two are maybe 20 minutes including intro and the wrap around moments.  The third segment is about 35 minutes. Not because it is the most fleshed out or the best story, simply wasting time with the musical sequence.  These are all presented as real stories, and I suppose they're vague enough to be based on folklore or similar happenings. 

Very 70s feeling is production value and budget, this has it all from awesome wallpaper to the outfits.  I wonder if Serling was in his groovy 70s hairy phase when he did the recordings?  No trivia online about how Serling got involved with this movie, I suppose they hired him in some desperate move for legitimacy.  Its kinda nice because as this is vignettes it feels somewhat similar to The Twilight Zone, but these stories are very inferior to the Zone.

This is actually kinda fun, and it moves by like a breeze.  I give it 3.5 stars.

Island of Blood - 1982

 Also known as Scared Alive and as Whodunit?

It appears the song that sounds like a direct rip off of Peter Gabriel featured in this movie is Black Hole by Gary Philips.  If I'm going to mention the soundtrack, I must also mention Face to Face by Factor Four, At least 3-4 "versions" of this song are present in the movie, with the lyrics being changed to reflect how someone just died!  It might sounds kinda dumb, but hey, all these slashers need is one gimmick and suddenly they become memorable and different.

Island of Blood is a grainy early 80s slasher thing with some interesting deaths and no real blood, no nudity, nothing offensive in it whatsoever.  Which works in the vein of "fun factor" which this movie traffics in more than like "horror factor".  Its completely fine when movies do this, as long as they commit to their choice.

The biggest problem with some of these movies in general is that it seems like they don't commit, or even worse, they're not aware of how dumb they come off as.  It should be evident by the acting, by the scarceness of the effects, that these aren't going to be truly scary, so if you know that, lean into the cheese factor since that's essentially free.  That's what they did here.

This is a fun romp, mild and quick moving, nothing challenging here, it goes down easy.  Gives it a straight 3.5 stars.

Death Screams - 1982

 Janusary 2nd mini-slasher marathon.  Sorta.

In the realm of what makes you a movie worth mentioning, a formulaic slasher is a nice little thing to have.  That's partially because even little things make these fun, and its an easy baseline to elevate yourself from.

A making out couple gets killed and there's breasts in the first 2 minutes, so I'm obviously in early.  Starring a future Playboy centerfold girl, this movie could have had more nudity, but I won't be an asshole about it.  It had some great nice perky tits.

Then there's a couple good kills including a good sequence on a carousel.  The kills in this are pretty decent, and though its clearly all low budget and handmade, it has enough heart and soul to keep you interested enough.  

Overall relatively not much else, its kinda a thin story and slight on most things but you know, its fine enough.  I give it 2.5 stars.

Coda - 1987

 A couple girls kiss in a car and moments later one of them is killed.  Thus we start Coda.

An Austrailian made-for-TV movie I'm surely not going to have a lot to say about, this movie is only remarkable for a couple reasons:

1) almost the entire cast is women.  Its basically a bunch a single ladies and ladies with ambiguous sexuality, interacting and talking.  And talking.  And talking.  And talking.

2) Its a whodunnit where its more like oh she did it.  There is no mystery here.  The woman who is acting like an antagonistic bitch?  Yeah, she's the killer.

That's about it really.  Its really by the numbers with zero thrills, blood, nudity, language, nothing fun.  Its about as fun as listening to the accents.  Gets old quick in other words.

The Fugitive Kind - 1960

 Criterion released this Sidney Lumet directed Marlon Brando film, and that's the version I watched.

Brando stars as the wandering, murmuring Xavier, a somewhat mystery man, who becomes entangled in the happenings at a town he happens to be wandering through.  Partially he gets entangled because everywhere he goes he gets hit on by women, whether it be the alcoholic and problematic Carol, or married and desperate Lady Torrance.

Most of the movie, though, is his listening to monologues or being semi involved in them, as characters dialogue about the wears and whiles of their lives to him.  Written by Tennessee Williams, this is rejoining Brando with his material from A Streetcar Named Desire.  This is case in point that not everything the guy touched was gold.

I dunno, I read a few things online about exactly why this didn't work.  A lot of people blame the actress who plays Torrance, Anna Magnani.  Certainly that is part of the problem.  I'd be interested in seeing her in her Oscar Winner role in The Rose Tattoo, because here she is very uninspiring, and the chemistry between her and Brando is non-existent.  

But also, this is not one of those where Brando's character gets involved in crime or in a caper or whatever.  There is a climactic ending, but wow do you have to wait and wait for anything to happen.  In the meantime its just boring, without the crackling dialogue or the amazing shot composition present in Streetcar.  

Brando is great in it, but beyond him its not like the worst thing ever but it is not very interesting or special.  2 stars.