1973’s The Loreley’s Grasp was made by the same people who made 1974’s remarkably bad Night of the Sorcerers. The only reason I watched the earlier movie is because it was paired with the later film on the same Shout Factory disc. I set my expectations extremely low going in, and only watched this so […]
Movie: The Long Haul (1957)
1957’s The Long Haul is a UK noir starring Victor Mature as an American who, upon getting his discharge from the service, finds himself making house in Liverpool with his wife (Gene Anderson) and son (Michael Wade). She arranges a job driving long-haul trucks for her uncle (Wensley Pithey). Mature is less than thrilled with […]
Movie: The Final Programme (1973)
While watching 1973’s The Final Programme, I found myself desperate to know if this was a completely ad-libbed movie. Despite having some attractive, and expensive-looking sets, this is a movie where characters go from one location to another but often without any reason I could discern. They exchange dialog, but without any real communication seeming […]
Mating Season (the mix)
As the weather is getting warmer, we see the flowers opening up for pollination. We see the animals preening themselves so as to be most attractive to a desired mate. And we hear those animals making the noises they think will draw the right attention. Unfortunately, in the area where I reside, those sounds are […]
Movie: The Shadow on the Window (1957)
Mill Creek is a media distributor which gets a great deal of cinema and television onto DVD and bluray, much of which would be unlikely to find release on physical media if not for them. They get a lot of flak for most of their releases being bare bones. I have also read complaints about […]
Movie: X: the Unknown (1956)
Legendary UK film studio Hammer continues to fascinate me. Though largely known for their horror output, that really only began in earnest with 1958’s Horror of Dracula. Prior to that, and continuing for some time after, the studio was more focused on science fiction. In 1955, the studio had a major success with their film […]
Movie: Stopmotion (2024)
2024’s Stopmotion recently left me frustrated, and I thought hard about why that was. I didn’t find anything in it to be scary, but there were some respectably creepy moments. It is very much in the mold of contemporary, art-house horror, yet it still has more of a plot than many similar films I have […]
Movie: Lady in a Jam (1942)
Irene Dunne used to be a huge star, so much so that she was billed over Cary Grant for screwball comedy classic The Awful Truth in 1937. She was still top-billed in the similarly madcap Lady in a Jam five years later, though this is nowhere near as sharp as that earlier film. Something feels […]
Movie: One False Move (1991)
This 1991 neo-noir opens with a scene that got under my skin. It is a one-two punch of home invasions in Los Angeles. At the first house, there’s a birthday party for a teen boy underway, and this event is being videotaped by his father. Cynda Williams appears to be a friend of the family […]
Movie: Rawhead Rex (1986)
Clive Barker has an odd legacy on film. He completely disowned the movie made from the first story he wrote, which was Underworld. No, not the picture you’re thinking of, but one George Pavlou directed in 1985 and which isn’t strictly horror. I find it strange Barker teamed up with Pavlou again just a year […]
Movie: The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)
The legend of Robin Hood is one of those stories everybody knows, but which has never really clicked with me. I’m curious why it has endured as long as it has. It seems, even today, somebody feels compelled to make another movie or television series of it from time to time. I doubt anybody will […]
Seeing the total eclipse
On April 8, 2024, I saw my first total solar eclipse. I just happen to live at the very edge of totality, so the sun was only fully obscured by the moon for a couple of seconds. Still, it left a strong impression on me. My first thought as the moon crept across the sun […]
We don’t deserve the moon
A solar eclipse is happening today, and I happen to live in the path of totality. This is the kind of event which excites me because the rare occurrences of such have had such a profound impact throughout time, all the way back to our earliest ancestors. That we (and even those early humans) exist […]
Movie: The Capture (1950)
The term “toxic masculinity” has been in vogue for the past few years. While I think it is correct to call men out on our bullshit, films such as 1950’s The Capture reveals some weird expectations society has put on men to be “macho”, and I think that environment is partly responsible for some of […]
Movie: Doctor Death: Seeker of Souls (1973)
I am a big fan the two Dr. Phibes movies. Some people seem to find them mean-spirited, but I think they’re too goofy to take seriously. Part of what sells it is how much fun Vincent Price is having. John Considine isn’t Price, but he channels some of that diabolical glee as the villain in […]